I have considerably revised the section where that extract was drawn from after your next comment made me realise there was an error in the promotion sequence. Zawed (talk) 09:28, 17 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I gather that he was almost immediately promoted to flight lieutenant after being commissioned? And then to squadron leader a month or two after that. Pretty damn quick, even for wartime.
Turns out that was in error, I have gone back and revised this with the new source I found. The gap between promotions is much greater now - none the less, he was still promoted pdq, going from pilot officer to group captain in two and a half years.
Curiously abbreviated post-war career in the RAF. Any idea why?