Were Officers' courses mixed?

[Dave Homewood]

Back during WWII, when people were being commissioned as officers from the ranks, and they were sent on courses to become officers, were the courses run with both airmen and WAAF's on the same course?

I have a photo of just such a course with around 40 men in the group shot plus one WAAF seated in the front row, identified as E.W. Bowman. She has officer's rank rings on her sleeve. i was wondering if she'd be a pupil on the course along with the men, or was she staff? Any ideas?

[errolmartyn]

W1827 Miss Elizabeth Wignall Bowman
Enlisted Levin as a WA2 15 Sep 41
Commissioned as an assistant section officer 24 Mar 43 (if the photo dates from around this period it would suggest that she was a student on a officer training course)

Errol

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Errol. The course was in early 1945, and the officers who passed it were gazetted on the 31st of May 1945 as promoted. So Elizabeth Bowman must have been staff I guess, as she was not on the Gazette sheet either. Perhaps she was an instructor. Actually I just realised she's in the centre of the front row and thus may well be an instructor as they normally sit there in photos I think.

Totally unimportant subject, just idle curiosity really, it seemed odd to see a group of men and one women in a course photo. Here is the photo, split in two so it fits ok. it comes from Doug Vahry's collection, and I guess is Air Force Museum Official.





Here are the full names that I have pieced together from the New Zealand Gazette page and from other sources in a couple of cases:

Back Row, Left to Right
Brian George Whitehouse Equipment Officer
William James Brown Equipment Officer
Bernard Frederick James Beu Equipment Officer
Reginald Wilson Sadd Accountant Officer
Maurice George Catran Accountant Officer
H F Brown
Thomas Edward Roff Accountant Officer
John Slingsby Barraud
Douglas Haswell Vahry Photography Officer[/i (NZ391204)
R A Johnson
William Charles McGregor Jess Education Officer
Adam Stein Equipment Officer

Third Row
Colin George Kirkwood Equipment Officer
Arthur Lionel Johnston
Edward John Prendeville Accountant Officer
Halford William Meyer Accountant Officer
D M Anker
S Toon
D B Roberts
David Benjamin Brook Engineer Officer
J H Campbell
Donald David Beattie Engineer Officer
Noel Leo Field

Second Row
Ivan Charles John Laughton Accountant Officer
A J Carson
H I Hawkins
Neville Alan Millar
A T L Smith
Wallace Honeyfield
J Rees
B M Wilmshurst
Norman Keith Davidson
Donald Stuart Arkle Equipment Officer

Front Row
Allan John Lockhart Engineer Officer
Edward Hartley Everett
Hubert Alfred Farrar Engineer Officer (NZ34156)
D E Heron
W P Ryan
Elizabeth Wignall Bowman (WAAF) W1827
A Wilson
W G Whitmore
George Thomas Beban
David Kirkaldie Accountant Officer
James McArthur Anzac Grant Engineer Officer, then Education Officer (NZ37148)

I guess that Gazette page might be from the year after the course, thinking about it, as they all seemed to be going from Pilot Officer to Flying Officer. Only about half the names on the photo got that promotion in that Gazette too, which makes me wonder if it is a later date. Any thoughts? Doug had kept the Gazette page with the photo.