British Ranks

[Sully]

I have recently received a letter writtem by my Grand Father wile in India during WWII. I know he was in the RAF. I do not know rank or Unit. On the letter prior to his name are the letters "LEA". I have no idea what these mean. Does anyone know if this is his rank.

 

[Airframes]

It could mean Leading Aircraftman, an incorrect abbreviation, understandable if written by a civilian. The correct, 'Service' abbreviation is LAC.
Being ex-Army, I'm not wholly familiar familiar with RAF rank structures, as their are slight differences, but as far as I know, this would be the equivalent of a Lance Corporal in the British Army.
The RAF rank progression would be AC (Aircraftsman), LAC, Corporal, Sergeant, Flight Sergeant and then Warrant Officer, followed by Commissioned ranks.This is comparable to Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sgt, Staff (or Colour) Sergeant and Sergeant Major.
Hope this helps.

 

[fubar57]

Good call Terry. I could only find LAC so didn't respond.

Geo

 

[stona]

Correct Terry. I don't know of an RAF abbreviation LEA,though I'm more familiar with naval (Fleet Air Arm) abbreviations.
This may be stupid but it's not his initials is it?
Cheers
Steve

 

[buffnut453]

The RAF rank progression would be AC (Aircraftsman), LAC, Corporal, Sergeant, Flight Sergeant and then Warrant Officer, followed by Commissioned ranks.This is comparable to Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sgt, Staff (or Colour) Sergeant and Sergeant Major.
Hope this helps.

There were 2 shades of AC, AC1 and AC2, before LAC. The 2 AC ranks were eventually merged and a new airman rank, Senior Aircraftsman (SAC), was inserted between LAC and Cpl (SAC was introduced in 1951 - I don't know if that coincided with the merging of AC1 and AC2 into a single AC rank).