Service Record Abbreviations

[jonny]

Can anyone assist in deciphering the following abbreviations in a (poor quality) RAF ORs service record, please? The chap in question started as a Boy in 1917 and was demobbed as a T/WO Fitter in 1945.

TT.H.O. - 1/4/1918 (could be H.Q.?)
?d.Sec.Hal. - 1/11/26
'M' Squadron - 5/11/26

and finally

P.A.S. Hawkinge - 1/4/40

Very many thanks in advance

Jonny

[Dick]

Hi Jonny
Just some guesses.
T/WO could be Temporary Warrant Officer,he would have served long enough to get there particularly with accelerated promotion in a wartime expansion
TT I suspect is Technical Training
Hal might be an abbreviation for Halton, yhe Apprentices Training Unit and with 8 years experience he could be at such a place as an Instructor.
P is a common abbreviation for Personnel. At the time Hawkinge figures in his record he would have been very close to the natural end of whatever he signed for in 1917 and been recalled or retained on the outbreak of war
Hope this helps
Dick
Edit the A in PAS could be Allocation and would be appropriate for a person awaiting posting to a new Unit

[jonny]

Thanks Dick. I'm not sure whether anyone else has any pointers?

'P.A.S.' appears to stand for Pilotless Aircraft Section, which according to the internet, "transferred to Hawkinge from Henlow on February 22nd 1940." Queen Bees and all that.....

VMT

Jonny

[malcolm_raf]

?d.Sec.Hal is possibly Admin Section, Halton

Malcolm

[Dick]

Hi Jonny,
Your suggestion that HO is actually HQ may be right. I am not sure when the Command(ie Bomber ,Fighter,etc )structure was instituted but the date is significant as it is the date of the official creation of the new RAF and there were wholesale changes in Rank,Organisation, Uniform etc initiated at the time and I believe that there was a Technical Training Command.
Google suggests that TT Command was a WW2 creation but Technical Training as a separate sub-division seems logical.
Regards
Dick

[jonny]

Malcolm,

Good call. I think you have it! Do you know what the Admin Section was or what it did at Halton, by the way? It sounds like a latter day 'Garrison Support Unit'.
Dick,

Thanks once again for your comments.

Kind rgds

Jonny

[Resmoroh]

Jonny, Hi,
Admin Sections at Groups, Commands, and Very Large Stations, have a long, and proud history! Just take any episode of "Yes Minister", and view it through 'the other end of the telescope'! What you will see is all the politics/inefficiency/turf-wars of that TV series replicated in miniature at some RAF locations in WW2. Having said that, however, there were some good ones. But a Clerk Sec (with whom I'd shared my Square Bashing, and who I met on a subsequent Station) said "You are so lucky being on Flying Wing, and on Shifts! You don't get mucked about like the rest of us."!!

[malcolm_raf]

From 1920 to 1936 RAF Halton was one of the RAF's Home Commands along with RAF Cranwell, Inland Area, ADGB and Coastal Area. In 1936 Inland Area became Training Command with Cranwell and Halton being reduced to Group status in this new command. Training Command was split into Flying Training and Technical Training Commands in May 1940.

On 1 April 1918 the RAF created five Home Commands Nos 1 - 5 Areas, which the following month were renamed South-Eastern, South Western, North-Eastern, North-Western and Midland Areas so perhaps TT HQ was the section of one of these commands responsible for Technical Training?

Malcolm

[jonny]

Many thanks once more gentlemen.

Kind rgds

Jonny