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BESPOKE ITEMS
College March On
March on the
Queen's Colour
Aida - Slow March
Graduating Entry March Off
Audio MP3
Reference Albums
Celebrities
Tributes
Aircraft
Assets
Training Life
College Bells Sound the Retreat to commemorate former cadets killed in WWII
Feature of the Month
Click on this month
VETERANS' CORNER
Audio clips of sounds heard at the RAF College.
Detailed Reference Manuals held in our CHS Virtual Library.
MP4 Video clips of Cranwellians and VIPs, including feature documentaries and interviews.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. HOVER OVER FOR DESCRIPTIONS
2. CLICK ON GRAPHICS TO OPEN CONTENTS
3. LOOK OUT FOR UNDERLINED EMBEDDED LINKS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Links to other sites of interest.
All these buttons will give you a description of the album or video clip.
A video made in 1955 describing the initial officer training of cadets
Some browsers download this recording for access; some will play it automatically in a new browser tab. MRAF Sir Dermot Boyle, the first Cranwell cadet to become CAS, pays tribute to his mentor and first CAS, Lord Trenchard. It's a very revealing and humbling tribute, lasting 48 minutes and well worth a listen.
A 20-page Executive Summary of the College's History, featuring the College's Formation, our Founder's unstinting dedication to its formation, and a brief description of key assets that can be seen at the College.
Amplifying the Executive Summary above, this 20-page document summarises College life from 1980 onwards, when RAF Henlow was closed and all Officer Training was consolidated under the Single Gate Initial Officer Training (SGIOT) scheme at the RAF College. During this period, the College was to adapt the Graduate Entry (GE) system introduced in 1970, renaming it the IOT system and transforming it in 2006 into the IOTC system.
Amplifying the Executive Summary above, this 20-page document summarises WWII life at the RAF College, when it was officially closed as a training etablishment for officer cadets the day war broke out, but was to deliver (as SFTS Cranwell) basic and advanced flying training to many allied aircrew. It was to be one of the busiest periods of the College's 100 year history.
Amplifying the Executive Summary above, this 20-page document summarises life at the RAF College during the 35 year period after WWII. During this period, the College was to reinstate Cadet Officer training and later to replace it with officer training for university graduates, destined principally for the pilot, navigation, engineer, admin sec, supply and occasionally RAF Regt branches.
The start of jet training at the RAF College was to be a major milestone in its training history, following barely 10 years after the inaugural flight of Whittle's E28/39 at Cranwell on 15 May 1941. This video is the sequel to one made in 1955 (under Executive Summary above) and was made in 1961 at the peak of the post-WWII flight cadet era.
The RAF College closed for initial officer training at the outbreak of war and we have yet to find any videos of the College being used by SFTS trainees during the war. But this video is thought to be the last made before the war - the visit by HM The King.
We believe that this is the most recent video made on initial officer training at the RAF College, made in 1994, and demostrates how the curriculum had widened to cover training for officer cadets in all branches in the RAF. Training of cadets in all branches had started in 1980 when RAF Henlow was closed and all initial officer training was undertaken at the RAF College. There are two videos in the "Video Corner" below, covering the IOT training syllabus that ran until 2006.
This 20-page booklet depicts a verified Roll of Honour of the estimated 800 SFTS trained aircrew killed or who died during WWII including in most cases the squadrons, aircraft and operations they were flying when lost. Marked WIP, we have yet to fully verify some of the names that appeared on SFTS courses with the actual losses incurred and found on authoratative databases.
This 20-page booklet depicts the verified Roll of Honour of 388 flight cadets killed in action, killed on active service or died on active service during WWII and, where known, the squadrons, aircraft and operations they were flying when lost.
This 13-page booklet portrays the throughput of officer cadets in the SGIOT period 1980 to 2020. College records for this period were limited and so there is no information of awards, honours and ranks achieved. We still await the release of data on the most recent graduates from the College, currently under negotiation between the Cranwellian Association and the College.
This booklet lists those Cranwellians who underwent training at the RAF College and lost their lives whilst serving in the RAF from 1980 till the College's 100th anniversary (5 February 2020). With the arrival of modern technology and the internet, we have been able to establish, in most instances, the squdrons with whom the Cranwellians were serving, the actual airfcraft they were flying and the circumstances at the time of their loss.
This 35-page album depicts all the training aircraft known to have operated pre-War at the RAF College. In addition to brief descriptions of each type, there are hypertext links to more information and videos of each aircraft.
The first of two tributes to the Cranwellians who fought during the Battle of Britain, "The Cranwellian Few" summarises the four Stages of the Battle, the aircraft employed and the Cranwellians who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The album contains hypertext links to additional information and videos.
