wonwinglo

Part 2- Hard work and gritted determination.

Before we move on to my fathers trip to America lets look into detail how things worked before you ever got near an aeroplane and follow his movements from 1938 to 1941,25th February saw him at the Aviation Candidates Selection Board No.2 Recruit centre,Cardington in Bedfordshire,here as many thousands before and after him you stepped right off the train and into the old first world war airfield,the selection board kept their young recruits waiting deliberately in the waiting rooms,closely watched they needed to see how they reacted under stress and uncertainty,this seemingly cruel behaviour was essential in determining the moral fibre of these potential aircrew,questions,questions and yet more questions were bombarded at the candidates,they went into great depth about the candidates background,psychology played its part,if you could endure this then you were in,all of this was followed over a two day period entailing suitability for flying duties,aptitude tests,educational tests,and the dreaded selection board and air crew medical board,this was the first hurdle to becoming an airman with much intensity of training to follow,just to show that intensity I have where ever possible here included actual dates,this will give a clear impression in how they moved from one task to the next in the effort to get them trained as quickly as possible,only the very best would survive the course,and many got washed out when they went abroad to do their flying training.

The next move was on 14th July 1941 when my father saw himself at the aircrew receiving centre ACRC rudely nicknamed by the airman as `Darcy Arcy' this was at the famous Lords Cricket ground,Abbey Lodge,Regents Park,London N.W.8.
Within a few days saw him the other end of the country at No.4 Initial Training Wing,Paigntn,Devon where he received more intense training in preparation for another move,lots of drill and physical training,subjects to absorb were mathematics,navigation,morse signalling,gunnery,aircraft recognition and the all important air force law.


During 1941 in his uniform at the No.4 ITW,Paignton,Devon.

Then he was on his way to a real airfield at No.3 Elementary Flying Training School,R.A.F Watchfield,Swindon,Wiltshire,here he did his first solo in Tiger Moth R5201 on 7th November 1941.
Notable amongst the instructors at Watchfield was Captain Meager a first world war pilot who later was to be the navigational officer on the R.100 airship.



Another trip this time on 20th January 1941 to the ACDC at Heaton Park,in Manchester where he received his orders to get ready for embarkation to Canada on the famous 'Arnold Scheme' instigated by General 'Hap' Arnold,on 20th January 1942 together with hundreds of other potential aircrew he set sail on the troopship `Montcalm' from Greenock,Glasgow to Halifax,Nova Scotia,from here he travelled some 1500 miles down the east side of the United States by train to No.31 R.A.F depot Moncton,New Brunswick and then onto the U.S.Army Air Corps reception centre at Turner field,Albany,Georgia,U.S.A.


Montcalm 1920-1942 16,418 gt,she was built in 1920,in 1939 she was converted into the armed merchant cruiser HMS Wolfe,from 1941 she was used as a troopship,and in 1942 was sold to the Admiralty as a submarine depot ship.
She spent most of the war,from 1943 on Holy Loch with HMS Forth.The mobile submarine ships were the 'ugly ducklings' of the fleet,and gave invalueable long distance support for submarines such as the re-loading of torpedoes when required.



A bleak looking Nova Scotia during January 1942.


Locomotive 1395 pulling the train some 1500 miles down the east side of the U.S.A,what a magnificent looking engine.

From there he went during the same month of January to the Lakeland School of Aeronautics,Lakeland,Orlando,Florida,U.S.A. where he was to carry on with his flying training on an entirely different type of machine to the Tiger Moth,this time the Boeing PT-17 Stearman Kaydet, training biplane was to teach him the fundamentals of handling much heavier and larger machines.


A piece of history,my fathers identification card issued to him at the Lakeland school of aeronautics.


And in the Sidcot flying suit outer,helmet with fitted inter-comm,chest type parachute harness,with his ambition fulfilled to fly he looks a very happy man.


And with a nice looking young lady called Ruella 28th March 1942.

To be Continued...

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
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