Ormeside28 (#9),
Nothing to forgive, my dear chap ! The infamous "Four-star Hennessy" SNCO aircrew rank system was in force when I crept back in under the wire in summer of 1949. My logbook shows that I was instructed by a P2 Lamont (Harvards - August 1949), then by a P2 Willis (Meteors - Feb 1950). I (a Fg Off) addressed them (F/Sgt equivalents) as "sir": they addressed me as "sir". And on 20 Sqdn we had Master Pilots; they were not Instructors and so addressed as "Mister".
Google: <RAF other ranks From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia>
But in July 1954 I had a Sgt McCockle insructor (refresher course Harvard). So the wheel had turned full circle by then (not quite - the Masters hung on and never reverted to Warrant Officers).
The pay rates you quote were correct - I was a fortnight overdue for my "crown", but never got it (nor the extra pay during the next six months waiting for my Commission to come through), But as I was then commissioned in India, and paid the full Pilot Officer arrears (with no reduction for my RAF SNCO pay) by the Government of India, they wanted to have nothing to do with it. RAF accounts later took their full pound of flesh (at F/S rates) back fom me, leaving me out of pocket. Always rankles !
Of course, the whole ridiculous mess (Pilot and Flying Officers who did't fly a kite) could've been avoided if we'd just done what the USAAC did in 1947 (?) when they changed from brown to blue as the USAF - and kept their former Army ranks. Either way, I think the driver of the "four star" system was the desire of the "proper" old SNCOs and WOs (who'd been in the Sgts Mess for yonks) to differentiate themselves from these aircrew "sprogs", who'd "only been in for five minutes". Can't really blame them.
..."Change and decay all around I see" ...
Cheers, Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 14th Dec 2017 at 13:45.
Reason: Typo