hi all
was just sent a link to a discussion in 2002 regarding this armband.
here's the important bit
bc
received from Mr. Andrew Cormack at RAF Museum, Hendon:
Captain of Aircraft armbands were introduced by Air Ministry Order N 861 of 24th August 1944. No explanation of why this insignia was thought necessary is given, but it is assumed that it was to emphasize the status of the pilot of a large aircraft in relation to his crew. This emphasis was presumably thought to be required because, by this stage of the war, many pilots were NCOs whilst members of their crew could be Commissioned Officers
who therefore out-ranked them and theoretically could order them to act against their own inclinations. It had always been accepted that the pilot, whatever his rank, was the leader of the team and everyone usually understood that, but presumably there had been incidents in which the conduct of an NCO pilot had been questioned by his officer crew members and a reassertion of the pilot's primacy of status was thought necessary.
I have chatted to Veterans about this from time to time. Very few remember them and those who did said that their crew never used them; they all knew that 'Ginger', 'Chalky White' or 'Biffo' was the Captain of their aircraft and they did what he said. Rank had no significance once you were inside the aircraft. But obviously there must have been some incidents or else the Air Ministry would not have bothered to invent these things. I
have never, in 23 years at the Museum, seen a photo of anyone wearing one and I regret that I could not open up your pictures. We have several examples of these bands in the collection and none give the appearance of ever having been worn.
I hope these notes are of service.
Andrew Cormack FSA
Keeper of Medals, Uniforms and Visual Arts
Royal Air Force Museum
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