So you want to be in the RAFVR?

[ME453]

If so, it helps to have one of these:



and one of these:



in which case you may be invited for interview, where you'll firstly sign one of these:







and if you're successful, you'll get one of these:

[PeteT]

There was some debate on another forum about the sentence in the Welcome letter that reads: "Arrangements will be made to help you in your studies and you will be told about these in due course".

Do you have any documents in your collection which show what was sent out to the recruit regarding this matter?

Regards

PeteT

[ME453]

Not only do I NOT have any documents about these "arrangements" Pete, but there is no mention of them arriving or of Dad studying them in his diary for this period of 5 months deferred service. He was meticulous in what he wrote and what he was doing from day to day so I'm certain that if they had figured in his routine and preparation for his time in the RAFVR, it would be in his diary. Therefore my presumption is that nothing was sent! I'm also certain that if he had had any books that I would have found some trace of them because he threw nothing away, bless him. It may have something to do with the fact that he was in the ATC and studied a variety of subjects, including maths and navigation.
Max

[K4KittyCrew]

Many thanks for posting these details, valuable information, Max. I have no such details of any kind relating to my father.
Cheers,
John

[ME453]

I hope they'll be of use to "interested parties" John. When I get more time I'll add some extracts from his diary and photos relating to this period and from his classroom notes when he was in Rhodesia as an LAC learning to fly.

[kookabat]

Not only do I NOT have any documents about these "arrangements" Pete, but there is no mention of them arriving or of Dad studying them

Thanks Max, that's very helpful - I was the one on that other forumwho raised the issue in the first place. I was trying to work out if the '21 Lessons' that Don Charlwood refers to a number of times was a uniquely Australian thing - and it would appear that it was.
Adam

[ME453]

Good, I'm glad that's helped Adam. Funnily enough I had a book arrive in the post this morning that I got off e-bay for 3 quid called "Airmen's mathematics" - the preface says "This book seeks to provide in one small volume all the elementary mathematics required by pilots, observers and those engaged in ground duties in the RAF, and it is thus designed for use in training units of the RAF and for the newly-created ATC.......etc etc."

This copy is dated September 1942: I didn't know that the ATC was in its infancy at that time so Dad was in at the very beginning. It's a brilliant little book, it reassures me that my abysmal knowledge of maths would have got me through some of the requirements for aircrew - perhaps all with a bit of polishing! There''s another page which lists some other training books, one of which is "The Elementary Handbook for Wireless Operators" by W E Crook: "An RAF man says of this book "I was very pleased to read this interesting book, I consider the work of great practical scope......" It gives all the preliminary information required by the wireless operator in training......it is a first-rate training manual - direct, sympathetic and practical." I've just located a copy for £3.00 including postage. One happy bunny!!!

By the way, I'm completely re-designing my website - the format is much more flexible than the previous host so I can do alot more with the images and documents. I won't launch it until it's ready, several months time at the rate I'm going, but lots more info to add to it including some extracts from the books mentioned above.

Hope all's well in Oz and that air-traffic controlling is going well....are you still in the Melbourne area? I hope to be coming out again, probably in 2014 now since Africa is on the cards for 2013.....unless I do both!
Best wishes
Max

[kookabat]

Well this story keeps getting bigger. It would appear your books were for use in the training units themselves rather than while waiting on the reserve. Those who were members of the ATC would have seen it as well, but from your extracts it doesn't look like a formalised pre-ITW study course like the 21 Lessons was. Certainly those UK aircrew I've spoken to can't remember anything of the like.

Stll in Melbourne, yes. A Dutch friend of mine has just thrown a request at me to try and chase the family of an Australian airman who enlisted here. There's a group planning to unveil a memorial at the crash site in the UK in June next year and this is the final outstanding family. The chase is on!!

Adam

[R5868]

Max, I have a copy of "Navigation for Air-Crews" by John Gliddon and Edward Hedges put out by University of London Press in 1942 for use in UK, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa.

It would have been confusing for navigators training in the southern hemisphere as it is all northern hemisphere based.

I actually used some of the material in maths classes at school when we were dealing with navigation. It brought home the need for accuracy when you set a problem over a long distance and expect the answer to be spot on as WW2 navigators could do.

Maybe if we all pool our resources we could set up a training course and all become qualified aircrew. On paper at least.
Kerry

[PeteT]

Just following up on Max's post regarding the "The Elementary Handbook for Wireless Operators" by W E Crook, there is a "D/F Handbook for Wireless Operators" by the same author, available as a pdf at: http://www.tubebooks.org/Books/Crook_DF.pdf

Hope it is of use.

Regards

Pete