"Wing-Mounters mate" job

Wibbles
Wibbles Community Member Posts: 3,686 Championing
edited August 2025 in Work

I have been doing my family tree via Ancestry for many years and have come across a

weird job title of my great uncle being a "Wing-Mounters mate".

I have absolutely no idea what it entails..

It was in the 1921 Census

Anybody got any idea what this job was ?

Comments

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 14,626 Online Community Programme Lead

    That's a great find @Wibbles, I've not heard the term before. I'd be interested to know what you find out.

  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community Member Posts: 15,511 Championing
    edited August 2025

    "- mate" in Britain in a job title basically means someone tagging along, basically like an assistant but more to tradespeople as hired muscle to do the physical stuff

    That would fit in with the plane builder theory above as I imagine that's a job that would need more than one person 😊

  • Geoark
    Geoark Community Member Posts: 1,469 Championing

    Job Description: Wing Mounter’s Mate (circa 1921)

    • Industry: Aviation or aeronautical engineering, which was rapidly developing post-WWI.
    • Role: Assisted the primary wing mounter in attaching or assembling aircraft wings.
    • Materials: Early aircraft were often made of wood, canvas, and metal fittings, so the job involved working with these materials.
    • Skills Required:
      • Basic carpentry or metalworking
      • Use of hand tools
      • Precision in alignment and fitting
    • Work Environment: Likely employed in a factory or hangar, possibly at companies like de Havilland or Sopwith, which were prominent in British aviation at the time.
  • Wibbles
    Wibbles Community Member Posts: 3,686 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1060855#Comment_1060855

    This chap went on to be a Chindit in Burma in WW2

    He never spoke about this time

    He died in 1976 !

  • Geoark
    Geoark Community Member Posts: 1,469 Championing

    Hi Wibbles

    Sorry I don't check in as often as I would like.

    I had heard about Chindits previously, and there is a war memorial for them at the Victoria Embankment Gardens in London. I am not surprised to hear that he never spoke about this period. A lot of veterans don't speak about their experiences and more so for those who were in special forces teams.

    If you haven't found them there are some good videos on Youtube about them.

  • Wibbles
    Wibbles Community Member Posts: 3,686 Championing

    I have located the War Diaries and they make incredible reading - the sort of thing that could be made into a film !

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