Air Commodore Harold Peter BROAD (26174)

[Jagan]

Hello All,

I am looking for any photographs of H P Broad - whether from his later days or from his days as a Flying Officer in India.

His career is very well laid out in Malcolm's website at http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Broad_HP.htm

Between 1st April 1933 till about 31st December 1933, he was deputed to No.1 Squadron, Indian Air Force. I would be interested in any photographs, or documents /logbooks that have survived from this stint.

Hopefully this thread will be out there if anyone has any material on him..

[amanda]

May I ask why you are intertested in Peter ? I am handling his wife's estate as she died in January.

Best wishes
Amanda

[Jagan]

Hello Amanda,

I an amateur historian with an interest in Indian Air Force History.

I have a book project that I am working on, under the aegis of the Historical Research Wing for "United Services Institute of India" ( http://usiofindia.org/ ). The book is about the Indian Air Force's early days, and the first aircraft type it operated - The Westland Wapiti.

When the IAF was formally raised on April 1, 1933, H P Broad was one of the first two RAF Officers deputed to raise the unit. The flight consisted of one aircraft and for the first few months, Broad was the only one flying it, giving rides to the indian airmen etc.

No records exist for the 1933-1941 period related to No.1 Squadron as they are believed to have been lost in the Burma retreat. Some logbooks exist (i havent seen any ) and several photographs survive of this period.

HP Broad served only nine months or so with the unit, but these being the early days of the IAF, any documentation related to those days is of great historical value. Whether Photographs, Logbooks or Documents.

I do note that his medals / tunic and sword seemed to have been sold years ago in an auction, but it made no mention of the logbooks accompanying them. I was perhaps wishing that the logbooks survived and if we could get to see the pages for April to December 1933..?

Would appreciate your help in this matter.

[Richard Duckworth]

Hello Jagan,

You may be interested to know that all the material discovered, after the death of his widow, relating to the career of Group Captain Peter Broad, C.B.E., D.F.C. in the R.A.F. from 1930 - 1957 has been handed to the Documents and Sound Section, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ on 2.11.2012. Amongst the items were his flying logs and several albums of photographs. The collection will be made available by the IWM for the purpose of research.

Hoping this will be of assistance to you.

Best wishes,
Richard Duckworth

[Jagan]

Richard, that is the most wonderful piece of news to know that his logs and photo albums survived. What treasure trove of information they will be!

I will make some official inquiries and see if we can get copies etc..

Thanks for the heads up!

[Jagan]

Just an Update

I had a few days ago submitted an inquiry to the IWM collections, and I very kindly got a response today saying - yes there is material that would be relevant for me - especially the logbook. The IWM was very gracious to let me order photocopies of the relevant pages.

Needless to say I am delighted (and thats an understatement). Peter Broad was the first officer posted to No.1 Squadron IAF - he was flying around the Indian airmen, much before the Indian Officers from Cranwell got posted to the Unit - and to have details from those days was something I could never have imagined. i have intiatied the paperwork and hope to have the material in due course of time..

All that brings back to what I wanted to say - Thank you Ross, Thank you for RAFCommands . Thanks to its members - like Amanda and Richard who registered just to respond to my query. To have a closure to a what was a longshot inquiry within six months is nothing short of miraculous.

[144 Squadron]

Hi Jagan
I noticed this thread and your research on H.P.Broad and his early flying days in India. I own one of his post war uniforms manufactured in London in 1957 and the label indicates he then held the rank of Group Captain and was made by Austin Reed of London in January 1957. This must have been one of his last uniforms as I see he retired from the RAF after an illustrious career on 1 September 1957. I have been trying to find a photograph of Harold Peter Broad on line but have so far failed . I wonder if you had any luck with your further research as a result of contact suggested in this thread. I see the last post was sometime ago now but thought worth a shot . I would also be interested if anyone has further details of his crash in Hampden X 2997 on 17th October 1940 at RAF Waddington that appears to have finished his flying career with the RAF
Best wishes
Geoff

[Jagan]

Geoff,

I never could locate a photograph of Broad - either from his India days or later. But my contact with IWM Documents and Sound section was quite fruitful. I corresponded with Ellen Parton - who helped me get copies of the relevant pages from 1933 that dealt with his India flying.

Reg Hampden X2997 crash, have you referred to the AIR81 file with NA? It migh hav additional information that you need?


AIR81/3806 Squadron Leader H P Broad: injured; Sergeant C W Hammond, Sergeant H Logan, Aircraftman E Egar: uninjured; crash landing on return from air operations over enemy territory, Hampden X2997 (http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=X2997), 44 Squadron, 17 October 1940.C16687904 (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16687904)