Promotion to Flying Officer 112445 - June 1942

By June 1942, my Grandfather, H. C. Kelsey, had been training pilots at 21 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Booker for a year and he was starting to get itchy feet. Although he undoubtedly appreciated the regularity of his work and was able to spend his early married life with my Grandmother, not in some distant posting, the war was still not going well for the allies and he wanted to help it to it's conclusion. So he drafted this note to his Commanding Officer, S/Ldr A. J. "Jackie" Hicks, and hoped for the best.

Any request for a transfer usually didn't go down well with a C.O., and this note would have undoubtedly created a stir among the trainers at Booker. But my Grandfather was always one for taking on authority and he wanted to move on.

Speaking of authority, after 16th June 1942 it looks like, from his Log Book, my Grandfather went on leave. Then on 25/6/1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer and given the new service number 112445.

In his later years, he had a very ambivalent relationship to authority, especially the military and the police, but I'm sure as a young man, this promotion would have added an extra swagger to his step!

Newly promoted, becoming very proficient as a pilot, steadily gaining valuable flying hours, happily married and ambitious, my Grandfather's life was on the up. But the war was still not going well for the allies. Despite advances in technology such as the introduction of Gee (navigation), attacks at night by the R.A.F. were still pretty hit or miss affairs. After the first 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne (Bomber Command link)in May 1942, the second 1,000 bomber raid on Essen in June 1942 was seen as a failure as many bombers hit the wrong cities.

One result of these large concentrations of bombers sent in to action was that crew losses began to be represented not as individuals, but as percentages. Anything below 10% losses were deemed "tolerable". The people being bombed were no longer identified as human either, but instead just targets. The dehumanising effect of the use of technology in war was really starting to kick in.