98.185.235.26 at 02:37, 2 March 2021

2021-03-02T02:37:58Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
The '''Royal Air Force Mutiny of 1946''' was a series of demonstrations and strikes at several dozen [[Royal Air Force]] stations in the Indian Subcontinent in January 1946. As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders they technically constituted a form of "[[mutiny]]". The protests arose from slow demobilization and poor conditions of service following the end of [[World War II]]. The "mutiny" began at [[Karachi]] ([[PAF Base Faisal|RAF Drigh Road]]) and later spread to involve nearly 50,000 men over 60 RAF stations in India and Ceylon, including the then-largest RAF base at [[Kanpur]] and RAF bases as far as Singapore.<ref name=Childs22>{{Harvnb|Childs|2000|p=22}}</ref> At its height, the 1946 strike extended beyond South-East Asia through the Middle East to Egypt and North Africa, and as far west as Gibraltar.<ref>{{cite web|title=World War II: from war to revolution|url=https://www.marxist.com/world-war-ii-from-war-to-revolution.htm|date=27 April 2020|access-date=27 April 2020|author=Ben Gliniecki}}</ref>

The protests lasted between three and eleven days at different places and were peaceful. The main grievance of the men was slow [[Demobilization of the British Armed Forces after World War II|demobilization]] of British troops to Britain, use of British shipping facilities for transporting [[G.I. (military)|G.I.]]s, and other grievances. For their part, the British Government argued that the amount of shipping available was insufficient to permit immediately repatriation of the large numbers of personnel eligible. However, later declassified reports have shown that British troops were deliberately retained in India to control possible unrest over the course of the [[Indian Independence movement|independence movement]], and the grievances of the RAF men may have also included significant political views and sympathy with the [[communist Party of India]].<ref name=Childs22/>

The initial protests in Karachi took the form of a collective refusal to prepare kit for inspection and going to the parade ground at the normal time but in casual khaki drill rather than the "best blue" uniforms required when on morning parade.<ref>Mutiny in the RAF: the air force strikes of 1946 - David Duncan</ref>

The issues causing the RAF unrest were ultimately resolved, and some of the airmen involved faced [[courts-martial]]. However, the precedent set by this event was important in instigating subsequent actions by the [[Royal Indian Air Force]] and later, the [[Royal Indian Navy]] in February 1946 in which 78 of a total of 88 ships [[Royal Indian Navy Mutiny|mutinied]]. [[Lord Wavell]], [[Viceroy]] of India, commented at the time: "I am afraid that [the] example of the Royal Air Force, who got away with what was really a mutiny, has some responsibility for the present situation."<ref>Field Marshal Viscount Wavell to Mr Attlee (via India Office), Telegram, L/PO/4/28: ff 66-7. Sent 24 February 1946, 4.50 pm at New Delhi, appears in ''The Transfer of Power in India, 1942-47'', Volume 6, Page 1055 edited by [[Nicholas Mansergh]], published by Foreign & Commonwealth Office (London, 1976).</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Childs
| given1 = David
| year = 2000
| title = Britain Since 1945: A Political History
| url = https://archive.org/details/britainsince19450000chil
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 0-415-24804-3
| issn =
| url-access = registration
}}.
==Bibliography==
*[http://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/RAF03.HTM Mutiny in the RAF - the Air Force Strikes of 1946]. David Duncan. {{ISBN|0-9523810-6-0}}.
*[http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConJmrBookReview.116 Review of Richard Woodman's A brief history of mutiny]. ''Journal for Maritime research''. August 2005.
*[https://archive.today/20130419192709/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/69/a4134269.shtml BBC. People's war]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071006042533/http://www.jcc.org.uk/news/gazette/113.html RAF strike in India-1946].
*John W. Cell, in Reviews of Books; Asia. ''White Mutiny: British Military Culture in India'' by Peter Stanley. The American Historical Review, Vol. 104, No. 3. (Jun., 1999), pp. 888–889.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090129093107/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/554466 SECRET HISTORY: MUTINY IN THE RAF] [[British Film Institute]].
*Murder, Mutiny and the Military: British Court Martial Cases 1940–1966. Gerry Rubin. ''Journal of Conflict and Security Law'' 2006 11(3):511-513.

[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force]]
[[Category:Mutinies]]
[[Category:1946 in India]]
[[Category:1946 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1946 in military history]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1946]]

Royal Air Force mutiny - Revision history

98.185.235.26 at 02:37, 2 March 2021