Request for information, research for book

Request for information, research for book

Covering letter and set of questions to assist in the writing of a book "The Training of RAF Aircrew in the United States, 1916 - 1918 and 1941-1945".

Three printed pages

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EGuinnGSShattockGF[Date]-010001, EGuinnGSShattockGF[Date]-010002, EGuinnGSShattockGF[Date]-010003

[censored]

Dear Sir:

I hope you will pardon my using this form to reach you. You may already be aware that I am researching a book about British aircrew training in the United States, 1941-1945. I realise that you are quite busy, but in the interest of assuring that the historical record is as accurate as can be, I urge you, please, to complete and return the attached pro forma as soon as possible.

Since memories fade, and wartime security regulations prohibited writing home the names of troopships in which men were conveyed to North America and back to the U.K., it has been very difficult to gather enough such specific information. As a result, I ask that you be as specific as possible and confirm, if possible, details used in tracing your career.

In most instances, personal memory will be excellent and reliable, but in order to confirm any information, if it is possible to do so, I hope you will be able to consult former colleagues, your log-books, diary, reminiscences, or any extant letters sent to loved ones during the war.

On several occasions, former aircrew have provided me with dated excerpts from diaries and from letters to parents or wives and have given me permission to quote from these materials. Others have provided copies of documents or of scattered issues of classbooks which were written by and for British cadets.

Since documents properly belong in such historical archives collections as those in the RAF Museum at Hendon, the Imperial War Museum, or the Public Record Office at Kew Gardens. I am not interested in collecting such original printed or written manuscripts. However, if you would be willing to provide xerox copies of such materials which you think will shed light on your own wartime experiences, and will permit me to quote from them in the book, perhaps you will advise.

Since I am anxious to complete the book as quickly as possible, I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,
Gilbert S. Guinn
Gilbert S. Guinn
Professor of history

[page break]

FOR FORMER RAF MEN WHO WERE TRAINED IN THE USA. 1941-1945:

The following set of questions is respectfully submitted to you for the purpose of researching the subject. “The Training of RAF Aircrew in the United States, 1916-1918 and 1941-1945”. [underlined] The questions are stated in the format and detail below in order to jog your memory and assist you in reviewing experience of many years ago. [/underlined] As an historian, my commitment is to examine every aspect of that experience, both positive and negative, and to produce a worthwhile book about that important chapter in aviation history and our respective national histories. If you will, bear in mind that many people in the United States and Britain are not aware of that co-operative venture. Moreover, those people who do remember will be anxious to know what happened to those thousands of bright young men who travelled so far for training so long ago. [underlined] Please respond as fully as you wish and in any format you care to use. [/underlined] Any comments or materials used in the book will be acknowledged; and a commitment has already been made to share any publication royalties with the Royal Air Forces Association. Your assistance and suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

Dr. Gilbert S. Guinn
Lander College
Greenwood, South Carolina
29646, USA

Home Address: 216 Janeway
Greenwood, South Carolina
29646, USA

[underlined] NAME SERVICE NICKNAME [/underlined] DATE OF BIRTH

Date of enlistment in the RAF. Home and occupation at the time of enlistment.
Place and dates of basic military training.
Duty assignments prior to I.T.W. assignment.
Place and dates of I.T.W.
Place and dates of Grading Course
Name of ship and dates of transport to Canada.
Evaluation of experience to that time.

[underlined] PRIMARY FLIGHT SCHOOL: [/underlined]

Route taken and means of travel from Canada to destination.

Location and name of Primary Flying Training School. (If you were eliminated at any stage of pilot training and were assigned elsewhere for other aircrew training, please describe this, regardless of format).

Reception by citizens and school personnel.

Class or course assignments (42A, 43D, etc.)
Date Flying begun.
Name of flying instructor
Aircraft type
Washout rates. successes, failures
Housing
Food
Adjustments to heat, food
Incidents
Quality of instruction
Recreation on or off post
Evaluation of Elementary
Ground & flight instructors’ accents

[page break]

[underlined] BASIC AND/OR ADVANCED FLYING SCHOOLS: [/underlined]

Route taken and means of travel from Elementary school to Basic and/or Advanced schools.

Location and name of Basic and/or Advanced Flying Schools.

[underlined] MEMORIES OF BASIC AND/OR ADVANCED FLYING TRAINING: [/underlined]

Housing
Aircraft types
Recreation
Adjustments
Quality of instruction
Incidents
Evaluation of Basic and Advanced
Graduation
Problems

[underlined] RETURN TO BRITAIN AND WARTIME CAREER: [/underlined]

Route taken and means of travel from Advanced Flying School to Canada.
Waiting period at casual base in Canada.
Route taken and means of travel from Canada back to Britain.
Leaves and furloughs.
Operational Training Unit, where, aircraft type, unit.
Assignment to support flying – ferrying aircraft, etc.
Assignment to operations: Type Aircraft, Squadron, Number of missions. Decorations, P.O.W.?
Post-operations assignments. Dates of promotions, highest rank held.
Final Number of flying hours.

[underlined] POST-WAR CAREER: [/underlined]

Brief sketch or outline of career after 1945.
Have you ever revisited the U.S.A. and the sites of old flight schools?
Did your RAF Training help you in your post-war career?
Did it ever make any difference that you were trained in the United States rather than elsewhere?

[underlined] SUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH AND THE BOOK: [/underlined]

Names and addresses of other individuals who trained in the U.S.A. or their survivors.
Names and addresses of RAF aircrew who washed out of pilot training in the U.S.A. and later trained as Navigators, Gunners, Fitters, etc.
Other comments or suggestions: