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60numbers of ground crews who had escaped the continent, but also to supervise the translation and printing of RAF manuals and other training material into the relevant languages. These seem mostly to have been aircrew orientated, however, as distinct from technical manuals for ground crews. The idea was to teach all personnel sufficient English to permit them to use standard texts, although these efforts were not particularly well organised in the early days.5 By the end of the year accountants had also been brought in to help deal with the financial issues arising, such as rates of pay, and, (along with the, also new, Foreign Supply Section), what equipment was needed by whom, and who should pay for what. 6 Right from the first day, the DAAC was beset with pressing issues. Politics ran every which way throughout the assembling foreign air contingents. Most clamoured to fight under their own flags and direction, a demand which the Air Ministry, with the exceptions of Poland and Norway, rightly refused, since the lack of central control would have resulted in chaos. Instead, the foreign nationals were enlisted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, where a degree of uniformity and control could be imposed. This required the resolution of many complex issues including the reconciliation of national and RAF Service law, variations in pay rates and often markedly different rank structures. Establishing a clear correlation Fig 2. Directorate of Allied Air Co?Operation, 1940.