The Royal Air Force (1918-2000)

[Marcus Antonius]

The Royal Air Force

THE DEFENCE MISSION

The purpose of the Ministry of Defence, and the Armed Forces, is to defend the
United Kingdom, and Overseas Territories, our people and interests, and to act as
a force for good by strengthening international peace and security.

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE VISION

Our vision is an aspiration for the future state of the Royal Air Force, not a statement
of where we are now; it is a declaration of the kind of organisation we intend to be.
We want to see:

An Air Force that, person for person and pound
for pound, is second to none.

An Air Force that:

• Is trained and equipped to generate air power as a vital contribution to
the security of the United Kingdom and as a force for good in the world.

• Is proud of its heritage but modern and flexible.

• Fosters professionalism and team spirit founded on commitment and
self-discipline.

• Offers opportunity to all, and provides a rewarding career and skills for life.

To Be Continued

 

[Marcus Antonius]

The Royal Air Force

Chapter 1 ................ The Development of the Royal Air Force
Chapter 2 ................ The Royal Air Force - Organisation
Chapter 3 ................ Security

CHAPTER 1

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

The realisation that Britain was falling behind in the aviation race came towards the end of 1911 then the British Army and Royal Navy between them could muster approximately three airships and between four and eight aircraft with 19 competent aviators. By comparison France had over 200 aircraft and 263 aviators, whilst Germany mustered a fleet of 30 airships. Something had to be done. The Committee of Imperial Defence set up a technical sub-committee (a typical British reaction) to look into British military aviation. But this committee outperformed most of its type: its findings were speedily formulated with complete agreement, and issued in a White Paper in 1912 which set up a unified flying service called The Flying Corps. However, His Majesty the King decided that as flying, let alone fighting in the air, was a hazardous occupation, he would issue a royal warrant to grant it the title The Royal Flying Corps (RFC). This Royal Flying Corps would have a Central Flying School, a Military Wing to work with the Army, a Naval Wing to work with the
Navy, a Reserve, and the Royal Aircraft Factory (RAF, at Farnborough) to build its military aircraft.

Except for the use of balloons for reconnaissance, military aviation in the United Kingdom started in May 1912, with the formation of the Royal Flying Corps(RFC). All pilots were then trained at the central flying school at Upavon. The
aircraft were unarmed and were intended to be used for reconnaissance in support of military and naval operations.

From the start, the Admiralty had no intention of allowing its air affairs to escape from under its own control, and in fact the name Royal Flying Corps, Naval Wing, never really appeared anywhere other than on a few official documents. A new title, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), gained rapid currency and, by the time that World War I broke out in August 1914, it had received official sanction. With only a token participation in the Central Flying School, the Admiralty carried on with its own aviation affairs, training its own aviators and ordering its own aircraft direct from the
manufacturers, thereby spurning most of the products of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough.

In June 1914, it was decided that the use of aircraft in support of naval operations posed special problems and the navy broke away from the RFC to forma Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).

On 19th August 1914 the RFC began its air war with two reconnaissances, one by Captain Philip Joubert de la Ferte of No 3 Squadron in a Bleriot, and the other by Lieutenant G W Mapplebeck of No 4 Squadron in a BE2. The value of aerial reconnaissance was quickly made crystal clear with the German advance and the Allies hurried withdrawal, the RFC squadrons keeping the troops posted with information on the Germans’ latest strength, location and movement. Allied casualties could well have been higher without the advantage of this new method of reconnaissance.

RAF BE2c 1701 "Victoria Hong Kong No.2" No.4 Sqn RFC

By 1915 the war in the air was moving into a different phase - the joy of simply sitting up in the air watching the land battle below had been spoilt by one or two pilots taking their revolvers aloft with them and taking pot shots at the enemy’s aircraft. By October the French had already armed a Voisin with a machine-gun and shot down a German reconnaissance aircraft - war in the air was on.

As early as March 1915 the assault on Neuve Chapelle benefitted from the availability of tactical maps based solely on aerial photographs. Up until now the RFC had largely been observers of the battle scene, but in that same month the BE2s and other suitable aircraft were bombed up and sent in to attack behind the enemy lines to prevent reserves from moving up to the front line.

The leisurely days of aerial warfare were soon over for ever, and the most spectacular symbol of this change was the Fokker Eindecker (monoplane). Both sides in the struggle had progressed towards scouts armed with machine-guns for the express purpose of aerial combat, but none so far had approached the effectiveness of the Fokker Monoplane. This aircraft could have fought with the British for Anthony Fokker, a Dutchman, had offered his services first to the
Allies, only to be spurned. He then moved to Germany where his Monoplane was evolved being the first production aircraft successfully to solve the problem of firing the machine-gun through the propeller.

The aircraft were still used mainly for reconnaissance work and it was not until the Germans began to use fighter aircraft to shoot down our reconnaissance machines that we countered with our own British fighters to protect them. The introduction of fighter aircraft on both sides led to the now legendary battles over the western front in which men like Ball, McCudden, Mannock, Von Richthofen, Immelmann and Boelcke fought for air superiority.

