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Coll 5/73 ‘Afghan Air Force: Reports on’ [‎57r] (113/431)

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The record is made up of 1 file (214 folios). It was created in 14 Jun 1938-30 Dec 1947. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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SECRET
Ealff Yearly Report on the Afghan ^ir Force
for the period 1st November 1944 to 36th April 1945,
Smsa&hL
1* (a) The Afghan Air Force has been inactive during the
winter months owing to the absence of the Commandant F.M. Muhd
Ihsan Khan who wp*s in India for medical treatment from November
until March, and weather conditions which made the Sherpur
and Khwaja Rawash airfields unfit for use from early January
until the end of March 0 Very little flying training we*s carried
out in Kabul between 1st November and the early part of January,
none between 6th January and 15th April, and only two short
training flights of 30 minutes duration per pilot between the
15th^and 30th of April. Five Hind aircraft and the Flying
Training School left Kabul for Jalalabad on 6th January, and
all the aircraft except one which force landed near Mazar-i-
Sharif on 6th April had returned to Kabul by 8th April. While
at Jalalabad the Hind aircraft carried out fortnightly
reconnaisances over the Khost district presumably with the
object of ascertaining whether there were any unusual movements
of tribesmen connected with the hostile tribal leader Mazrak
Zadran , and to remind the tribesmen that the Govt were watching
the situation 9 No air operations were carried out during the
period under report# *
(b) The British pilot instructor reports that many of
the Hind aircraft are in need of extensive overhauls, but that
a shortage of engiiie and other spares is delaying the work c
There was only one accident to Hind aircraft during ‘the past
six^months due to a forced landing near Mazar-i-Sharif on 6th
April, but the aircraft is stated to be repairable® Italian
Romeo and Breda aircraft are almost out of commission owing to
a lack of spares, and though two or three of the Romeo’s are
being flown alternately, Afghan pilots and the Air Commandant
appear to be unable to decide whether it would bo adVisab3.e
to repair them or scrap them altogether. The American Stearman
trainer, a P.T. 17 lias boon overhauled and tested, but has now
been returned^to store. Appendix f A ! to this report gives the
number/pf trained or partly trained pilots in the Afghan Air
Force on 30th April 1945.
/and condition of aircraft and the number
(c) The Tiger Moth aircraft sent to Kabul for test in
toy 1944 returned to Peshawar on 13th December. The delay in
returning the aircraft was due to the -difficulty of obtaining
a. spare propeller from India to replace the one which broke
off in midair during test on September 3rd 1944. The accident
produced a crop of reports from Afghan air force officers some
of whom alleged that the propellers of the Tiger Moth type
of aircraft made a habit of coming off in midair. The Afghan
Govt called for further* reports on the Tiger Moth, and Uiis has
caused delay in reaching a decision regarding the purchase of
6 to 8 of them. Early in April the Air Commandant asked the
Military Attache’^wnether 8 Tiger Moths could be made available
for sale from India or England together with suffieient spares
for two years. The enquiry has been passed on to the Govt
of India,
(d) The tour of the Afghan Military Mission in India during
December and January aroused a certain amount of interest in
Air Force circles® An Afghan pilot officer accompanied the
Mission but he does not appear to have found the typo of general
purpose aircraft suit Afghan I'equirements. He sa.w ii£.ny types
of British and American aircraft while in India and was mainly
attracted by the Harvard trainer and the Hurricane Coll* One
of the British instructors haSre suggested that the Fairy Firefly
would meet Afghan requirements in operational aircraft which
still apear to be general purpose two sea ter single engine air
craft armed armed with machine guns or cannons and capable of
carrying a reasonable bomb load, and suitable for rooonnaisance

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Content

The file contains periodical reports by the British Military Attaché at Kabul (Colonel Alexander Stalker Lancaster) on the Afghan Air Force, they cover the period 1 March 1938 to 31 October 1947. There is a gap for the period 2 May 1938 to 31 October 1940 for which no reports are present in the file.

The reports cover a range of topics such as training flights, operations conducted, condition of aircraft, accidents, maintenance work, availability of spares, petrol stores, ground facilities, administrative or political developments, and any proposals for the purchase of additional aircraft. The reports also cover the positions of the British Instructors at Kabul relative to their Italian counterparts, and indicate the progress made in training Afghan students.

The file includes a report by Squadron Leader Reid (see folios 22-23) on his testing of the Avro Anson XIX, and a report by Squadron Leader B P King on his testing of the de Havilland Tiger Moth (see folios 82-83), for service in Afghanistan.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (214 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 215; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 5/73 ‘Afghan Air Force: Reports on’ [‎57r] (113/431), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2034, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038334404.0x000072> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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