Great Great Grandfathers unit id

[BillieBoy]

One of my Great Great Grandfathers was a member of the Royal Air Force in 1918 and completed training but never flew any missions since the war ended before he could get the chance. I have a picture of his unit (I have no idea what it would be called, I don’t know anything about Air Force formations), so if any of you can identify what unit this is, that would be great. Thanks!

[PRC]

There may well be more on FindMyPast, but his officers papers on the National Archive show that he was born 14th May 1899 and show that he initially reported for duty on the 9th May 1918 and was posted to 50 C.W on the 14th. However a subsequent move in October 1918 shows him coming from 2 C.W., but no indication of when he moved berween 50 C.W. and 2 C.W.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8253274

 

Hopefully someone will be along shortly who knew what C.W. stood for :-)

 

Edit - that date of birth means he was jus 18 when he started his training, not just 18 when the war came to an end.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited 19 June , 2019 by PRC
Comment on dob.

[BillieBoy]

10 minutes ago, PRC said:

There may well be more on FindMyPast, but his officers papers on the National Archive show that he was born 14th May 1899 and show that he initially reported for duty on the 9th May 1918 and was posted to 50 C.W on the 14th. However a subsequent move in October 1918 shows him coming from 2 C.W., but no indication of when he moved berween 50 C.W. and 2 C.W.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8253274

 

Hopefully someone will be along shortly who knew what C.W. stood for :-)

 

Edit - that date of birth means he was jus 18 when he started his training, not just 18 when the war came to an end.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Big thanks! When I looked up acronyms what the CW stood for, I found that it could be Combat Wing or Communication Wing. 

[horatio2]

I think in this case CW = Cadet Wing.  https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/taking-flight/pathway-to-pilot/first-world-war.aspx

[PRC]

23 minutes ago, RaySearching said:

 

According to the list of RAF abbreviations 

 

CW = communication Wing

 

 

Ray

 

18 minutes ago, BillieBoy said:

Big thanks! When I looked up acronyms what the CW stood for, I found that it could be Combat Wing or Communication Wing. 

 

Been doing some digging and can't find any reference to a Communications Wing before December 1918. I also came across references to a Cranwell Wing, but on investigation that again seems to be after the creation of the training school in 1919. I can't see any reference to a Combat Wing from this period.

 

Unfortunately looking for a Day in a resource like Flight Magazine or the London Gazette is beyond even my powers of research endurance :-), particularly as there is nothing on the card to indicate he was ever commissioned so he may never have been formally on the books of any branch of the RAF. I assume he therefore remained a Cadet for his 8 months of service - which gives another candidate for what the "C" stood for, but I've never heard of a Cadet Wing.

 

Puzzled of Norfolk,

 

Edit - just seen Horatio2's response  - you learn something new everyday :-)

Edited 19 June , 2019 by PRC
As per Edit

[RaySearching]

Peter  I removed my post before you replied  if you wondered where it had disappeared to, I believe it was incorrect 

Having had another look  (H2s post no 4 )  Cadet Wing is the correct answer, which makes more sense 

 

Ray

[PRC]

 

5 minutes ago, RaySearching said:

Peter  I removed my post before you replied  if you wondered where it had disappeared to, I believe it was incorrect 

Having had another look  (H2s post no 4 )  Cadet Wing is the correct answer, which makes more sense 

 

Ray

 

No worries Ray - the forum always gets there in the end :-)

 

16 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

I think in this case CW = Cadet Wing.  https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/taking-flight/pathway-to-pilot/first-world-war.aspx

 

Thanks to Horatio for getting us back on track, (or is that flightpath!)

 

Now who is going to tell us where those Cadet Wings were based?

 

Cheers,

Peter

[MaxD]

No 2 - Hursley Park Winchester later Hastings (the white bands around their caps mark them out as flying cadets btw).  I think the first is 5 O (Officer) Cadet Wing - Denham

 

This from other threads answered more definitively here before - use the Search box 

 

Max

Edited 19 June , 2019 by MaxD
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