OFFICIAL archives of a successful wartime air training scheme have been handed to the Yorkshire Air Museum.

Between 1941 and 1943, nearly 8,000 RAF pilots were trained in the USA, mostly flying Boeing Stearman bi-planes, in a scheme under the direction of Major General Henry H Arnold.

The handover of the Arnold Scheme archives coincided with the 70th anniversary of the first cadet flying training course which started in June 1941.

To mark the event, 17 veterans of the Arnold Scheme attended a ceremony at the museum, together with 100 guests and members of the Arnold Register, which has kept ex-trainees in touch with each other over the years.

Ian Reed, museum director, said: “We are delighted that the Arnold Society have decided to donate us this valuable historic record of what is a largely unsung story that played an important role in the air war in Europe and the ultimate winning of the Second World War.

“Without the ability to train many thousands of pilots in America and Commonwealth nations, the RAF would not have become the dominant force that it was.”