Royal Air Force College Cranwell

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College Hall Officers' Mess, Royal Air Force College Cranwell (2010)

The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the officers' school of the British Air Force . It was founded in 1920, making it the world's oldest institution of its kind. RAFC is on the air base RAF Cranwell in Cranwell (county Lincolnshire located).

history

The Royal Air Force College opened on February 5, 1920 under the command of Air Commodore CAH Longcroft . In 1922 it was decided to build the College Hall Officers' Mess (CHOM), and in 1929 Lady Maud Hoare laid the foundation stone for the building. In the autumn of 1933 the first cadets used CHOM. On October 11, 1934, the Prince of Wales ( Edward VIII ) opened the building. During the Second World War , officer training was suspended because the area - which was spared from bombing raids - was used for pilot training. RAFC has been a member of the European Air Force Academies (EUAFA) since the 1990s .

College Hall Officers' Mess

Inside the building are in the Rotunda u. a. Painting by the painter Norman Hepple , who portrayed HM Elizabeth II and HRH Philip . Other personalities can be seen in the Founders Gallery : Jan Christiaan Smuts , Lord Hugh Trenchard , Sir Charles Longcroft and Sir Winston Churchill . A festive dining room with pictures of Hugh Malcolm , Sir Frank Whittle and Sir Douglas Bader is used for graduation and selected memorial and action days . The college has one of the largest Air Force libraries in the world, with such precious holdings as Sir Arthur Harris's desk . The accompanying Lawrence Room is named after TE Lawrence , who bequeathed the facility a hand-annotated copy of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom .

Graduates

Further:

See also

Web links

Commons : Royal Air Force College Cranwell  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ formation of RAFC Cranwell , raf.mod.uk, accessed November 9, 2015.