History of the trade
The first post war Aerial Erectors course was thrown together, almost haphazardly, at the Radio Engineering Unit, RAF Henlow at the back end of 1948, early 1949. A Record Office Memorandum was published inviting Technical Orderlies to apply for training as Aerial Erectors, Mick Green, who was one of the first to take up the challenge, takes up the story:
“When we under training riggers arrived at the Aerial Erectors Section at Henlow things were pretty tight, manpower wise. I think there were just 3 crews operating in the field, so we were immediately employed at splicing hemp ropes, then 7 strand cable, doing rough carpentry etc, and fitting out the back end of the workshops as a classroom.
After 3 or 4 weeks everyone was ‘trade tested' and those who passed became instant ‘riggers' (the term ‘riggers' originally came from aircraft riggers who were co-opted into the strange world of towers, masts, dipoles and copper wire), those who did not assembled as Course 1. I did not pass the hastily convened ‘trade test' because I didn't know how to reeve a 3-fold purchase! I probably thought at the time it was something one got from the NAAFI, so I became a trainee Aerial Erector on Course 1.”
In 1951, under a new trade structure, The Aerial Erector School (AES) trained its first Aerial Erectors at RAF Chigwell, Essex until it's move to RAF Norton, South Yorkshire in 1956. Course 6C had to do the first half their training at Chigwell and the last six weeks at Norton. This was also the last course to do their climbing tests at Canewdon near Southend.
It wasn't long before the school was on the move again and in 1959 it was relocated to RAF Digby in Lincolnshire. Eddie Edwards takes up the tail:
“I was an instructor, a rather reluctant one, at Norton and my claim to fame is being the first instructor at Digby. I arrived at Digby about ten days before the school moved from Norton, in charge of the advance party to prepare all the accommodation and classrooms ready for the main move. The course that was then under training at Norton moved halfway through their training across to Digby over a weekend.”
Digby then had a total staff of 6 but in the early 90's the school has relocated to a larger building with better facilities and took on the responsibility for more courses. This has required the training and support staff to grow to 21, including a dedicated Course design team and Accreditation cell.