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Coll 5/73 ‘Afghan Air Force: reports by British Military Attache Kabul 1 November 1947 to 31 October 1947’ [‎12r] (23/56)

The record is made up of 1 file (27 folios). It was created in 26 May 1948-29 Nov 1949. 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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- 4 -
1 k . 7/ksps . (K.ivl. Khair Muhd Khan)
This section undertakes all repairs and replacements.
inadequate. Technical personnel are inefficient.
Machinery is
Note: Necessary machinery has been listed and prices have been supplied by
Messrs A.V. Roe of Manchester. The Afghans may and should purchase this machinery
why-jja is essential.
1 5. Main Stores (K.il. Muhd Hussain Khan) .
The store holds all equipment for the force with the exception of Sqn Wskp
stores. Storage lacks any form of workable system. Issue of stores derives from
an unwieldy- Turkish system. This system, or lack of system, is the chief
stumbling block to maintenance. It is almost impossible to obtain issue of spare
parts, an indent for which has to go through many channels. A screw may take a
month to obtain. A modified and simplified R.A.F. system has been proffered but
between the Commandant and the Defence Ministry nothing has yet been achieved.
Until this situation is rectified, I see little hope of aircraft maintenance being
efficient, even assuming that the Afghan mechanical staff are efficlent,which they
are not.
1 6 . nvro Sq uadro n (K.M. Ghulam Haider Khan).
of
This squadron, formed in February 1948, consists of two flights and a total
(one to come) aircraft. The pilots are completing conversion training, and
nave done some formation flying. They are about to carry out cross country
flying but will not be fit for ops before the end of the year.
1 7. Hind S quadr on (K.M. Sher Muhd Khan).
This sqn is the only ops sqn at the moment. There are 16 usable aircraft of
doubtful sicability due to lack of spares. There are sufficient pilots to
man all the aircraft in the event of ops.
The flying standard of this squadron is fair only and suffers from lack of
flying hours. Navigation is patently -weak.
18. Training Squadron. (K.M. Sawar Khan),
This squadron is equipped with Tiger Moth aircraft. Very little flying is
carried out due to lack of spares. No qualified Afghan instructor exists. The
R.A.F. instructor is fully occupied with the Arsons.
19.
Annual ^'rai n ing.
To sura this up briefly it is sufficient to say that the force does not put
in oil ugh. /. flying hours. In the winter the force hybernates for reasons
already stated and due to the absence of an efficient snow plough although weather
is often ideal for flying. Such subjects as navigation, armament, signals and
administration are not given-sufficient attention. Technical training in spite
of all efforts by the instructors shows very slow progress, personnel are lazy and
lack the mental capacity to understand anything technical. They show no ability
at fault finding due to lack of reasoned mechanical thinking.
The Air Force has drop ed only $0 practice bombs in the past few years.
Bombs dropped are not plotted and misses of a hundred yards are cc nsidered good
even when dive-bombing. No- high level bombing has been carried out. Not a
single round of S.A.A. has been fired on training in the last two years.
20. Morale
Poor pay, favouritism, lack of incentive etc, all play their part to lower
the morale v.liich is, without doubt, poor. Lack of amenities and ;ames and the
absence of mess life contribute their share to lack of esprit de corps. Off
parade the Force is forgotten and all personnel disperse to their homes.

About this item

Content

The file contains periodical reports by the British Military Attaché at Kabul (Colonel Alexander Stalker Lancaster and J H Prendergast) on the Afghan Air Force, covering the period 1 November 1947 to 31 October 1949.

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 include policy discussion related to the maintenance of British instructors at Kabul.

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 (27 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file. A set of file notes is present at the beginning of the correspondence (folios 26-27). Serial numbers in red ink, which occur throughout the file, refer to entries in the notes.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 28; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 5/73 ‘Afghan Air Force: reports by British Military Attache Kabul 1 November 1947 to 31 October 1947’ [‎12r] (23/56), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2035, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100039501280.0x000018> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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