History of the Air Training Corps

Towards the end of the 1940 the government realised the true value of the work done by the Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADDC) and agreed to take over its control. This meant a large number of changes to the corps, and in fact brought about the birth of a completely new organisation, called the Air Training Corps. So on the 5 February 1941 the Air Training Corps (ATC) was officially established, with King George VI agreeing to be the Air Commodore-in-Chief, and issuing a Royal Warrant setting out the Corps’ aims.

The number of young men responding to this new ATC was spectacular. Within the first month the size of the old ADCC had virtually doubled to more than 400 squadrons and after 12 months was about 8 times as big. The new ATC badge was designed and once approved by the King, was published in August 1941. The motto VENTURE ADVENTURE, devised by Air Commodore Chamier, was adopted by the ATC and incorporated into the badge, which together with the ATC Ensign, was approved by the King.

The new ATC squadrons adapted their training programmes to prepare young men for entry to the RAF in specific trades. They increased the amount of academic work and concentrated more on physical fitness by introducing a compulsory PT test. To pass the test the cadet had to be able to:

Run 100 yards (91.4 meters) in 13 seconds.
High jump 4 feet/1.22m (or 2ft 9inches/0.84m from a standing jump).
Long jump 15 feet/4.5m (or 6ft/1.83m -from a standing jump).
Clear 4ft 3inches/1.3m with any style of vault.
Run 1 mile in 6 minutes.
Walk 5 miles in 1hr 10 mins.

Squadrons often organised sporting events, swimming galas, boxing competitions, football and cricket matches both at local and national levels.

Squadrons would also arrange visits to RAF and Fleet Air Arm stations as part of the cadets’ training and to let them fly as much as possible. Everybody wanted to fly but with so few flights available, in many cases, cadets were disappointed. One solution designed to get the cadets airborne was to introduce them to gliding. This would give the cadets a chance to get the feel of an aircraft in flight and allow them to handle the controls. The plan was to give each cadet on annual camp, at least one flight in a glider. This obviously could not happen overnight -sites had to be found, gliders obtained, instructors trained and so on. It would be many years before the dream could be realised.