News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

AMERICANS
ABROAD
U. S. :PilotsWith the Empire Forces
WITH THE R. A. F. ~ ~ ,-' WITH THE R' C. A. F.
By Lieut. ]. B. Holst ~~
By Lieut. Reed R. De Rauen
~~
When asked how many of us were in the group which
came to the Royal Air Force from the Air Forces as
observers, my answer was thirteen. All the RAF
pilots expressed ama%ement at our apparent lack of
superstition. It was always amusing to see the
reactions to that answer. But at the time of this
writing all of us have returned safe and sound to
the good old.U.S.A.
Mos t of u. exper ienced a 'bombing or two and some
went through real blit%es. None suffered any injury
except the author and that during the blackout
when riding on the back of a motorcyc.le driven by
~ absentminded Canadian who tried to pass a truck
on the left side instead of the right. Water on
the knee is not much fun, but the knee eventually
becomes usable again.
MY friend. expected me to return starved to the
point of collapse. The idea that most Americans
have about the terrible food shortage in England
is all wrong. On the contrary, we had four meals
a day: breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. Of course,
I'll admit that one does become tired of eating
cabbage and potatoes three times a day, in spite
of the fact tha t when se rved for breakfas t mixed
together and fried it is called "bubble and squeak."
There are plenty tt such breakfast foods as shredded
wheat and corn flakes, but eggs are practically nonexistent
and butter a thing of the past. It was
suggested that a man with a little business acumen
and a few thousand chickens could make a killing in
England, but, then, there is no grain to feed the
chickens.
Even though the food in the officers' messes and
in the average man's home was rather limited with
respect to variety, practically any dish could be
obtained in most ..of the better restaurants and
clubs in London--even fresh peaches at three shillings
six pence each, which at the present rate of
exchange amounts to about seventy cents.
Living expenses were negligible as long as we
stayed on the station because, since the war, the
pay of the officers in the RAF has b~encut about
in half~ Naturally, a man cannot be expected to
pay more than he earns just for living expenses.
Living in town, on the other hand" would cost more
than it would in the States because of heavy taxes
on everything.
(Cont inue" on Next P•• e)
27
My experiences with the Royal Canadian Air Force
began shortly after I ieft the United States Army
Air Corps as a flying cadet in October, 1940. I
had -washed out"after five and a half months
training here and to keep flying I enlisted in the
R.C.A.F. at Ottawa, Ontario.
Entrance requirements for the R.C.A.F. are virtually
the same as they are here with the exception
the British require airmen to have only one year of
college work which is taken in high school and is
referred to as ..senior matr ic ...
In the.British air force all enlistees, both for
air and ground crews, are rated AC2, aircraftsmen
second class, similar toour private's rating. Men
who cannot pass the physical. or mental requirements
for air work are assigned to ground crews. Uniform
worn by both groups is exactly the same except for
a white cloth insignia attached to the overseas
cap of the airmen.
After enlisting I was sent to Toronto's No. 1
Manning Pool, an air force reception center. A
group of us arrived at Manning Pbol at 1 A.M. and
found the outside cold and deserted, although the
interior literally bu%%ed with activity.
Processing began immediately and by reveille we
had gone through the mill, taking typhoid shots,
smallpox vaccinatio~ and drawing our complete uniform
kit. Next day we discovered that Manning
Pool was a huge mi1i ta!y encampment built on the
site of the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds.
Approximately 6,000 air force men were lodged in
the coliseum, which was partitioned off for sleeping
quarters, mess hall, medical anddentai clinics,
supply rooms and a central tanbark area for drill.
For 10 days we were given close order army drill
and then were sent to Eglington Hunt Club, No. 1
Initial Training School, on the other side of
Toronto. There men were qualified as pilots, gunners
and observers by a series of examinations and
short courses in visual Link Trainers, coord ina tion
tests, the Banting Altitude Chamber Test, originated
by the late Sir Frederick Banting, who was
killed recently while on a flight from Canada to
Xngland, and a mathematics test including solid
geometry and a Lge br a , Many of the fellows purposely
failed to get good &%a