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On 13 April 1912 King George V signed a royal warrant establishing the '''Royal Flying Corps''' ('''RFC'''). The Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the '''Military Wing''' of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May 1912.
The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, the Director of Military Training, and had separate branches for the Army and the Navy.<ref> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Corps Royal Flying Corps] Wikipedia</ref>
The Naval branch was formally separated and and renamed as the '''Royal Naval Air Service''' ('''RNAS''') on 1 July 1914.
On 1 April 1918 the two services were merged again to form the '''Royal Air Force''' ('''RAF''').
==Records==
*The National Archives guides: How to look for records of...
**1937, April
:Note, it is unclear in what form these lists are held.
*'''Note''': Some details of the earlier Royal Flying Corps appeared in the'' Naval Lists'', for example [https://archive.org/stream/navylistjan1915grea#page/714/mode/1up January 1915 ''Naval List''] includes Royal Naval Air Service and Military Wing. For online Naval Lists, see [[Military periodicals online#Navy List|Military periodicals online -Navy Lists]]. At a certain point, the Military Wing details appear to have been dropped, but they do '''not''' Later Royal Flying Corps information appears appear to have been included in the ''Army Lists'' .For online editions see the same Fibiwiki page [[Military periodicals online]].
*Held on the pay website findmypast (see [[Royal_Air_Force#External_links|External links]] section), are datasets in the category Armed forces & conflict, titled
**British Royal Air Force, Officers' Service Records 1912-1920 (sub category: Service Records)
**[http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/rafpesh.htm Royal Air Force 1922 - 27: Memorial in St. John's Church, Peshawar]
**[http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/rafmemsx.htm Royal Air Force Quetta Earthquake Memorial]
*The book ''A Contemptible Little Flying Corps : being a definitive and previously non-existent roll of those Warrant officers, N.C.O.'s and airmen who served in the Royal Flying Corps prior to the outbreak of the First World War'' by I. McInnes and J.V. Webb. 1991. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01010990717 and the National Archives Library [https://tna.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=49359 catalogue entry]. Also available in a reprint edition.<ref>[https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/contemptible-little-flying-corps/ ''A Contemptible Little Flying Corps''] Naval & Military Press reprint edition]</ref> A listing with mini-biography of all the non-commissioned airmen, the men on the ground who kept the planes in the air and the guns firing, who enlisted in the RFC from 1912 to prior to the outbreak of war in August 1914. Includes those who later became pilots.
*Books by SD and DB Jarvis, originally published 1993, and available in reprint editions.
:''The Cross Of Sacrifice. Vol. 2: Officers Who Died in the Service of the Royal Navy, RNR, RNVR, RM, RNAS and RAF, 1914-1919''. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01008822978 (Reprint edition.<ref>[https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/cross-of-sacrifice-vol-2-officers-who-died-in-the-service-of-the-royal-navy-rnr-rnvr-rm-rnas-and-raf-1914-1919/ ''Cross Of Sacrifice. Vol. 2: Officers Who Died in the Service of the Royal Navy, RNR, RNVR, RM, RNAS and RAF, 1914-1919''] Naval & Military Press</ref>)
