Where / what was unit "1 CW" in the RFC?

[steve fuller]

Hi pals

An airmans recordim helping out with lists the unit he was transferred to on joining the FRC as "1CW". It was 8 months after enlisting, and looks like his first posting.

Cant for the life of me work out what it could be, so can someone ut me outa my misery please?

Cheers

Steve

[Brigantian]

Steve

First thing that springs to mind is 1 Cadet Wing - not by any means sure though. Did he become an officer?

Regards

Mark

[Dolphin]

Steve

No 1 Cadet Wing was based at Shorncliffe, along with Nos 2, 5, 6 and 8 Cadet Wings.

Regards

Gareth

[steve fuller]

Hi guys - thanks for those.

He didnt become an officer, but was promoted to a Sgt when he moved to the RAF in April 1918, then a Sgt Mechanic a few days later, & a month after that became an Observer. Had 8 victories to his name & a DFM, so was a busy boy. However ...

His first posting at 1CW was as a "Pilot (Ins)", then he was moved to france & the RAF as an observer, so I am assuming the "Ins" means he was under instruction? That woudl make the Cadet Wing element fit nicely really ...

Steve

[Dolphin]

Steve

It was common for potential pilots who, for some reason or other, didn't complete their training to be given the choice of becoming an observer.

If you give us the name of your man, perhaps we can work out a bit more about him.

Cheers

Gareth

[steve fuller]

Hi Gareth

He was a quite "famous" ace I suppose - Hubert Cecil Hunt, 22 Sqn RAF, 8 victories. Have lots of evidence on him (record, cards, book clippings, obit etc) but a few gaps that i woudl dearly like to plug. have got so much of his story together it would be a shame to miss a few snippets ...

Hubert completed 6 months at Shorncliffe & moved to France 22 Sqn 2 April 1918. My hyposthesis is that he was moved in response to the situation over there as they were a bit stretched by then of course. I think he hadnt completed his pilot training by then, so took an Observers role.

He was offered a commission as Pilot that Summer but suffered from shell shock & by the time he recovered the war was over.

Is on 22 Sqn records LOADS of times, but have no trace of him being in another Sqn between 2nd April and 8th May (being his first recorded flight in 22 Sqn). Family lore says he met Richtofen several times but that would have needed to have been in April of course, and I have not established what unit he was in, so cannot confirm that at the moment either. You can understand that, although its great trawling through the Sqn records, i dont wanna really have to look through ALL of them to find a trace of him!!

And thats my hypo!

Any evidence to support or contradict that hypo would be fantastic

Cheers Gareth

Steve

[Dolphin]

Steve

I had a look for mention of Sgt Hunt in W F J Harvey's history of No 22 Sqn Pi in the Sky, but without success. He is, of course, listed in Franks, Guest and Alegi's Above the War Fronts which only shows service in No 22 Sqn.

Could he have been ill for a short period after arrival at No 22 Sqn? This might account for his not flying for a time.

Regards

Gareth

[steve fuller]

Thanks for the looksy Gareth - appreciated. He could have been ill for a while but I cant say for sure im afraid. Seem to have drawn a blank on the evidential front for the period in question. I suppose the month could also have been the "bedding in" time after 6 months of theoretical training before they "let him lose" in a Bristol with a big gun strapped to it?

Im really grateful for your help so far, so thank you for the input.

Cheers

Steve