Aberdeen Cadet Council

On 24 March 1939 the Aberdeen Cadet Council was formed with the specific aim of establishing the first squadron in Aberdeen. The Honorary President was the then Lord provost of Aberdeen, Sir Thomas Mitchell and the Council met in the Town House. An Executive Committee was quickly established and comprised key members in areas such as Military (Army & RAF), Education, Welfare and Accountancy. The £200 guarantee required by the Air League was easily secured and on Wed 12 April 1939 a telegram was sent by the Aberdeen Cadet Council to the Air League requesting permission to establish the first Air Cadet squadron in Aberdeen. The Air League granted permission and "107 (Aberdeen) Squadron" was established, and affiliated to 612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Throughout this period Brigadier-General John H W Becke, the first commandant of the Air Cadets in Scotland visited Aberdeen and assisted greatly the efforts of the Aberdeen Council.

OC 612 Sqn, Squadron Leader F. Crerar was given authority to appoint a commanding officer for 107 Sqn and in early May, a retired officer, Harvey Goodwin MacKintosh was appointed and commissioned by the Air League in the rank of Squadron Leader. Council and Executive Members were as follows:

Sir Thomas Mitchell	Honorary President	Lord Provost of Aberdeen
Mr G B Esslemont	Interim Secretary	Assistant City Chamberlain

Executive Committee Members

Col Harry Storey Tawse TD (Retd)	Chairman	formerly 51st Highland Divisional Engineers
Mr George Gordon Nicol	Vice-Chairman
Mr R Findlay Crabb	Honorary Secretary
Mr James A Mackie	Finance Convenor
Mr James Scott (sen.)	Finance
Mr John Milne	Finance
Mr William Veitch	Recruitment Convenor
Sqn Ldr F Crerar	Recruitment	OC 612 Sqn Auxiliary Air Force
Mr I Graham Andrew	Recruitment	Head, Robert Gordon’s College
Col J H Gordon	Accommodation Convenor
Col James Dawson DSO (Retd)	Accommodation	Director of Education & formerly OC 6th Gordon Highlanders
Mr James Ian Scott	Accommodation
Capt A T Dawson	Clothing & Equipment Convenor
Rev J G Flemming	Clothing & Equipment
Mr J D Paton of Grandhome	Clothing & Equipment

In May 1939, with the green light from the Air League and 107 (Aberdeen) Sqn "established" and actively inviting applicants to be one of the first one hundred "founder cadets", the Aberdeen Cadet Council received the following acceptances to their offers of honorary appointments to 107 Sqn:

Honorary President	Lord Provost Sir Thomas Mitchell	May 1939 – unknown
Hon Vice-President	AM Sir Charles Burnett	May 1939 – Apr 1945
Hon Vice-President	Maj J Bruce Miller	May 1939 – unknown

The Aberdeen Cadet Council was the fore-runner for committees of various names through the years and was the foundation of what is now the Aberdeen & North East Scotland Wing Welfare Committee.