When I was in flying training on the "Arnold" (US Army Air Corps) Scheme in WWII, we had little frame brooch badges with a set of printed name cards in three colours - red, blue and white. This was necessary for the "Aviation Cadet", as his status was important in determining the way he was treated by his fellows at each stage of the three Schools (Primary, Basic and Advanced), which would take place at three separate locations. Blue denoted the "lowerclass man" and Red the "upperclass" (or was it the other way round?) It worked like this:

Supposing I had been a US Cadet. My Primary Course at Carlstrom Field, Fla. was 8 weeks long, with an intake every 4 weeks. On arrival on "42C" Course, say, I would spend the first 4 weeks as a "lowerclass man", which allowed me to be mercilessly bullied ("hazed"), without any redress, by the "42B" men on the last 4 weeks of their Course there.

My consolation was that, after 4 weeks of ritual humiliations, my tormentors would be posted away for Basic Training, where they would be the underdogs again (behind 42A). I would now be the topdog at Carlstrom, and expected to inflict the same sufferings on 42D as I had received from 42B.

With me so far?

Leaving Carlstrom, I would become in turn the underdog at Gunter Field, Montgomery, Ala., where I would be at the mercy of 42B again for 4 weeks ....and so on and so forth. So the colour of your badge card made a lot of difference! Naturally, we Britsh "cadets" (LACS actually) would have nothing to do with this cruel and senseless system, but the problem remained at the "interface" between the last AAC Course (41F?) and the first RAF Course (42A) which followed.

To say that frictions developed would be an understatement; the story was that at Carlstrom, the first (42A) RAF contingent banded together and set upon their oppressors, there was a riot, we prevailed (perhaps the opposition was unnerved by this unexpected reversal of what they regarded as a Law of Nature), they and all their kit were thrown into the swimming pool, an armed truce followed and "hazing" was suspended TFN.

And I have not a shred of evidence to support this story, but merely tell it as it was told to me. Oh, the white cards? - they marked the "washouts", poor pariahs who were spared further torment in the brief time before they were bundled off the Base.

Bit too long, but the story has to be told.

Danny42C.

Never ever wore a wooly pully, thankfully - still had two sets of No.2's we were allowed to wear until they 'wore out'. Much neater. Never wore a name badge on any bit of kit.

When the wretched woolly pully first sprouted wings, I heard that it was AS the result of a less-than-serious letter to Air Clues from a Vulcan captain at Sunny Scampton.

Someone took it seriously and thought that it was a good idea....and the rest is history.

I remember being issued with the original 'official' RAF name tag - it looked cheap and tatty compared with the USAF model. But then so did the rest of our working uniform, apart from No 1 HD.

- it looked cheap and tatty compared with the USAF model.


And you haven't even talked about the crap flying suits we had!!
Not to mention the "cold weather jackets" in lieu of comfortable, stylish and practical flying jackets.... OMG


I think we were issued with all that sh!t because no-one would ever consider misappropriating it !! And no-one from a foreign air force ever wanted to swap it

One remembers when they were introduced - the white on blue ones - at a secret Hampshire helicopter base in the early 70s IIRC.

It was decreed from somewhere on high that only 2 initials would be allowed. Shortly therafter the Staish, one John Arthur Guiness Slessor (aka the lesser Slessor!) appeared with all three of his initials on it.

Cue incandescent rage by one Flt Lt - the late and much lamented Charlie Chubb, who had four initials; CJET. I think in the end he sourced his own (with all initials!) in beautiful downtown Basingstoke!

Sorry to hear Chas Chubb is no longer with us. Did a course with him at Catterick c 1967 - top bloke!

I liked name tags - could never understand why people didnt want to wear them. On a big station with 3 multi crew flying squadrons it helped greatly in putting a name to a face. We also had very nice plastic nav bag tags which showed your name and rank followed by "Tankertrash". Wish I still had mine, though I still have my "one ton budgie" badge.

H'mm - so there were people who didn't matter? How did you define who mattered and who didn't?