This 20-page album portrays graduation photos of most of the courses that passed out at the College in the 1920s and 1930s. Not all photos are in good condition, but we have done our best to include the most legible.
This 22-page booklet summarises key events recorded in the pre-WWII College Journals, including post-WWI refections, cadet first impressions, Princess Mary's visit to the RAFC Hospital, the Cranwellian participation in the Schneider Trophy, a message from our Founder and the opening of the new College Hall.
This 11-page booklet depicts all the training aircraft known to have operated post-War (1980-2020) at the RAF College. In addition to brief descriptions of each type, there are hypertext links to more information and videos of each aircraft.
This 154-page album portrays graduation photos of most of the IOT courses that passed out at the College between 1980 and 2006. Not all photos are in good condition, but we have done our best to include the most legible.
This 13-page booklet portrays the throughput of officer cadets in the post-war period 1945 to 1979. College records for much the latter part of this period were not maintained and so there is no information of awards, honours and ranks achieved.
Still under development, we are researching College and RAF records to establish those flight cadets and GE officers who subsequently lost their lives whilst serving with the RAF between 1945 and 1979.
This 25-page album depicts all the training aircraft known to have operated post-War (1945-1979) at the RAF College. In addition to brief descriptions of each type, there are hypertext links to more information and videos of each aircraft.
This 106-page album portrays graduation and prize winner photos of most of the courses that passed out at the College between 1945 and 1979. Not all photos are in good condition, but we have done our best to include the most legible.
DRAFT AVAILABLE. Utilising some of the College Journal extracts for the period, the draft at least covers some of the more significant events. An attempt is being made to collect better examples and will be added at some later date.
This 62-page album portrays graduation photos of most of the IOTC courses that passed out at the College between 2006 and 2020. Not all photos are in good condition, but we have done our best to include the most legible.
This page re-presents most of the CHS content held in our 'virtual library' in a "top down" approach to depict, at a glance, the RAF College's History from 1920-2020. The level of detail increases from the Executive Summary immediately to the left (Trenchard's Portrait), through the summaries and then special features below covering four distincts eras, thence to the detail contained in our 'virtual archive' at the bottom of the page.
To access any of the albums, click on the relevant icon. For archived items, click on the MP3 recording arrow or the title of each topic on the virtual bookshelf.
We do not profess to having included all on the College's History, but have offered what we believe to be accurate for you to peruse at your liesure, hopeful that we do credit to a remarkable College that has produced an outstanding alumni. If you would like to add to our knowledge or to correct any mistakes, please do contact Ian at ibms520@gmail.com.
The second of two tributes to the Cranwellians who fought during the Battle of Britain, "The Fewest of the Few" gives a more detailed account of the four Stages of the Battle, the aircraft employed and all the Cranwellians who took part. The Annexes summarise the hypertext links to videos embedded in this document and a list with links to the biographies of individual aircrew.
A tribute to Cranwellians who served during WWII in Bomber Command, "The Cranwellian Many" summarises the different Phases of Bomber Command's Strategic Air Offensive, the aircraft employed and the Cranwellians who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The album contains hypertext links to amplifying information and videos.
A sister booklet to the tributes to Cranwellians of WWII Fighter and Bomber Commands, this tribute is still in draft but will cover Cranwellians who fought in Coastal and Overseas Commands.
1929
YouTube Clips:
RAF College Videos
RAF CASPS I/Vs
Speeches
Newsreels
Grouped in a series of topics, we provide below hypertext links to mp3/mp4 clips and albums held elsewhere in our CHS Virtual Library that give a flavour of Cranwellians and life at the RAF College. Most of these items can be found by returning to the CHS Home Page and selecting either the Virtual Library logo on the left or one of the Short Cuts on the right.
The earliest video we have found of a Passing Out Ceremony at the RAF College. The Reviewing Officer was Sir Hugh Dowding who became the AOC-in-C Fighter Command at the time of the Battle of Britain and who is credited with establishing the Integrated Air Defence that contributed so much to victory.
This 20-page booklet is listing of the pre-WWII Flight Cadets who lost their lives before the outbreak of WWII. In a sense it is a Roll of Honour and a tribute to those who lost their lives primarily through flying accidents whilst in service withe the RAF.
This 20-page booklet portrays the throughput of officer cadets in the 1920s and 1930s, and where verified, illustrates the awards, honours and ranks achieved by the cadets during their careers in the RAF.
Amplifying the Executive Summary above, this 20-page document summarises pre-WWII life at the RAF College, including early staff and cadets attending the College and key event in its first 20 years of operation.
The current month on this calender will be activated to reveal material to promote Cranwellians' contributions during the same 'activated' month over the past 100 years.
