{"id":3110,"date":"2023-04-01T09:10:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T08:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hibbittbarnes.uk\/blog\/?p=3110"},"modified":"2025-07-03T18:59:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T17:59:17","slug":"on-this-day-1st-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hibbittbarnes.uk\/blog\/on-this-day-1st-april","title":{"rendered":"On This Day… 1st April"},"content":{"rendered":"

1ST APRIL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The 1st April was no fool’s day for Harvey’s grandad as it popped up several times during the course of his career. Here I list a few examples.<\/p>\n

Cyril Norman Ellen<\/a><\/strong> joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. On the 1st April 1918, the RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to become the RAF (Royal Air Force). At that time Cyril was serving in Stavros in Greece. No 2 Wing, RNAS, ‘D’ Flight (Stavros) became D Squadron in late 1917 and on 1st April 1918 (upon the creation of the RAF) it became 221 Squadron, 62 Wing RAF. His rank changed from Observer Sub-Lieutenant to Lieutenant ‘O’ RAF that same day.<\/p>\n

On 1st April 1921, No 45 Sqn officially came into being. Based in Iraq, Cyril joined the squadron that day, having just completed his pilot training. He received authority to wear ‘Wings’ a couple of weeks later. Whilst serving with No. 45 Sqn, Cyril was engaged in the Cairo to Baghdad Airmail route.<\/p>\n

In 1945, on 1st April, Cyril became the Director of Signals in the Air Division for the Control Commission for Germany. After he completed his signals task in the following February he was sent to Berlin to assist the Deputy Chief of Air Division on all matters until his retirement in May.<\/p>\n

\"Badge

Badge and medal ribbons on Cyril Ellen’s uniform<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1ST APRIL The 1st April was no fool’s day for Harvey’s grandad as it popped up several times during the course of his career. Here I list a few examples. Cyril Norman Ellen joined the Royal Naval Air Service in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-3110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ancestors-corner","category-on-this-day","tag-ellen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t