981 Sqn

Rank	Name	Date	Notes
March
Sqn Ldr	J T Phelan	25 Mar 1942	Arrived on posting and assumed command of No 981 Sqn
Flt Lt	E L Huins	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Adjutant
Flt Lt	J E Pheasey	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Commander
Flt Lt	C B Beardsley	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Commander
Act Flt Lt	T H Morgan	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Commander
Flt Lt	J M Crawford	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Medical Officer
Fg Off	R W Buck	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Barrage Control Officer
Fg Off	J E W J Henry	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Balloon Officer
Plt Off	L W Brown	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Balloon Officer
Plt Off	G B Morrison	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Flight Balloon Officer
Plt Off	A A Dibben	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Equipment Officer
Plt Off	G Lodge	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Assistant Adjutant
Plt Off	C K Oakes	xx Mar 1942	Arrived on posting for duty as Code and Cypher Officer
April
May
June
Fg Off	R W Buck	1 Jun 1942	Barrage Control Officer, promoted to Temp Flt Lt
Act Flt Lt	T H Morgan	1 Jun 1942	Flight Commander, promoted to Temp Flt Lt
Plt Off	L W Brown	1 Jun 1942	Promoted to Fg Off (WS), wef 28 Apr 1942
July
No personnel movements were recorded for these months as the squadron was in transit to the Middle East, except for the promotions shown above
August
Plt Off	A A Dibben	4 Aug 1942	Proceeded to Basrah by air and land
Sqn Ldr	J T Phelan	5 Aug 1942	Proceeded to Basrah by air
Flt Lt	E L Huins	5 Aug 1942	Proceeded to Basrah by air
Plt Off	G Lodge	5 Aug 1942	Assistant Adjutant, posted to No 976 Sqn
Plt Off	C K Oakes	5 Aug 1942	Code and Cypher Officer, posted to HQ, RAF ME
Plt Off	A A Dibben	11 Aug 1942	Arrived in Basrah
Fg Off	J E W J Henry	30 Aug 1942	Posted to AHQ Iraq as supernumerary
September
Flt Lt	E L Huins	1 Sep 1942	Promoted to Temp Sqn Ldr
October
No personnel movements were recorded for this month
November
Flt Lt	J E Pheasey	1 Nov 1942	Posted as supernumerary to AHQ, pending repatriation to the UK
December
No personnel movements were recorded for this month

Source - No 981 Sqn ORB (AIR 27/2328/2)

Organisational Movements: Mar - Dec 1942

Date	Notes
March
25 Mar 1942	No 981 Squadron was formed at No 2 Balloon Centre, Hook
April
10 Apr 1942	Squadron departed RAF Hook and proceeded to Liverpool
11 Apr 1942	Squadron embarked on HMT 'K10'
May
18 May 1942	Squadron disembarked from HMT 'K10' in Durban, South Africa, proceeding to Transit Camp, Clairwood
June
Squadron remained in the Transit Camp, Clairwood
July
17 Jul 1942	Squadron embarked at Durban for the Middle East
29 Jul 1942	Squadron disembarked at Port Tewfik and entrained for No 21 PTC at RAF Kasfareet
August
4 Aug 1942	Equipment officer proceeded to Basrah
5 Aug 1942	CO and Adjutant proceeded to Basrah
9 Aug 1942	Squadron departed No 21 PTC for Basrah by the overland route
11 Aug 1942	Equipment officer arrived in Basrah
September
The squadron was in transit from Egypt to Basrah and held in transit at Damascus and Habbaniya, whilst preparations for its arrival were being made by the CO, Adjutant and Equipment Officer
15 Sep 1942	An advance party was called forward to RAF Basrah
October
5 Oct 1983	Squadron moved from RAF Habbaniya to 27 PTC, Shaibah
xx Oct 1983	Equipment of No 983 Sqn arrived at Basrah by sea and was taken over by No 981 Sqn
November
8 Nov 1942	Buildings allocated to the squadron in Basrah were completed
9 Nov 1942	Squadron arrived in Basrah from No 27 PTC
The reminder of the month was spent preparing the camp and in training
December
During this month personnel and equipment were dispersed to: - 12 x sites in Basrah 9 x sites in Sahibah

Source - No 981 Sqn ORB (AIR 27/2328/2)