Royal Flying Corps Handbook 1914 18

Explores the contributions made by the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. This work also covers aircraft, an array of other subjects including organization, pay, rank, uniforms, motor vehicles, the womens branches, attitudes, and even songs popular in the mess.

In the late 19th century, aviation was dismissed by some military personnel as a waste of time. But, by 1912 the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) had been formed, combining the Air Battalion of the royal Engineers and the Naval Air Organization. Two years later, just one month before the outbreak of World War I, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was created as an idependent unit.

By the middle of 1918 the British Army had successfully mastered the concept of ’all arms’ warfare on the Western Front. This doctrine, integrating infantry, artillery, armoured vehicles and - crucially - air power, was to prove highly effective and formed the basis of major military operations for the next hundred years. Yet, whilst much has been written on the utilisation of ground forces, the air element still tends to be studied in isolation from the army as a whole. In order to move beyond the usual 'aircraft and aces' approach, this book explores the conceptual origins of the control of the air and the role of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) within the British army. In so doing it addresses four key themes. First, it explores and defines the most fundamental air power concept - the control of the air - by examining its conceptual origins before and during the First World War. Second, it moves beyond the popular history of air power during the First World War to reveal the complexity of the topic. Third, it reintegrates the study of air power during the First World War, specifically that of the RFC, into the strategic, operational, organisational, and intellectual contexts of the era, as well as embedding the study within the respective scholarly literatures of these contexts. Fourth, the book reinvigorates an entrenched historiography by challenging the usually critical interpretation of the RFC’s approach to the control of the air, providing new perspectives on air power during the First World War. This includes an exploration of the creation of the RAF and its impact on the development of air power concepts.

By the middle of 1918 the British army had developed an effective approach to warfare on the Western Front. This approach, integrating infantry, artillery, armoured vehicles and - crucially - air power, was to prove highly effective and formed the basis of major military operations for the next hundred years. Yet, while much has been written on the utilisation of ground forces the study of the air element still tends be studied in isolation from the army as a whole. By exploring five key themes, this study seeks to move beyond the dominant 'aces and aircraft' perspective on aviation during the First World War, demonstrating the rich and complex nature of air power history during this period.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X BOMBING AND PHOTOGRAPHY "The following bombing will be carried out by No.--Squadron at night (10 P.m., 12 midnight, and 2 A.m.). At each of these times three machines will bomb respectively P, 0, H." Thus the Operation Orders one evening in France. Quite ordinary orders too, for bombing is carried out day and night incessantly--by day with the object of damaging material, by night chiefly to annoy the Hun and have a bad effect on his moral. Bombing by night is usually carried out on towns and villages known to be resting-places of the German troops, and it is part of the work of the R.F.C. to see that the Hun never rests. Fritz after a hard spell in the trenches is withdrawn to some shell-torn village behind his lines to rest. He enters the ruined house that forms his billet, and with a sigh of contentment at reaching such luxury after the miseries of trench life prepares to sleep in peace--a peace undisturbed by raiding Britons or well-placed mines. He dreams of home, fair-haired buxom damsels, wiirst and sauerkraut, and then out of the night comes the terror of the air. A bomb falls in his billet, exploding with a terrific report, and doing damage to the already ruined walls. Possibly a few of his comrades are wounded or killed. Other explosions take place close by, and the whole village becomes a mass of roaring Germans. Then the explosions cease, the noise of engines grows fainter, and all becomes quiet, but Fritz does not sleep again. His nerves are jangled, all possibility of sleep is gone, and he momentarily expects to hear more explosions, heralding the arrival of yet another bombing squadron. Next day he is in a worse condition than after a night in the trenches, and this continues night after night until the period of...

Maurice Baring made an unlikely soldier but during the First World War, at the age of forty, he obtained a commission and became Private Secretary to Hugh Trenchard, Commander of the Royal Flying Corps in France, and, later on, creator of the Royal Air Force. Drawn from letters and diaries, Baring describes the momentous war years that forged the flying services. The embryo RAF was lucky to have such an observant and eloquent chronicler of its early years. General Foch said 'There never was a Staff Officer in any country, in any century like Major Maurice Baring'. When first published in 1920, it was hailed 'as one of the few war books that will survive'.