§ 31. Major Wilkesasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will consider recruiting for permanent service in the peacetime air force coloured colonial personnel in the United Kingdom and within the Empire who may wish to join; whether those coloured airmen already in the service will be allowed to continue on a regular engagement; whether the relaxation during wartime of King's Regulations to allow Africans to hold the King's Commission will be continued in the future; and whether he will amend King's Regulations, chapter Io, paragraph 467, Subsection 4, which constitutes an official colour bar on entry into the Service.
§ Mr. StracheyAll British subjects, without distinction of colour or descent, are now equally eligible for the Royal Air Force. King's Regulations and Air Council Instructions will be appropriately amended. The rule will be applied to men already serving.
§ Major WilkesMay I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he is aware how widely welcomed this decision has been, especially by those West Indian airmen who served with such distinction in operational air crews?