The barman and the lass in handbrake house that was processing your claim?

The barman and the lass in handbrake house that was processing your claim?


Actually, if you had known their names, it may have ensured better service!

No, you have me all wrong. Those were the people I was suggesting may have mattered.

Danny, a great tale!:ok:
Never had any problem with wooly pully....regularly replaced FOC, far better than Dildo jackets!:ooh:
Whatever, Aircrew should be be mostly wearing flying suits (with badges)!:D

OAP

No, you have me all wrong. Those were the people I was suggesting may have mattered.

Oh, apologies CM. Very early in the morning here...up early to watch Aus thrash WI in the 1st Test.

I still remember our barman at our RAAF O/M in Vietnam 45 years ago...universally known as "Harry the Barman". Ex-RAF in fact.

I must admit that it didn't bother me one way or the other.It did,however, seriously bother my wife when she was "given" her namebadge prior to a ladies cocktail party to meet the wife of the incoming AOC. It was cheap tatty and stated "Pasty W/O Flt Lt ** ****". Apart from her name being Patsy she considered her marital status and the rank of her husband as immaterial with regard the cocktail party.
She was right and didn't wear it. (1970's RAF Germany)

That's nothing - should have been on the other end of the relatively new Mrs W's fury when RAFH Ely wrote to her through the GPO mail not as Mrs W, or even Mrs W, w/o Sqn Ldr W, but as just "W/O Sqn Ldr W": as she said it could easily have been the previous Mrs W!

Romeo Oscar Golf,

Same idea was used on the name boards in front of the grass widows' bungalows in the cantonments in old India, e.g. : "Mrs (W/O) Captain A.B.C. Snooks".

D.

Tanker TN,

Chas Chubb was killed whilst serving with the Australian Army in an accident involving a Chinook IIRC (TTH will put me right if that's not correct).

He had been one of the air staff advisers to the dark blue chap running CORPORATE. By one of those quirks of fate both Chubb and the fixed wing oppo advising same man, were killed in flying accidents.

Chubb is commemorated at Alrewas but also on the Support Helicopter memorial at the secret base in Hampshire.

Old Duffer

Just occurred to me. I don't think I ever got asked my name when it wasn't for a form or a bollocking!

O-D and TTN Almost exactly correct mon brave.

The Chinooks (CH 47-Cs) were then still part of the RAAF rather than t'Army, Chas was on exchange with No 12 Sqn RAAF, then based at RAAF Amberley in Queensland.

Chas hit wires at the Perseverance Dam, near Toowoomba QLD, on 4th February 1985. His life-support machine was unplugged a couple of days later.

Following the wishes of his family, a number of his organs were used for transplants, so just maybe the Chubb kidneys are still processing the amber nectar somewhere dunnunda!

Don't know if it still bears the name, but the Amberley OM patio bar was renamed "The Chas Chubb Memorial Bar" :ok:

The wires and pylons had apparently been painted green - to pacify the tree-huggers........

Thanks for the info on Chas Chubb, guys. Better to be killed doing something you love than linger with some horrible disease. Great guy:ok:.

Always strange to discover someone you knew but had lost touch with had died years ago. Similarly I only heard about "Hector" Heathcote being shot down by a SAM many years after the event, once again on this forum. He was another former buddy from the rotary world - a stalwart member of our Sunday lunchtime "curry club" when we were at Kai Tak in '68.

Once upon a time there was navigator on 511 squadron (Britannias), lets call him Fred Bloggs, who could honestly be described as a real character. All name tags for the Britannia fleet were sourced from Changi Village, so a 511 crew member on a Changi slip was detailed to buy a large batch of F. Bloggs name tags. At an appropriate occasion (I think it was an inspection) all navigators, plus several pilots on 511 became known F Bloggs.

...which brings us back to a previous thread about fake names on name badges to be worn on detachment to protect the guilty - one just had to remember that one's name was "Willie Eckerslyke" (or similar) in the O Club for the duration of the det.