Welcome letter from Secretary of State for Air
Title
Welcome letter from Secretary of State for Air
Description
Welcome to the Royal Air Force and that selection for aircrew training is a great distinction. Explains how waiting list works and explains why he will have to wait. Encourages him to keep fit while waiting and to carry on with current job.
Date
1943-08-23
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One page typewritten document mounted on an album page
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SAllenDJ1880966v10007
Transcription
[Secretary of State for Air’s crest]
AIR MINISTRY,
WHITEHALL, S.W.1.
28th August, 1943.
MESSAGE FROM
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR
You are now an airman and I am glad to welcome you into the Royal Air Force.
To have been selected for air crew training is a great distinction. The Royal Air Force demands a high standard of physical fitness and alertness from its flying crews. Relatively few attain that standard and I congratulate you on passing the stringent tests.
You are, of course, impatient to begin and you naturally ask, “When do I start?” Your order on the waiting list is determined by your age, date of attestation, and so on; and you may be sure that you will not be overlooked when your turn comes.
While waiting, go on with your present job, or if you are not in employment, get a job - if possible one which helps on the war effort.
You will want to know why you, who are so eager, should have to wait at all. I will tell you.
The Royal Air Force is a highly organised Service. In the first line are trained and experienced crews whose stirring deeds and dauntless courage daily arouse the admiration of the world. Behind those men and ready to give them immediate support are the newly-trained crews fresh from the schools. In your turn, you and other accepted candidates stand ready to fill the schools. Unless we had a good reserve of young men, like you, on which to draw, time might be lost at a critical mo-ment and the vital flow of reinforcements would be broken.
I hope this explanation will help you to understand. The waiting period should not be a waste of time. There is much that you can do. You are very fit now or you would not have been chosen. See that you keep fit. Work hard and live temperately. Learn all you can in your spare time about the things you must know if you are to be efficient later on in the air. The more knowledge you gain now the easier it will be when you come to do your training.
In wishing you success in the Service of your choice, I would add this. The honour of the Royal Air Force is in your hands. Our country’s safety and the final overthrow of the powers of evil depend upon you and your comrades. You will be given the best aircraft and armament that the factories of Britain and America can produce. Learn to use them well.
Good luck to you!
Archibald Sinclair
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR.
AIR MINISTRY,
WHITEHALL, S.W.1.
28th August, 1943.
MESSAGE FROM
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR
You are now an airman and I am glad to welcome you into the Royal Air Force.
To have been selected for air crew training is a great distinction. The Royal Air Force demands a high standard of physical fitness and alertness from its flying crews. Relatively few attain that standard and I congratulate you on passing the stringent tests.
You are, of course, impatient to begin and you naturally ask, “When do I start?” Your order on the waiting list is determined by your age, date of attestation, and so on; and you may be sure that you will not be overlooked when your turn comes.
While waiting, go on with your present job, or if you are not in employment, get a job - if possible one which helps on the war effort.
You will want to know why you, who are so eager, should have to wait at all. I will tell you.
The Royal Air Force is a highly organised Service. In the first line are trained and experienced crews whose stirring deeds and dauntless courage daily arouse the admiration of the world. Behind those men and ready to give them immediate support are the newly-trained crews fresh from the schools. In your turn, you and other accepted candidates stand ready to fill the schools. Unless we had a good reserve of young men, like you, on which to draw, time might be lost at a critical mo-ment and the vital flow of reinforcements would be broken.
I hope this explanation will help you to understand. The waiting period should not be a waste of time. There is much that you can do. You are very fit now or you would not have been chosen. See that you keep fit. Work hard and live temperately. Learn all you can in your spare time about the things you must know if you are to be efficient later on in the air. The more knowledge you gain now the easier it will be when you come to do your training.
In wishing you success in the Service of your choice, I would add this. The honour of the Royal Air Force is in your hands. Our country’s safety and the final overthrow of the powers of evil depend upon you and your comrades. You will be given the best aircraft and armament that the factories of Britain and America can produce. Learn to use them well.
Good luck to you!
Archibald Sinclair
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR.
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. The secretary of state for air, “Welcome letter from Secretary of State for Air,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/2353.
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