Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I.
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2 Aircraft 3 World War I 4 Training 5 Amalgamation 6 Some members of the RFC 7 External links |
Origin and Early History
Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. By the end of that year, it had 12 manned balloon and 36 biplane fighter aircraft. The RFC was intended to have had separate military and naval branches. The Royal Navy however was not keen on having naval aviation under the control of an Army corps and formed its own Royal Naval Air Service.
The RFC's motto was Per Ardua ad Astra.
The RFC's first fatal crash was on July 5, 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Killed were Captain Eustace B. Loraine and his observer Staff-Sergeant R.H.V. Wilson. An order was issued after the crash stating "Flying will continue this evening as usual", thus beginning a tradition.
Aircraft
RFC and RNAS aircraft used during the war included:
Many technological advances took place. Planes became faster and more maneuverable, so they could attack enemy positions as well as scouting them. The invention of the interrupter gear allowed machine guns to be fired between the propeller blades.
World War I
The RFC was responsible for manning observation balloons on the Western front. For the first half of the war, the French air force vastly outnumbered the RFC, and accordingly did more fighting. Despite the primitive aircraft, aggressive leadership by commander Hugh Trenchard led to many brave fighting exploits and many casualties - over 700 in 1916, the rate worsening thereafter.
The RFC's first casualties of World War I were before the Corps even arrived in France. Lt Robert R. Skene and Air Mechanic Ray Barlow were killed on August 12 1914 when their, probably overloaded, plane crashed on the way to rendezvous with the rest of the RFC near Dover. Skene had been the first Englishman to do a loop in an airplane. Following the rendezvous, the RFC made a mass crossing of the English Channel with 60 machines.
The RFC's first action of the war was a two plane reconnaissance on 19 August 1914. The mission was not a great success. In order to save weight each plane carried a pilot only instead of the usual pair of pilot and observer. Because of this and poor weather both of the pilots lost their way and only one was able to complete his task.
The RFC's first victory was nearly a week later on August 25th when Lt C.W. Wilson and Lt C.E.C. Rabagliati forced down a German Etrich Taube which had approached their aerodrome while they were refueling their Avro. Another RFC machine landed by the German one and the RFC observer chased the German pilot into some nearby woods.
Eleven RFC members received the Victoria Cross during World War I.
Before the Battle of the Somme (1916) the RFC had 421 aircraft, with four kite-balloon squadrons and fourteen balloons. These made up four brigades, which worked with four British armies. The RFC drew on men from across the British Empire including South Africa, Canada and Australia. Some Americans joined the RFC before the USA became a combatant.
Training
In 1917, the American, British, and Canadian Governments agreed to join forces for training. Between April 1917 and January 1919, Camp Borden in Ontario hosted instruction on flying, wireless, air gunnery and photography, training 1,812 RFC Canada pilots and 72 for the United States. It now now hosts the largest training wing of the Canadian Forces. Training also took place at several other Ontario locations.
During winter 1917-18, RFC instructors trained with the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army on three airfields accommodating about six thousand men, at Camp Taliaferro near Fort Worth, Texas. Training was hazardous; 39 RFC officers and cadets died in Texas. Eleven remain there, reinterred in 1924 at a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery where a monument honours their sacrifice.
Amalgamation
Towards the end of World War I, on April 1, 1918, the RFC and the RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, the Royal Air Force. The RAF was under the control of the Air Ministry. By 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 people.
Some members of the RFC
Militarily prominent
Otherwise prominent
In fiction
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