Civil Air Guard
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The Civil Air Guard (C.A.G.) was established by the UK Government in July 1938 to encourage and subsidise pilot training as the prospect of another war loomed. Subsidised tuition for members of participating civilian flying clubs was offered in exchange for an 'honorable undertaking' that in an emergency members would serve in the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...
. Members of this Civil Air Guard had a dark blue boiler uniform (usually privately purchased) and badges supplied for distinction. When civil aviation ceased not long before the war began in September 1939, most members of the Civil Air Guard enlisted in either the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
or the
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...
.


The Civil Air Guard scheme

On 23 July 1938, Sir
Kingsley Wood Sir Howard Kingsley Wood (19 August 1881 – 21 September 1943) was a British Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. He became a memb ...
,
Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...
, announced the creation of the Civil Air Guard scheme. Its intention was to provide pilots who could assist the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
in a time of emergency. The scheme was civilian in nature and established in conjunction with local flying clubs. Membership was open to any person between the ages of 18 and 50 years. The
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
already offered a grant of £25 to pilot members of flying clubs who obtained an 'A' type licence. As part of the new scheme, if they volunteered for the Civil Air Guard, the grant would be increased to £50 for those trained on standard types of aircraft or £30 for aircraft that are lighter than . The renewal grant would be increased from £10 to £15. Members would receive flying training at subsidised rates of either 2s 6d or 5s an hour during the week, and 5s or 10s at weekends. The maximum subsidy of £2000 for each club would not apply to those in the Air Guard. The Air Ministry also lifted a restriction on the use of foreign aircraft for training by the flying clubs. Previously, only British-built aircraft could be used if the club wanted Ministry subsidies.


Governance of the scheme

To control the organisation, five commissioners were appointed. The Chairman of the Commissioners was
Lord Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of County Londonderry, Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry ...
and the Commissioners were: # Air Commodore John Adrian Chamier (Secretary for the Commissioners) #
William Lindsay Everard Sir William Lindsay Everard (13 March 1891 – 11 March 1949) was a brewer, politician, and philanthropist from Leicestershire, United Kingdom. As the founder and supporter of the Ratcliffe Aerodrome, Sir Lindsay was a pioneer aviator, knighte ...
(a Member of Parliament) # Major Alan Goodfellow (former First World War pilot, and Chairman of the
Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...
and the General Council of Associated Light Aeroplane Clubs) #
Maxine (Blossom) Miles Maxine Frances Mary "Blossom" Miles (''née'' Forbes-Robertson; 22 September 1901 – 6 April 1984) was a British aviation engineer, socialite, businesswoman, engraver, costume designer, and gardener. She was born into a well-known family of ac ...
(aviator and aircraft designer) # Robert Murray (President of the Glasgow Corporation Transport Flying Club). The Commissioners held their first meeting on 29 August 1938 at Ariel House, Strand in London.


Popularity and evolution of the Civil Air Guard

The organisation already had 23,647 members with the 75 flying clubs in the scheme. The first training flight commenced on 1 September 1938. At the time, 1,500 (6%) of the existing 23,647 members were available for training. Within a few weeks of the Air Ministry July announcement more than 13,350 new people had inquired about joining, although only 6,900 had actually enrolled in a flying club. Later, on 8 October 1938, the Air Ministry announced that over 30,000 applications had been received. The scheme had created a demand for more flying instructors so the Air Ministry created a temporary Assistant Flying Instructor certificate that could be obtained after just 100 hours solo flying, rather than 250 hours for the full certificate. On 24 January 1939, as the prospect of war became more imminent, Civil Air Guard licence holders were classed into three groups: #Class "A", subdivided as: #*Class A1 - Men between 18 and 30 years who might become service pilots in wartime #*Class A2 - Men over 30 years with instructional experience, or considerable flying experience who might become service pilots or instructors. #Class "B" - Men between 18 and 40 years, who for various reasons would not be considered as Class "A", who might be able to do other service flying duties such as wireless operator, air gunner or observer. #Class "C" - Men not in A or B, and all women, who might be suitable as ferry pilots, air ambulance or general communications pilots. Members who could not classed in any of these groups were advised to look for some other form of national service. Selected members of all three groups would get additional subsidised training and were known as starred groups. Class A starred members would also get Royal Air Force medicals. As the war approached, civil flying ceased and most members of the Civil Air Guard enlisted in either the Royal Air Force or the
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...
. Some of the women Civil Air Guard members went on to join the
Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...
. Other members were used for special duties in both military and civil aviation, or moved on to other non-aviation war duties.


See also

*
Civil Defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...
*
Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...


References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , title=A Civil Air Guard - new body to help in defence - Cheap flying lessons , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48055 , page=9 , date=25 July 1938
{{cite news , title=Aircraft for Civil Air Guard , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48070 , page=11 , date=11 August 1938
{{cite news , title=Forming the Air Guard - Over 23,000 members enrolled , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48086 , page=7 , date=30 August 1938
{{cite news , title=Civil Air Guards at work - selection of pupils , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48089 , page=9 , date=2 September 1938
{{cite news , title=Instructors For Civil Air Guard New Air Ministry Certificate , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48204 , page=9 , date=16 January 1939
{{cite news , title=Civil Air Guard Training Organization For A War Emergency , work=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, issue=48215 , page=6 , date=28 January 1939
1938 establishments in the United Kingdom Aviation history of the United Kingdom Flight training in the United Kingdom