The Royal Air Force strikes of 1946 was a series of demonstrations and strikes at several dozen Royal Air Force stations in the Indian subcontinent beginning on 22 January 1946. [1] [2] As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders they technically constituted a form of mutiny. [1]
A series of demonstrations and strikes occurred at several dozen Royal Air Force stations in the Indian subcontinent beginning on 22 January 1946. As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders, they technically constituted a form of mutiny. The protests arose in response to slow demobilization and return of British troops to Britain, and use of British shipping facilities for transporting G.I.s. The "mutiny" began at either Maripur [1] or nearby Karachi (RAF Drigh Road) and later spread to involve nearly 50,000 men over 60 RAF stations in India, Ceylon, Burma and as far away as Singapore, [3] Egypt, North Africa, and Gibraltar. [4] The peaceful protests lasted between three and eleven days.
For their part, the British Government argued that the amount of shipping available was insufficient to permit immediate repatriation of the large number of personnel. However, later declassified reports have shown that British troops were deliberately retained in India to control possible unrest from the independence movement, and the grievances of the RAF men may have also included significant political views and sympathy with the communist Party of India. [3]
The initial protests in Karachi took the form of a collective refusal to prepare kit for inspection and going to the parade ground at the normal time but in casual khaki drill rather than the "best blue" uniforms required when on morning parade. [5]
The issues were ultimately resolved. Some of the airmen involved faced courts-martial. However, the precedent set by this event was important in instigating subsequent actions by the Royal Indian Air Force and later, the Royal Indian Navy in February 1946 in which 78 of a total of 88 ships mutinied. Lord Wavell, Viceroy of India, commented at the time, "I am afraid that [the] example of the Royal Air Force, who got away with what was really a mutiny, has some responsibility for the present situation." [6]
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, but it can also sometimes mean any type of rebellion against any force. Mutiny does not necessarily need to refer to a military force and can describe a political, economic, or power structure in which subordinates defy superiors.
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Events in the year 1946 in India.
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Maritime powers in the Indian subcontinent have possessed navies for many centuries. Indian dynasties such as the Cholas used naval power to extend their influence overseas, particularly to Southeast Asia. The Marakkar Navy under Zamorins during 15th century and the Maratha Navy of the 17th and 18th centuries fought with rival Indian powers and European trading companies. The East India Company organised its own navy, which came to be known as the Bombay Marine. With the establishment of the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the small navy was transformed into "His Majesty's Indian Navy", then "Her Majesty's Indian Marine", and finally the "Royal Indian Marine".
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The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The Royal Indian Navy mutiny or revolt, also called the 1946 Naval Uprising, was a failed insurrection of Indian naval ratings, soldiers, police personnel and civilians against the British government in India. From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the revolt spread and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta, and ultimately came to involve over 10,000 sailors in 56 ships and shore establishments. The mutiny failed to turn into a revolution because sailors were asked to surrender after the British authorities had assembled superior forces to suppress the mutiny.
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article by Bernard Shilling and published in the December 1986 issue of Aeroplane Monthly.