Air Training Corps

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On 5 February 1941, the Air Training Corps (ATC) was officially established, with King George VI agreeing to be the Air Commodore-in-Chief issuing a Royal Warrant setting out the Corps' aims. A new badge was designed for the ATC and once approved by the King, was distributed in August 1941. 

The forerunner to the Air Training Corps (ATC) was the Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADCC), set up in 1938 by Air Commodore Chamier. The primary function was to train young men in various aviation-related skills. The ADCC proved popular, with thousands joining up. Within the first month of its existence, the size of the old ADCC, now the ATC, virtually doubled to more than 400 squadrons and continued to grow thereafter. 

The new ATC squadrons adopted training programs to prepare young men for entry into the Royal Air Force. Squadrons arranged visits to RAF and Fleet Air Arm stations as part of the cadets' training, where a flight might be a possibility. Often the flights didn't happen, one solution was to introduce Air Experience Flights to increase opportunities for flying. This was to allow a cadet to get the feel of an aircraft in flight and to handle an aircraft's controls whilst airborne. 

Before the 1980s, females were unable to join the ATC, although they were able to join an attached unit of the Girls Venture Corps (GVC) which had been formed in the early years of the Second World War, if one was available at their location.