Fitter IIA daily routine at Wellington squadron in 1941

[CZ_RAF]

Hi all,

I am trying to learn what was a daily routinne for a Fitter II Airframe who was serving with a Wellington bomber squadron in the UK in 1941.
I have seen a roster where group of Fitters IIA was in structure of Squadron Servicing Party only. What does it means - Fitters IIA were avaiable only in workshops/hangars and not at the flights at dispersals?
Any additional info to this theme would be much appreciated.

Pavel

[David Duxbury]

Pavel,
Because Fitters (Airframe or Engines) were a more experienced and generally more skilled group than the lowly Flight Mechanics and Flight Riggers, they are often thought of as being workshops men rather then mere servicing (refuelling, rearming, checking), but a number of the more skilled men were also requited for general supervision and a ready source of more technical advice and general knowledge in servicing parties, at least that is my understanding. Often, when squadrons had their own groundstaff, these tended to be mainly for servicing only, with the Base or Station Workshops having the repair and major repairs carried out and being on the strength of the latter units. I am still rather hazy on this, but I do have somewhere the official establishment of a Single Engine Fighter Squadron in the RAF Far East theatre (Singapore) in mid-1941, which was probably very similar to a similarly equipped squadron in the UK. I recall that there were a number of Fitters of both types in the establishment, perhaps eight of each, and they probably had about three times as many of the F/Mechs and F/Riggers. Hope this gives a bit of an idea of the distribution of various levels of tradesmen that work on aircraft, although these figures have not been checked at this stage (all from memory I am afraid). If I can locate the true figures I will be in a much better position to give better statistics.
David D

[CZ_RAF]

David thank you for your answer. It helps me to understand how the fround staff was divided.

Pavel

[Grexx]

Pavel,
To confirm what was written below, the War Establishment of Wellington Squadron, in this case 300 Polish Squadron in early 1941, shows, that the group of Fitters IIA was assigned only to Squadron Servicing Party only.
The ground element of both Flights included only a bench of less qualified personnel: Electricians, Flight Mechanics, Fitters I, Flight Riggers, Instrument Repairers and a group of ACHs- without any specialties.

Regards,
Greg

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Greg

Just a minor point regarding "bench of less qualified personnel: Electricians, Flight Mechanics, Fitters I"

Fitter I was actually a higher skilled trade than Fitter IIA & IIE, they were skilled in both engines and airframes. Fitter I and Fitter II were both in Trade Group I.

Malcolm

[David Duxbury]

Malcolm of course is absolutely correct, Fitter I was about as high in the engineering trade as you could reach as an NCO or WO. If you wanted to get any higher you would have to go to university! (or get higher technical qualifications within the service).
David D

[CZ_RAF]

Malcolm + David thank you for additional info.

Pavel