When enough's enough - the RAF mutiny of 1945

[old man emu]

What do you do when a war is over and members of the other military services are heading off back home, but your Service keeps you stationed in remote places and delaying your return home. This happened to RAF personnel from the Middle East to the Far East at the end of WWII. They weren't kept where they were as occupation forces, s those in Japan were. They weren't even employed full time in servicing military aircraft. And when they complained and refused to carry out their duties, they were threatened with execution at worst and imprisonment at best.

 

 

[onetrack]

There was also a near-mutiny of several RAAF officers at Morotai in 1945, the reason being, they felt they were being tasked with "militarily unjustifiable" jobs, to relegate them to a rear position, to enable the Americans to claim, "Air Victory in the S.W. Pacific". I believe their actions were quite justifiable, and a judicial inquiry largely exonerated them.

 

The event became known in some circles as the "Morotai Mutiny". Unit morale was obviously at a low level, for them to feel the need to take such drastic action.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morotai_Mutiny

[Yenn]

The way the UK government treats its servicemen is not something to aspire to.

When they went to war against Egypt in 1956 on demob leave. when I came back to camp for demob, I was greeted with "Mr Borg, welcome back corporal" I should have run when he said Mr.

I had handed over my workshop section to someone else but was kept in as a reservist. That meant that I had no job, so I spent time doing several other things, including wireless fitting, stores clerk, orderly officer and generally getting bored stiff. They didn't need me and they didn't want me but the powers that be said I had to be there. That was nowhere near as bad as being kept in an overseas posting after the war finished, just because they didn't want you in civvie street.

[spacesailor]

But, you did Get repatriated, a lot of civilian men ( mostly ) were ' let ' go, we're ever they sat when they got their news !.

An old neighbor in the UK  was still saving for his  ' get home money ' , In the fifties? .

Seconded to R R , & never in the amy, posibly Australian. 

spacesailor