Lastly, we come to Percy, the youngest son
. After being born in December 1911 he left school promptly at the age of 14 and the next day became a butcher’s boy in Bolton. I think he must have been on some sort of apprenticeship because he worked there for just over 5 years before leaving to join the RAF. Why he chose the RAF, I’ll never know, but I have a vague memory of Bomber telling me that his brothers advised him to join the RAF because he wouldn’t need to walk as far as they did and the food was better. I’m sure that the members of the Association would have a better view on whether the advice was accurate or not!
Percy joined up for 9 years
in March 1930 at the age of 19. He was immediately sent to a training depot somewhere and a part of his RAF Service Record is attached here for your information. I doubt it’s much different than many others in his position but if someone can help me to decipher some of the hieroglyphs and/or attachments I would appreciate it!
He obviously remained in the UK whilst he underwent various educational and training requirements before being posted to a squadron. Copies of his training and educational qualifications are attached here for your information. I have no idea what some of the pass marks would have been, but he looked pleasantly average to me. Not bad, but not exceptional, unless you know different?
Percy Estall Page 1 2 3 4 5
