ORDER OF THE FINGER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 December 1943, Page 4

ORDER OF THE FINGER

R.A.F.’S PRIVATE RITUAL. One award in this war is peculiar to the Royal Air Force. The Order of the Finger. It is not conferred by the King, but it goes with the grim approval of the Air Council. The recipient of the Order is never named, but his identity is known to those who work and fight with him. The Order of the Finger is awarded monthly. It goes to a selected member of the R.A.F. who has in that period made, in the opinion of the authorities, the most egregious ass of himself. In some R.A.F. messes the idea has caught on, and they have their own unofficial but equally embarrassed Order-bearer of the Finger who is sometimes required to wear the badge. The order is awarded to a pilot who flies low over a built-up area, who skimps a technical job. It goes with some such citation as this: “Awarded to Pilot-Officer , who has shown conspicuous talent in never letting the war interfere with his private- life.” Sometimes the recipient is an officer of high rank. Sometimes the act of carelessness caused tragedy.

I find this queer little symbol most interesting in that it hints how far, after four years of war, the R.A.F. has grown its own private life and made its own private ritual. And why the Order of the Finger? It comes from a well-known R.A.F. saying: “Take Your Finger Out of Your Mouth and Get Cracking.”—William Hickey in “Tire Daily Express,” London.