By 1916, as a result of early Zeppelin raids, it was quickly realised that aircraft could also be used for bombing, and both the RFC and RNAS commenced bombing attacks against Germany. By 1917 the German Air Force used bomber aircraft to attack this country. This bombing and counter-bombing was to play a significant part in the formation of the Royal Air Force and in fact spurred the Government into action. A committee under General Smuts was set up and its recommendations resulted in the formation of the Air Council and the establishment of the Air Ministry.
On the 1st April, 1918, the Royal Air Force was born through the malgamation of the existing RFC and RNAS.

No 66 Squadron of the RFC flew the Sopwith Pup, with great success, in France in 1917

To Be Continued

 

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At the end of the war in November, 1918, the RAF had 190 squadrons with 290,000 officers and men. In less than two years the strength had dropped to 30 squadrons with 25,000 officers and men, and it was then that Lord Trenchard (the father of the Royal Air Force) and Sir Winston Churchill (Secretary of State for War and Air) agreed that the force should be kept at about this operational strength so that the annual budget of about £15 million could be concentrated on building up a sound training organization. As a result of this decision the Royal Air Force Cadet College, Cranwell, (1920), the Apprentices School at RAF Halton, (1922), and the RAF Staff College at Andover, (1922) were opened. The opening of these establishments was the first major step towards the provision of the high quality of aircrew and groundcrew whom we have in the RAF today.

The Auxiliary Air Force, destined to play a major role in the air defence of Great Britain, was formed in 1925. In 1937 The Royal Navy regained independent control of shipborne aircraft by taking over full responsibility for the Fleet Air Arm - a cause they had been fighting for since 1918. The responsibility for land-based maritime reconnaissance remained with the Royal Air Force.

Lord Hugh Trenchard

Hugh Trenchard came into the RFC after an Army career which had not shown him at his best.This was not wholly his fault, because he suffered from ill-health: but it has to be said that he was a difficult man to get on with, and was blunt to the point of rudeness with his superiors. He carried the DSO for his activities in the Boer War, in which he was badly wounded and in 1912 at the age of 39 after a severe and nearly fatal does of pneumonic type fever in Nigeria he had been found a staff job in the Army to see him through to retirement. With the advent of flying in the Army he soon arranged to qualify for his pilot’s licence and move into this sphere of military activity, becoming Station Staff Officer to the embryo Central Flying School and ending up as Assistant Commandant. When war broke out most of the RFC went to France. What little was left was put under Trenchard’s command to build up a training organisation and to feed out to France a growing supply of reserves of men, machines and equipment. His flair for administration enabled Trenchard to set the machinery in motion within 3 months, whereupon he was posted to France himself to command the 1st Wing, and nine months later he commanded the whole of the RFC on the Western Front. It was Trenchard who, seeing the mounting losses of British aircraft and crews, had to battle with those at home for better aircraft with which to prosecute the air war, and it was here that he began to learn the art of inter-departmental warfare. He was not naturally gifted at this, for he was a gruff man, and he had to rely on the power of his personality. It was this gruff forcefulness which acquired him the nickname ‘Boom’, which stuck to him throughout his career.

Under the leadership of Lord Trenchard the organization of the RAF continued to grow in quality, not quantity. The capability for quick expansion was “built-in” automatically. The advantage of this policy was demonstrated towards the beginning of the Second World War when the worsening political situation in Europe led to such a rapid expansion of the RAF that it became necessary by 1936 to introduce Bomber, Fighter, Coastal and Training Commands. On this solid framework the RAF was able to expand further as war approached until, at the peak of its strength during the war, it had some 9,000 operational aircraft as well as 40,000 aircraft engaged in training and non-operational duties.

To Be Continued

 

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As the political situation in Europe deteriorated through the thirties, pressure mounted for an expansion of the RAF. In 1936 a series of specialised commands were established: Bomber,Fighter, Coastal and Training. In September 1938, after the Munich crisis, the government agreed to a large expansion of the fighter and heavy bomber programme. The seed-corn which Trenchard had so carefully preserved was now able to produce the rapid expansion the country so desperately needed. At the outbreak of war the RAF had 1,911 combat-ready aircraft to face Germany’s 3,609.

Meanwhile, the RAF was engaged on many active operations and small “wars”; in Russia; in Somaliland; in operations from Iraq and Kurdistan to Waziristan.

During the inter-war years, high speed flight was not neglected and the RAF won the Schneider Trophy in 1927, 1929 and 1931 at speeds ranging from 281-340 mph.

SUPERMARINE S.6B SCHNEIDER TROPHY


It was from these aeroplanes that our eight-gunned fighters, the Spitfire and Hurricane, were developed. The Wellington and Whitley heavy bombers were also emerging.

