Commissioned Vs NCO Pilots
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Link edited >>>> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/520517669410300835/
Different Wings, buttons [it seems] and shade of uniform too.
Different Wings, buttons [it seems] and shade of uniform too.
Join Date: Mar 2010
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... And both smoking cigarettes 
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Wound Stripes.
TTN (your #135),
Got no joy with your link, so have registered with RAF Commands Forum and asked them about Wound Stripes in WWII, we'll see what they say.
From my P.146/#2920 ("Pilot's Brevet"):
"We became entitled to a "Wound Stripe" apiece. This daft and short-lived thing may have been peculiar to India. I never heard of it after I came back. The idea was similar to the American "Purple Heart", at which we poked much fun (it was said that you could get it for being nicked by the camp barber!) But it was entered on our records, and I seem to remember that I had an inch-long gold lace stripe to sew on my khaki tunic sleeve. As we never wore tunics (only bush jackets or shirts), it didn't seem worth bothering with".
Danny.
Got no joy with your link, so have registered with RAF Commands Forum and asked them about Wound Stripes in WWII, we'll see what they say.
From my P.146/#2920 ("Pilot's Brevet"):
"We became entitled to a "Wound Stripe" apiece. This daft and short-lived thing may have been peculiar to India. I never heard of it after I came back. The idea was similar to the American "Purple Heart", at which we poked much fun (it was said that you could get it for being nicked by the camp barber!) But it was entered on our records, and I seem to remember that I had an inch-long gold lace stripe to sew on my khaki tunic sleeve. As we never wore tunics (only bush jackets or shirts), it didn't seem worth bothering with".
Danny.
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MPN11 and Union Jack,
Sqn Ldr in the middle is RAAF (how we envied them their black non-polish buttons !) His dark royal blue doesn't show as differently on b/w photos as in real life.
G/Capt on right is certainly Leonard Cheshire.
G/Capt on left is "Half-dressed !" - button undone.
Danny.
Sqn Ldr in the middle is RAAF (how we envied them their black non-polish buttons !) His dark royal blue doesn't show as differently on b/w photos as in real life.
G/Capt on right is certainly Leonard Cheshire.
G/Capt on left is "Half-dressed !" - button undone.
Danny.
Join Date: Nov 2007
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My brother, now deceased was one of the last serviving NCO pilots ended up as QFI master pilot.
Actually turned up as instructor when they were trying unsuccessfully to teach me to fly Oxfords in 1952 at Dalcross, Did not try and teach me.
Actually turned up as instructor when they were trying unsuccessfully to teach me to fly Oxfords in 1952 at Dalcross, Did not try and teach me.
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Errm, is the Gp Capt on the left not the Percy Pickard of "Target for Tonight" and Operation Jericho? It's his height and distinct nose that got me thinking.
What do the experts think?
What do the experts think?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
L-H, picture here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perc...5._HU60540.jpg and herehttp://www.chrishobbs.com/pickardcharles.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perc...5._HU60540.jpg and herehttp://www.chrishobbs.com/pickardcharles.htm
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And the man in the middle is . . .
Squadron Leader William Blessing, DSO, DFC, RAAF. The photo is in the IWM archive. Link as follows:
ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945 BOMBER COMMAND (CH 10706)
Occasion, an investiture at Buckingham Palace 28 July 1943. Blessing died 7 July 1944, aged 31, over France. He was the oldest of the three: Pickard and Cheshire were both still in their twenties.
Citations for his DSO and DFC:
RAAFDB.COM - SQNLDR*BLESSING,*WILLIAM WALTER
ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945 BOMBER COMMAND (CH 10706)
Occasion, an investiture at Buckingham Palace 28 July 1943. Blessing died 7 July 1944, aged 31, over France. He was the oldest of the three: Pickard and Cheshire were both still in their twenties.
Citations for his DSO and DFC:
RAAFDB.COM - SQNLDR*BLESSING,*WILLIAM WALTER
Join Date: Apr 2008
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Royalistflier / TTN
Re the sleeve badge. Does this fit the bill?
Portrait of Prince Albert in full Royal Air Force uniform, just after... News Photo | Getty Images
Re the sleeve badge. Does this fit the bill?
