Annual pay of wartime RAF fighter pilots

[Jukka Juutinen]

What was the annual salary of an RAF squadron pilot?

[Chris Goss]

What ranks and what years?

[MW Giles]

Kings Regulations 1941 (AP 958)
Para 3419 - Daily Pay

P/O (GD Branch) 14s 6d
F/O (GD Branch) 18s 2d
F/L (GD Branch) £1 1s 9d to £1 5s 4d
S/L (GD Branch) £1 10s 10d to £1 14s 2d
W/C (GD Branch) £1 16s 2d to £2 9s 10d

The higher rates of pay are dependent upon time in post, it took 8 years to get to the top pay in the band

F/L was very much the career level, promotion after that was purely on merit. Promotion was annual from P/O to F/O and then to F/L, if you lived long enough. You could get promoted sooner than a year if you took on responsibility and your face fitted. There is only one rate for being a P/O and F/O

Para 3447
Daily pay
Sgt (Pilot) 12s 6d
F/Sgt (Pilot) 15 s
WO (Pilot) 16s 6d

For the duration of the War NCOs got an extra 6d per day, so for example a Sgt pilot would be on 13s per day

From this point it gets very complicated with additional allowances for family/children/living out/good conduct etc etc

I will leave you to work out annual pay

£1 = 20 shillings (20s)
1s = 12 pence (12d)

The rates for Dominion airmen will be different

Martin

[Jukka Juutinen]

The idea behind the question is that could a WW2 pilot buy the fighter he was flying through his earnings within his lifetime. Certainly not possible today...

[MW Giles]

A P/O for a year would be on £264 12s 6d

A W/C for a year would be on £657/yr

I think the answer is again no if you just count the war years, a Spitfire Mk I I seem to remember came in at about £9000

Martin