The Royal Air Force strikes of 1946 was a series of demonstrations and strikes at several dozen

Royal Indian Air Force The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British Raj, British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the British Indian Army, and the Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The ...

stations in the Indian subcontinent beginning on 22 January 1946. As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders they technically constituted a form of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

Protests

A series of demonstrations and strikes occurred at several dozen

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 ...

stations in the Indian subcontinent beginning on 22 January 1946. As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders, they technically constituted a form of

. The protests arose in response to slow demobilization and return of British troops to Britain, and use of British shipping facilities for transporting

G.I. G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". It is most deeply associated with World War II, but continues to see use. It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork f ...

s. The "mutiny" began at either

Maripur Maripur or Mauripur () is a Pakistani village to the west of Karachi, near Hawke's Bay Beach. Air Force Base PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the Pakistan Air Force. It is located in the Mauripur area of Karachi, in the Sin ...

or nearby

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

( RAF Drigh Road) and later spread to involve nearly 50,000 men over 60 RAF stations in India,

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, Burma and as far away as Singapore, Egypt, North Africa, and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The peaceful protests lasted between three and eleven days. For their part, the British Government argued that the amount of shipping available was insufficient to permit immediate repatriation of the large number of personnel. However, later declassified reports have shown that British troops were deliberately retained in India to control possible unrest from the

independence movement Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a ...

, and the grievances of the RAF men may have also included significant political views and sympathy with the

communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. The initial protests in Karachi took the form of a collective refusal to prepare kit for inspection and going to the parade ground at the normal time but in casual

khaki drill Khaki drill (KD) is the British military term for a type of fabric and the military uniforms made from them. History Khaki colour uniforms were first introduced in 1848 in the British Indian Army Corps of Guides. As well as the Corps of Guid ...

rather than the " best blue" uniforms required when on morning parade. The issues were ultimately resolved. Some of the airmen involved faced

courts-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. However, the precedent set by this event was important in instigating subsequent actions by the

and later, the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

in February 1946 in which 78 of a total of 88 ships mutinied. Lord Wavell,

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, commented at the time, "I am afraid that heexample of the Royal Air Force, who got away with what was really a mutiny, has some responsibility for the present situation."Field Marshal Viscount Wavell to Mr Attlee (via India Office), Telegram, L/PO/4/28: ff 66-7. Sent 24 February 1946, 4.50 pm at New Delhi, appears in ''The Transfer of Power in India, 1942-47'', Volume 6, Page 1055 edited by

Nicholas Mansergh Philip Nicholas Seton Mansergh (27 June 1910 – 16 January 1991) was an Anglo-Irish historian. His focus was on Ireland and the British Commonwealth. He was Master of St John's College, Cambridge (1969-1979). He was chair of British Commonweal ...

, published by Foreign & Commonwealth Office (London, 1976).

References

* .

Bibliography

Mutiny in the RAF - the Air Force Strikes of 1946
David Duncan. 1999 .
Review of Richard Woodman's ''A brief history of mutiny''
''Journal for Maritime research''. August 2005. *. *John W. Cell, in Reviews of Books; Asia. ''White Mutiny: British Military Culture in India'' by Peter Stanley. The American Historical Review, Vol. 104, No. 3. (Jun., 1999), pp. 888–889.
SECRET HISTORY: MUTINY IN THE RAF

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. * {{Indian independence movement 20th-century history of the Royal Air Force Mutinies Events that led to courts-martial 1946 in India 1946 in the United Kingdom 1946 in military history 1946 labor disputes and strikes Labour disputes in India Military history of Karachi Labour disputes and strikes in the aftermath of World War II

Protests

See also

References

Bibliography