SPITFIRE (nearest) & HURRICANE

WELLINGTON BOMBER

To Be Continued

 

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British scientists were beavering away to advance the art and science of flying so as to give the RAF the edge over any opponent in the approaching war. No where was this so marked and yet so successfully secret as in the development of radar (known then as RDF, or radio-directionfinding). By September 1939 some 20 RDF stations had been set up around the coasts of the UK, able to detect aircraft at medium heights up to 100 miles (161 km) away - and a solution to the lowflying aircraft problem was under active development. A means had been found to identify hostile from friendly aircraft by means of a device called IFF (identification: friend or foe) which has since been developed into a normal civil aviation identity system. And the whole radar chain had been incorporated into Fighter Command’s control system so that the information gleaned could be fed to the controllers with virtually no delay.

But probably by far the most important achievement of the inter-war years was the development of radio location to detect and locate aircraft - RAdio Detection And Ranging (RADAR). As a result, by the beginning of the war we had an early warning chain of 18 radar stations along the East Coast which, together with the Observer Corps, was to provide such vital assistance during later battles.

RADAR CH aerials

Ensign of the ROC

To Be Continued

 

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Between May and June 1940 Fighter Command flew more than 2,700 sorties to provide air superiority over the Dunkirk beaches, to cover the evacuation of the British Army from France. Then when the Germans turned their attentions on Britain, our air defences were ready - Fighter and Balloon Commands, the radar chain, the Army’s Anti-aircraft Command and the Observer Corps. The Battle of Britain began in July 1940. Six hundred to 700 fighters, mainly Spitfires and Hurricanes, flew daily against the Luftwaffe’s force of 1,000 fighters and 1,250 bombers. The German invasion was planned for September, but the Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority and the project was abandoned. They suffered crippling aircraft losses in combat, while shipping, assembled in the invasion ports, was decimated by Bomber Command. This difficult battle between July and October 1940 was a turning point in the war against Germany.

Fighter Command had won the Battle of Britain of Britain, but Bomber Command still had the task of taking the war to the enemy’s homeland. Four-engined bombers - the Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster - entered service and, with the twin-engined Mosquito, provided the strategic bombing capability. In the first three years, 90,329 tons of bombs were dropped; but it needed new navigational aids, operational analysis, and new tactics through such methods as the Pathfinder Force for strategic bombing to become fully effective. Bomber Command dropped just under a million tons
of bombs during the war, and the major weight of this effort was in 1944. Some 47,000 air crew were killed and 17,000 were wounded, taken prisoner or missing.

Short Stirling

Handley Page Halifax

Avro Lancaster

De Havilland Mosquito

Full production required secure sea lanes so that the necessary resources could be imported. Coastal Command was engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic to reduce the potentially disastrous shipping losses to the German submarine threat. Of the 706 German submarines sunk, 195 were credited to RAF aircraft, and a further 1,500 enemy surface vessels were sunk by the RAF in the Atlantic.

When Italy entered the war, operations spread to the Middle East theatre. Thereafter, fighting in East Africa and Greece, the RAF played a major part in the desert battles, culminating in the victory of El Alamein and the drive to Tunisia. The combined RAF and US Army tactical air forces provided the air superiority for the ground forces to push back the enemy through Italy. In the Far East similar co-operation between the Army and the RAF paid dividends.

For the final assault on the continent, all the air power resources were used to provide total air supremacy over the battlefields. Troops were transported into battle by air, and precision bombing was used to great effect. By V-E Day the RAF had 55,469 aircraft of which 9,200 were front line fighters or bombers. The RAF lost 70,253 killed in action and 22,924 wounded during the Second World War.

 

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As in 1918, the end of hostilities again led to the contraction of the Royal Air Force. From over 1,100,000 officers and men in 1945 the RAF had been reduced to about 200,000 by 1950, and to less than 100,000 by 1970. Wartime conscription was continued after the war in the form of National Service, but this ended in 1962 and the RAF is now a regular force, supported by the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (R Aux AF) and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves (RAF VR).

Royal Auxiliary Air Force Badge

 

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The re-equipment with jet-engined aircraft in the post-war years marked a revolutionary change in the Service. The Meteors and Vampires began a long line of military jet-engined aircraft, in which the Canberra became the first jet-engined bomber to enter service. It was very successful and many other air forces, including the USAF, used it. A notable world’s “first” for the RAF was a jet-engined transport squadron of Comet 2s in 1956.

Gloster Meteor

De Havilland Vampire

English Electric Canberra

De Havilland Comet 2

To Be Continued

 

[Marcus Antonius]

Britain’s decision to produce nuclear weapons and the four-engined V-bombed meant that the RAF was to provide the British strategic nuclear deterrent.

The RAF participated in the first British atomic test in the Monte Bello islands in October 1952.

The Valiant - the first of the V bombers, becoming operational in January 1955 - dropped the first British atomic bomb at Maralinga, South Australia in October 1956 and the first British hydrogen bomb at Christmas Island, in the Pacific, in May 1957.

A Blue Danube nuclear weapon released from a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant bomber at Christmas Island, an Australian Pacific atoll.

The Grapple 1 nuclear test on 15 May 1957. Hailed as Britain's first hydrogen bomb test.


To Be Continued