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67requested that these personnel be sent to Europe, on the grounds that they were unemployed, the Belgian Prime Minister, M Hubert Pierlot, responded that if Portal sent him the aircraft he had asked for, they would no longer be unemployed.26 In August, 1943, after more than a month of wrangling, Portal finally agreed to provide the six Oxfords, but he flatly refused to send any other aircraft, especially maritime patrol types. He all but demanded that the personnel not required to operate the Oxfords should be sent to Europe, where he was %u2018sure that they will do very good service.%u2019.27 Pierlot partially relented. Gratefully receiving the Oxfords, he decided that they would need 148 of the 250 personnel to operate them. While he would gladly send the 102 remaining men to Europe, that would actually break their terms of enlistment so he could do no more than ask for volunteers.28 Over the next three months, twenty officers from the Congo contingent did volunteer to serve in Europe, while another 102 Belgian nationals made their own way to the UK.29 These latter men enlisted straight into the RAFVR,where two Belgian fighter squadrons were already winning an enviable reputation for themselves. Meanwhile, by 1942 the Air Ministry had developed five broad %u2018principles%u2019 for dealings with and between the Allied Air Forces. These were published as the Air Ministry%u2019s de facto %u2018Mission Statement%u2019 on the treatment of the Allied air forces.30%u0010(%u0016%u0015%u0013/(+%u0015%u00168%u0006 The first principle, that of Nationality, protected the national identity of each of the Allies and allowed them to maintain their own culture and traditions. Although the wearing of national uniforms on duty was a hotly contested issue, the wearing of national %u2018flashes%u2019 and air crew brevets was both allowed and encouraged.31 Where squadrons had been established with the aim of containing personnel all from the same country, a certain leeway was allowed in the naming of the unit, in the design of its badge, and in the unofficial markings which they could apply to their aircraft. The odd conflict in this area did arise, such as over the question of flying badges. Some of the Allied air forces were keen to present their national pilot%u2019s brevets to British personnel as a token of respect or admiration. This was seen by some as upsetting and undercutting the carefully established system of