Description
Object description
British apprentice served with No 1 School of Technical Training, RAF at RAF Halton, GB, 1927-1930; aircraftman served as a aero-engine fitter at RAF Henlow, GB, 1930-1934; served with No 1 Armoured Car Coy, RAF in Iraq, 1934-1936
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Chatham, GB, 1911-1927: family; education. Recollections of training as apprentice with No 1 School of Technical Training, RAF at RAF Halton, GB, 1927-1930: reasons for enlistment in RAF, 1927; allocation as aero-engine fitter and relationship between trades; pay scales; importance of 'bull'; treatment of apprentices; workshop and school training; level of instruction; high degree of accurracy required in workshop; examinations; relation of exam results to rank and pay; passing out as leading aircraftsman, 1939; opinion of training recieved; atmosphere at RAF Halton; need for passes to get out of camp. Aspects of period as aero-fitter with RAF Henlow in GB, 1930-1934: choice of posting; work servicing aero engines.
REEL 2 Continues: problems servicing engines; types of engines worked on; opinion of Armstrong Siddeley Engine; referral procedures and problems; overhaul procedure in workshop; organisation of engine servicing; conscientious work habits; log book checks during squadron maintenance; volunteering for overseas posting, 1934; reactions to posting to Iraq and preparations. Aspects of period on board troopship from GB to Iraq, 1934: conditons on board; gambling; sleeping arrangements; guard duties; ports of call. Recollections of period as leading aircraftman with No 1 Armoured Car Coy, RAF in Iraq, 1934-1936: initial impressions of RAF Hinaidi; starting work at repair depot of No 1 Armoured Car Coy.
REEL 3 Continues: duties overhauling armoured car engines; working hours; engine wear caused by sand and dust; engines tolerance to heat; character of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars; emphasis on repair work; disposition of company sections; boredom; accommodtion; methods of cooling water in armoured cars; fire precautions; visits to Baghdad including visits to bazaar and out of bounds areas; lack of contact with women in Iraq; visit to Ctesiphon Arch; summer rest camps in Kurdistan.
REEL 4 Continues: contracting sandfly fever; instructions on behaviour towards Iraqis; incidents of venereal disease; recreational activities; Christmas celebrations; lack of contact with Iraqi civilians; sense of superiority of British personnel; description of silver working technique; servants and semi-skilled staff; opinion of Iraq Levies and background of Assyrians; state of health and effects of dysentery; relative merits of different stations in Iraq.
