§ 52. Mr. Parkerasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of air pilots entered in the Navy from the Royal Air Force; the number entered for training for air pilot from civil life; the number selected from officers and ratings; the number of officers selected for observers and ratings for observers' mates; and the numbers of each who qualified in the year 1938?
§ Mr. ShakespeareAs the reply involves a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The number of officer pilots who have entered the Navy from the Royal Air Force and Royal Air Force Reserve is 141, of whom 80 have now completed the specialised training required for naval air duties.
§ The number of Air Branch officers entered for pilot training from civil life to date is 116, of whom the first batch is now completing its training.
§ There are 191 executive naval officers now serving as pilots; 25 executive officers and 44 naval ratings have commenced training as pilot since 1st January, 1938; of these, 16 officers have completed this training, and the first batch of ratings is in the final stage.
§ One hundred and thirty-two executive officers are now serving as observers; 40 have begun training since 1st January, 1938, of whom 19 have now completed the training. There are 34 ratings now serving as observers' mates; six have been taken for training since 1st January, 1938.
§ One hundred and twenty Air Branch officers are now under training for observer who were entered direct from civil life; none has yet completed training. The foregoing figures do not include officers of the Air Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.