Promotion in the RAF WWII

[smokie]

Hello All,

I am crying help again - I have been mapping the Career of a Family friend who was a Pilot with the RCAF flying Halifax III,s from Tholthorpe.

According to 6 Group ORB the Pilot in question was a Flt/Sgt at the end of March 1944, a Warrant Officer 2 in Mid May 1944 & a Pilot Officer in mid June 1944.

I know that Promotion may have been quicker than peacetime perhaps but was this normal or could it have been a typing error?

Any knowledgable kind Soul have any thoughts at all?

Many thanks - Keith.

[Bill Walker]

Just a general comment: ORBs will record the rank known at the the unit at the time of the entry. Automatic RCAF promotions (usually at one year intervals in the RCAF) took some time to process, with paperwork crossing the Atlantic, and word might not arrive at the unit until well after the "official" date. This produces a fair bit of confusion, including several cases of RCAF members listed as one rank on date of death in an ORB and at a higher rank in central records.

[smokie]

Many Thanks Bill for your comments - This may well indeed be a case of being promoted after his death?.
I know & have Pictures of him as a WO2 around the time he went missing in early June 1944 - I suspect that his Pilot Officer Rank may well have come Posthumously after the Official Gazzette Statement/s of MIA in October 1944 and finally KIA in May 1945.

Hopefully when I finally receive his Records from Canada it may be well be proof that this was so?

[Bill Walker]

Strictly speaking, I think posthumous promotions were rare. What was more common was official word of the promotion not reaching the individual before their death. "The check was in the mail", so to speak.

The delay in information could be both ways. In this case the final promotion may have come after his actual death, but before he was officially classified as such.

[smokie]

Thanks Bill - As I mentioned earlier I just have to sit tight & wait for his Service Records to arrive from Canada - They do take a while unfortunately but the Staff there are first class.

Hopefully they will finally answer some Questions?

Best Regards - Keith.

[Nick Beale]

I think Max Hastings' "Bomber Command" said the Canadians had an all-officer policy for aircrew, in contrast to the RAF.

[Bill Walker]

"All officers" was a goal of some portions of the senior RCAF staff, supported by some politicians. It didn't become an official policy until after the war. Automatic promotions was a compromise used during the war. All the Canadian BCATP schools had fixed percentage of officers in every graduating class right up to the end, with some minor variations allowed in some cases to recognize capable individuals.