RAF Airman Aircrew rank badges - 1947

[wasaraftype]

HI all,

I wondered if anybody knows of the meaning of the different categories of these patches.

There are 2 different types described under the following AMO:
A.808148/46/P.1-12.6.47

Type A: Light blue star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/831
Type B&D: White star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/836

There is no mention of a category C.

Both of these issues were promulgated on the same date.

Unfortunately, there is no specification of the actual function between the 2 types.

Attached an image of a pair Airman Aircrew I for reference.


Regards,

Graham

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by wasaraftype

Type A: Light blue star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/831
Type B&D: White star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/836

Found this :

An E IV wore a single star within his laurel arm badge, the ex-tradesmen having a pale blue stars, and the Direct Entry Engineers had a white ones.

Will try and find source when I have a bit of time.


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[Insignia]

A few examples showing some variations

[mike_vee]

A bit more info :

a cadet simply wore on the upper arm a light blue embroidered laurel wreath with an eagle facing rearwards above it, an E IV had a single star in the middle of a pair of laurel leaves surmounted by a woven eagle, an E III had two stars, an E II had three stars, and an E I had three stars and a Crown above the eagle and was equivalent to a FS.

A's and B's

There was also a pay differential with the ex-tradesmen being called Engineer (A) and we were, of course, (B) this anomaly was eventually removed some time in 1968 when all of the (B) engineers were allowed to sit an examination and remuster to Air Engineer (A).

No Overseas Tours for This Flight Engineer


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[mike_vee]

I also found a link to a pdf version of :

A HISTORY OF FLIGHT ENGINEER TRAINING IN THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
by Flt Lt D. C. Stringman RAF

This can be downloaded and may be of interest to some forum members.

https://raffeaea.com/wp-content/uplo...r-Engineer.pdf

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[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by wasaraftype

I wondered if anybody knows of the meaning of the different categories of these patches.

There are 2 different types described under the following AMO:
A.808148/46/P.1-12.6.47

Type A: Light blue star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/831
Type B&D: White star on blue/grey background. Store No: 22H/836

There is no mention of a category C.

Found an article from Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal 42:

The 1946 Aircrew Scheme.- From page 70 onwards.

These suffixes were related to sub-divisions within the early post-war ground crew trade structure which was divided into A, B, C and D groupings for pay purposes. Broadly speaking, the A Group comprised highly skilled fitter-grade tradesmen; B covered the less skilled mechanics and their equivalents; C embraced clerical trades, and D unskilled aircrafthands; see AMO A.683/1946 of 8 August.

While it was the intention that all new SEG aircrew would be recruited from the A Group and provision had been made, where appropriate, for serving ex-wartime aircrew to be graded (B), it was also necessary to apply a (D) suffix to cater for directly recruited wartime gunners who had no other trade qualifications.

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documen...Journal-42.pdf


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[Insignia]

Many thanks for the excellent references and links Mike

The article in the RAF Journal is by the author JEFFORD, C. G. who wrote OBSERVERS AND NAVIGATORS AND OTHER NON-PILOT AIRCREW IN THE RFC, RNAS AND RAF.

I’ve the first 2001 edition, the article in the journey provides greater detail than in the book’s first edition, however note a 2014 updated edition was published which I’ve not see.