Page 4 - Derek Braithet Holland

Derek Braithet Holland, Flight Engineer. 576 Squadron September 1944 - March 1945

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Derek Braithet Holland, was born on 14 August 1923 in Stirchley, Birmingham. Aged 18, he
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enlisted in the Royal Air Force on 22 January 1942 and served until he was demobbed on the 3
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December 1946. He actually finished on 1 October 1946 but was granted 63 days leave. His
Service No. was 1582558.
Derek, having volunteered for aircrew duties, would have been sent to an Aircrew Selection Board.
The exact location in Birmingham is not known but the selection boards in the city at that time
were numbered 26, 27 and 28. Derek would have undergone a full medical examination followed
by an aptitude test which would have decided his future duties in the RAF. He was selected for
Pilot/Wireless operator (Air) training and was sent home awaiting a decision on his future training
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programme. He stayed on the Reserve until the 3 August 1942 then issued with a travel warrant
and instructed to proceed to London to attend No.1 Aircrew Selection Centre (1 ACSC) at Lords
cricket ground. Aircrew attending this selection centre were accommodated in requisitioned
maisonettes in the St Johns Wood area with the catering facilities at Regents Park Zoo.

Derek was then issued with a return travel warrant back to Birmingham to await the selection
centre's decision. He did not wait long as, on the 22 August a letter and travel warrant arrived at
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his home address instructing him to attend No. 86 Wing Air Crew Camp (86 ACC) at RAF Ludlow
in Shropshire where his recruit intake would be billeted until the airmen could be put into the RAF
training system.

His stay at RAF Ludlow was short and on the 11 September the recruit intake was posted to
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No. 8 Initial Training Wing at Newquay, the recruit intake accommodated either at 'The Crescent
Hotel' or 'Beach View' in Island Crescent overlooking Towan Beach. Training started immediately
on arrival, the aim being to remove the civilian from the recruit and transform him into a
serviceman in preparation for his future duties in the service. The course, lasting approximately 10
weeks, included lectures and grading in maths, navigation, signalling in Morse (sending and
receiving using a Morse buzzer and Aldis lamp), hygiene, law and administration, arithmetic,
aircraft and ship recognition and anti-gas. Training completed on the 1 January 1943, Derek, now
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a Leading Aircraftsman (LAC), was posted on to an Aircrew Disposal Centre (or Air Crew Disposal
Wing) at Brighton. Airmen posted to this Wing were accommodated in one of these mainly large
hotels: the Grand Hotel, the Metropole Hotel, the Royal Albion Hotel, Lion Mansion Hotel and
Abbots Hotel. The Brighton Aquarium was also requisitioned. It is thought Derek was billeted in the
Metropole Hotel.

More details of the ACDW can be obtained here.

RAF Brighton

The decision to put him into pilot training was taken the same day and Derek was posted on to
No. 29 Elementary Flying Training School (29 EFTS) at RAF Clyffe Pypard 3.5 miles south of
Royal Wootton Bassett in North Wiltshire. This training airfield had a relief landing ground at Alton
Barnes 6 miles east of Devizes. The trainee pilots would have used both these locations for
circuits and bumps training (the trainee flying the aircraft in a circuit around the airfield or landing
ground, making a landing approach then pulling away to repeat the procedure).