Royal Commission
On January 15th the Air Ministry announced that Her Majesty the Queen had been graciously pleased to appoint H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh to a commission in the Royal Air Force, in the rank of Marshal of the Royal Air Force, with effect from that date. Simultaneous announcements by the Admiralty and War Office gave news of the Duke's promotion to ranks of Admiral of the Fleet and Field Marshal.
As most Flight readers are aware, His Royal Highness is receiving flying lessons from an R.A.F. instructor (F/L. C.R. Gordon); he had his first on November 12th, and on December 20th he went solo in the D.H. Chipmunk. The Duke, who recently succeeded the late King as Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps, now becomes the third member of the Royal Family to have held the highest rank in the R.A.F.
Coronation Review
Odiham, the well-known Fighter Command station near Basingstoke, Hants, and Farnham, Surrey - about 40 miles from London - has been chosen as the venue of the Coronation Review of the Royal Air Force by Her Majesty the Queen, which will take place on July 15th.
This permanent station, constructed in 1936, has, since the war, become one of the best known bases of Fighter Command. It was originally used by Nos. 4 and 13 Army Co-operation Squadrons. When these units left for France early in 1940, Odiham was taken over by Fighter Command, and after the fall of France it was used primarily as a training base for Allied personnel.
Neptune Shot Down
It is officially reported from Hong Kong that Communist anti-aircraft fire brought down a Lockheed Neptune of the U.S. Navy off South China on January 18th. A Martin Mariner flying boat which picked up ten survivors from the Neptune later crashed into the sea six miles off Swatow. Late on Sunday night it was learned that ten survivors from this second incident had been picked up.
Source: Flight International