Portrait of Prince Albert in full Royal Air Force uniform, just after... News Photo | Getty Images
taxydual - well that proves if you own decent reference books, you should read them carefully, and not skim them, which I did initially. I now find in the section on rank insignia, 1918, a description of the braid with the following "Above the braid, a crowned metal eagle was worn. These were supplied in pairs, the eagle always flying to the rear" In my defence this is in the section for 1918, when the RAF was still using army ranks and there is no mention of cuff eagles in later sections, so I have no idea of when they went out of use in the RAF. It's obvious though that they were used in the RAAF in WW2 as shown by the picture of Sqn Ldr Blessing above.
Sorry the link didn't work for you Danny, it's just a discussion about these wound badges on another forum, and confirms what you've told us. Wound stripes were commonplace in WW1, when they took the form of a metal plate fixed with two lugs and a split pin. I think their reintroduction in WW2 was a bit of an afterthought - certainly they don't seem to have been widely worn.
Sorry the link didn't work for you Danny, it's just a discussion about these wound badges on another forum, and confirms what you've told us. Wound stripes were commonplace in WW1, when they took the form of a metal plate fixed with two lugs and a split pin. I think their reintroduction in WW2 was a bit of an afterthought - certainly they don't seem to have been widely worn.
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My late brother, was NCO pilot with much seniority , therefore top of queue for married quarters etc, change to pilot officer would lose that, pay actually less. He became Master Pilot and QFI until leaving RAF after 22 years, became civilian freighter pilot, then Air Traffic controller.
When working in East Anglia, plot showed faint, slow moving object, assumed flock of birds, turned out to be Miles Gemini, mainly wooden aircraft into strong headwind. Hint to Russians on how ger surveilance?
When working in East Anglia, plot showed faint, slow moving object, assumed flock of birds, turned out to be Miles Gemini, mainly wooden aircraft into strong headwind. Hint to Russians on how ger surveilance?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
ExNomad, I think the Reds already had that lesson driven home to them.
Thread drift but what iconic location would they use in UK to equal Red Square?
The Mall would probably have ropes across. Trafalgar Square has a few obstructions and a bird strike hazard. Someone plonked a Cenotaph in the middle.
Thread drift but what iconic location would they use in UK to equal Red Square?
The Mall would probably have ropes across. Trafalgar Square has a few obstructions and a bird strike hazard. Someone plonked a Cenotaph in the middle.
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Well that puts paid to the notion that the eagle and crown had anything to do with having been a Warrant Officer later SSC'd. I do know that my friend's father was a Warrant Officer pilot during the war, was commissioned SSC and plonked back to Warrant Officer when he elected to stay in at the end of the War. He fought his way back to Wing Commander by the time he retired (I met him briefly just before he retired - he rebuked me for not saying "good morning" to him in the corridor - not realising that I was new and very junior and scared witless of anyone over the rank of Flt Lt). Not bad going that - a man who did know how to do it.
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taxydual (your #152),
It would seem that the WWII RAAF were the only ones in step ! And at ITW we had an old Drill Corporal whose proudest boast was of have been "put on a charge" by Flight Lieutenant the Duke of York.
Also Royalistflyer (your #157),
"Well that puts paid to the notion that the eagle and crown had anything to do with having been a Warrant Officer"
Danny.
It would seem that the WWII RAAF were the only ones in step ! And at ITW we had an old Drill Corporal whose proudest boast was of have been "put on a charge" by Flight Lieutenant the Duke of York.
Also Royalistflyer (your #157),
"Well that puts paid to the notion that the eagle and crown had anything to do with having been a Warrant Officer"
Danny.
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TTN (your #153),
".... Wound stripes were commonplace in WW1, when they took the form of a metal plate fixed with two lugs and a split pin. I think their reintroduction in WW2 was a bit of an afterthought - certainly they don't seem to have been widely worn".
It is quite possible that they lingered in India in WWII long after they had gone out of use in the UK. Mine was issued to me in '44 or '45, it ws about an inch long, 1/8 in wide gold braid on a cloth backing to sew on my K.D. tunic right lower sleeve (should've kept it).
Danny.
".... Wound stripes were commonplace in WW1, when they took the form of a metal plate fixed with two lugs and a split pin. I think their reintroduction in WW2 was a bit of an afterthought - certainly they don't seem to have been widely worn".
It is quite possible that they lingered in India in WWII long after they had gone out of use in the UK. Mine was issued to me in '44 or '45, it ws about an inch long, 1/8 in wide gold braid on a cloth backing to sew on my K.D. tunic right lower sleeve (should've kept it).
Danny.