The Royal Flying Corps

Over the next six years the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the aeroplane became a vital part of the battlefield scene. Communications, observation and reconnaissance, artillery gunfire control, air-to-air combat and bombing - all battle-winning techniques - were developed.

During the later part of 1916, and into 1917, Germany sent Zeppelins across the North Sea and carried out bombing raids. In one particular raid on London in 1917, 160 people died. This caused panic within the political community - until then, the war was being waged in France. Now that it had come to the Capital, something had to be done. The German attacks had to be defeated.

The RFC was fully committed, with nearly twenty thousand aeroplanes in France where we were being defeated and every asset was vital. There were only two Squadrons in UK - but unfortunately their machines were not the most up-to-date. Attacking a Zeppelin was not easy and while there were some successes, they were few and far between.

The decision of the politicians was to form an Air Force to defend our skies. In order to equip them for the task, the assets of the RFC were handed over to the Royal Air Force, which came into existence on 1 April 1918.