When was the Harvard brought into service by the RAF?
 

The McGregor BoB programme last night showed a Harvard, and suggested that the RAF used them for pilot training post-Tiger Moth and pre-Spitfire/Hurricane.

When was the Harvard formally introduced into the RAF's UK-based pilot training programme, and would the rushed-through, very new pilots who were blooded in the BoB have flown the Harvard?

Havard in RAF service
 

In his book 'First Light', Geoffrey Wellum mentions training on the Harvard.

According to Timeline Index 2_P it was January 1939.

Harvards in RAF service
 

I thought in dire times some pilots trained on monoplanes Miles Magister etc sometimes went direct to OCU and Spits or Hurricanes. Harvards were still in use in the mid to late 50s.
We had Oxfords with single letter serial numbers in 1953 at Dalcross that were probably pre-war.

In my father's log book, the Harvard gets its first mention on Feb 24th 1940, at No 2 FTS, where he must have been instructing. He logged himself as P1, with a P/O Raven as Pupil doing a Navig. Test. I've gone back 2 years to see if he had any prior experience on the Harvard, but it seems not. At that time (ie 2 years before) he was converting from Heyfords to Wellingtons.

His summary for Feb 1940 included Hornet Moth, Hawker Fury, Harvard, Magister and Oxford. The first week of March 1940 had him flying Gauntlet, Anson and Hart.