No. 1 School of Technical Training
Encyclopedia
No.1 School of Technical Training (No. 1 S of TT) is the Royal Air Force's
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 aircraft engineering school, based at RAF Halton
RAF Halton
RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...

 from 1919 to 1993, as the Home of the Aircraft Apprentice
Aircraft Apprentice
The Aircraft Apprentice Scheme was a training programme for Royal Air Force ground crew personnel.-Formation:World War I saw the beginning of aerial combat. By 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service had amalgamated into the Royal Air Force...

 scheme. The Aircraft Apprentice scheme trained young men in the mechanical trades for aircraft maintenance, the graduates of which were the best trained technicians in the RAF and would usually progress to Senior NCO ranks. However, ninety one ex-apprentices went on to achieve Air Rank. Many more became commissioned officers, including Sir Frank Whittle "father of the jet engine", who completed his apprenticeship at RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...

, before the move to RAF Halton. Graduates of the Aircraft Apprentice
Aircraft Apprentice
The Aircraft Apprentice Scheme was a training programme for Royal Air Force ground crew personnel.-Formation:World War I saw the beginning of aerial combat. By 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service had amalgamated into the Royal Air Force...

 scheme at RAF Halton
RAF Halton
RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...

 are known as Old Haltonians
Old Haltonians
The Old Haltonian Association, which was founded by Lieutenant Colonel AFS Cardwell in 1925, was an important feature of the earliest years of the Royal Air Force’s Apprentice training at the No 1 School of Technical Training...

.

As well as the three year apprentice scheme No.1 S of TT also carried out training of Craft Apprentices on a newly developed 2 year long apprenticeship, from 1964, commencing with 201 entry. Sgt Craft Apprentice Glenn Morton of 203 entry was the first craft apprentice to receive a direct entry commission after graduating from Halton. The current senior serving member of the RAF Halton Apprentices Association (Old Haltonians) is Air Vice-Marshal Paul Colley OBE, who joined the RAF as an apprentice of 127th entry.

The oldest living member of the RAF Halton Apprentices Association (Old Haltonians) is John Rogers, who was born in October 1908, and who became a member of the 12th entry of apprentices in 1925. The oldest living member of the Association is awarded the honorary title "King Brat" as a mark of respect. John Rogers succeeded Richard Martin (6th entry, 1922) (Born: 12 October, 1906, in Southfields, London/Died: 1 November, 2010, in Kircaldy, Fife, aged 104) as King Brat.

The Patron of the "Old Haltonians" Association is Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Mike Armitage
Michael Armitage (RAF officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael John Armitage KCB CBE is a former senior Royal Air Force commander.-RAF career:Educated at Newport Grammar School on the Isle of Wight, Armitage joined the Royal Air Force as an apprentice at RAF Halton in 1947. He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 17 Squadron in...

 (56th entry, Aircraft Apprentices) and the Vice-Patrons are Air Marshal Cliff Spink
Cliff Spink
Air Marshal Clifford Rodney Spink CB CBE FCMI FRAeS RAF R'td was a senior Royal Air Force officer during the early 1990s and is now a Spitfire display pilot on the national air display circuit. The first Spitfire he ever flew belonged to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, during his tenure as...

 (104th entry, Aircraft Apprentices) and Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Sir Graham Miller (RAF officer) (210th entry, Craft Apprentices).

The RAF Aircraft Apprentice Scheme was initiated by Lord Trenchard at the No.1 School of Technical Training, RAF Halton in 1922. Initially started in 1920 at Halton camp, the site was not ready to accept apprentices until 1922 so the first four entries were trained at 'RAF Cranwell'. Between 1922 and 1993, when the scheme ended with 155th Entry, over 40,000 young men known, more or less affectionately as Halton 'Brats' had graduated. Richie Waylens (155th) is officially the last apprentice to graduate from the apprentice scheme.

In 1952 No.1 S of TT received royal recognition when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 presented the School with a colour
Colours, standards and guidons
In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards or Guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago...

. The colour was received on behalf of the school by the 63rd Entry of aircraft apprentices; the colour party being Sergeant Aircraft Apprentice (S/A/A) F.M. Hines, and identical twins S/A/A's Clive and Richard Grant.

From 1993 to the present No.1 S of TT has been based at the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering, Cosford (formerly RAF Cosford).

Commandants

  • Air Cdre
    Air Commodore
    Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

     F R Scarlett
    Francis Rowland Scarlett
    Air Vice Marshal Francis Rowland Scarlett CB, DSO, RAF was a senior Royal Air Force commander.-Military career:Scarlett joined the Royal Navy in 1891 and in April 1913 he attended the Central Flying School, being awarded his Aviator's Certificate no. 468 on 4 April 1913...

      8 Dec 1919 to 27 Feb 1924
  • Air Cdre C L Lambe 28 Feb 1924 to 31 Mar 1928
  • Air Cdre I M Bonham-Carter
    Ian Bonham-Carter
    Air Commodore Ian Malcolm Bonham-Carter CB, OBE, RAF was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force.After his education at Haileybury, Ian Bonham-Carter was commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers in 1900. Bonham-Carter served in the 5th Battalion and then the 1st Battalion of the...

     1 Apr 1928 to 30 Sep 1931
  • AVM N D K MacEwen
    Norman MacEwen
    Air Vice Marshal Sir Norman Duckworth Kerr MacEwen CB, CMG, DSO, RAF was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the first half of the 20th century.-Army career:...

     1 Oct 1931 to 26 Dec 1934
  • Air Cdre J T Babington 27 Dec 1934 to 9 Jul 1936
  • Air Cdre G R M Reid
  • Air Cdre G B Dacre
  • AVM O Swann
    Oliver Swann
    Air Vice Marshal Sir Oliver Swann KCB, CBE, RAF , born Oliver Schwann, was a leading figure in the Royal Naval Air Service and senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the first half of the 20th century....

  • Air Cdre G B Dacre
  • Air Cdre H G White
  • Air Cdre J F Titmus
  • Air Cdre N Carter
  • Air Cdre J G Elton
  • Air Cdre J G W Weston
  • Air Cdre G N E Tindal-Carill-Worsley
  • Air Cdre E D McK Nelson
  • Air Cdre T N Coslett
  • Air Cdre B Robinson
  • Air Cdre D M Strong
  • Air Cdre A C Deere
    Alan Christopher Deere
    Air Commodore Alan Christopher "Al" Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar , was a New Zealand Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain and author of Nine Lives.-Early life:...

  • Air Cdre H P Connelly
  • Air Cdre R H G Weighill
    Bob Weighill
    Bob Weighill was a rugby union international who represented England from 1947 to 1948. He also captained his country and later became Secretary of the Rugby Football Union. Weighill served in the Royal Air Force and rose to the rank of Air Commodore.-Life:Bob Weighill was born on September 9,...

  • Air Cdre B Hamilton
  • Air Cdre M P Stanton
  • Gp Capt J P Downes
  • Gp Capt O J Truelove
  • Gp Capt Michael J Evans (70th entry of apprentices) - past Chairman of the Old Haltonians Association
  • Gp Capt S P Rarsons
  • Gp Capt R H Kyle
  • Gp Capt S M Williamson-Noble
  • Gp Capt Ian R Blunt (84th entry of apprentices) - past Chairman of the Old Haltonians Association (b.1940; d. 20 Nov 2010)
  • Gp Capt Rodney Brumpton (retired as Air Commodore) (106th entry of apprentices) - immediate past Chairman of the Old Haltonians Association
  • Gp Capt Geoffrey O Burton (100th entry of apprentices) - current Chairman of the Old Haltonians Association

External links

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