Royal Air Force

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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.[1]

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 Lists were initially published on a monthly basis. Currently available (at April 2012) are
February 1919, Contents March 1919, Contents April 1919, Contents
May 1919 , Contents June 1919, Contents July 1919, Contents August 1919, Contents
September 1919 Contents October 1919, Contents November 1919, Contents December 1919, Contents
The Air Force List, a monthly publication. January editions for 1928; 1929; 1930; 1931; 1932; 1933; 1934; 1935.
Air Force List for 1949-1955, 1957, 1960-1965, 1991 Archive.org, 1991 edition Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. 1949 edition is the last quarterly edition, other editions are yearly editions.
Most of the above, and additional editions, are also available (free) on the website of the of the NLS as Air Force Lists: 1919-1922 and 1938-1945, which may be read online or downloaded. Also there are transcriptions available, together with a Search facility. There are Monthly Air Force Lists 1919-1922 (missing January 1919, December 1920) and Air Force Lists monthly 1938-May 1940 (missing Oct. 1938, Jan. 1940), bimonthly June 1940- July 1944, and quarterly Oct. 1944-July 1945.
Data from most of the editions (probably all) from the NLS are also available to search on findmypast in a database "Royal Air Force Lists 1919-1945",[3] located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Regimental & Service Records. However, the editions may only be browsed with difficulty, but appear to be classified similarly to the NLS database.
  • TheGenealogist, pay website, in its Diamond subscription,[4] currently (2018/03) includes some monthly Air Force Lists, some of which are also held by the NLS, but additionally
    • 1918, April. Also available in the Gold subscription, and elsewhere as a CD or pay download.[5]
    • 1933, October. Also available in the Gold subscription, and elsewhere as a CD or pay download.[6].
    • 1936, May
    • 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 January 1915 Naval List includes Royal Naval Air Service and Military Wing. At a certain point, the Military Wing details appear to have been dropped. For online Naval Lists, see Military periodicals online - Navy Lists. Royal Flying Corps details also appear in the Monthly Army Lists (but not the Quarterly Army Lists) from at least January 1915, see Military periodicals online - Monthly Army List.
  • Held on the pay website Findmypast (see 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)
    • British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939 (sub category Service Records).
    There is also a dataset on Ancestry (pay website) UK, Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940 (category Military, released 2017/7), which appears to consist of a transcription on Ancestry, with images available on the associated fold3 (pay) website.
    FamilySearch, a free website contains a dataset (introduced 2023/01) United Kingdom, Royal Air Force Service Records, 1912-1945 Index records consisting of Index records from the AIR 79 record series at The National Archives, Kew. Note: You must be signed in to FamilySearch to view the records. FamilySearch do not advise the exact records included, so it is possible that this is only a selection of records from AIR 79. (Images are available at FamilySearch Centres and FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries, in addition to images from the same series on Findmypast and fold3).
    • British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920 (sub category: Service Records)
    • British Royal Air Force, Gallantry Awards 1914-1919 (sub category: Medal rolls and honours}
    • Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918 (sub category: First World War). This database is also on Ancestry (category Military, released 2016/10).
    • Airmen Died In The Great War, 1914-1919 (sub category: First World War). Transcripts. The source is data from a Naval & Military Press DVD "reprint"[7] of the book Airmen died in the Great War, 1914-1918 : the roll of honour of the British and Commonwealth air services of the First World War by Chris Hobson, published in 1995. This database is also available on fold3, the Ancestry owned pay website. Also includes Royal Naval Air Service records.
    • Royal Air Force, Operations Record Books 1939-1945 (sub category: Second World War), added c 2020/05/29. These are index records from The National Archives at Kew, for records from the AIR 27 series. Some records classed as No 1 Squadron RIAF (Royal Indian Air Force) and No 10 Squadron RIAF (Royal Indian Air Force) were noted. Also dates before and after the range quoted.
    • British Royal Air Force, Combat Reports 1939-1945 (sub category: Second World War), added c 2020/05/29. These are index records from The National Archives at Kew, for records from the AIR 50 series.
  • Held on the pay website Ancestry, with images on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, a database "UK, WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923", which includes Royal Air Force personnel. For more details about these records, see the page British Army - WFA WW1 pension record cards.
  • TheGenealogist, pay website, released 6 February 2020, as part of Military Records, which are part of its Diamond subscription,[4] the first batch of a database "Air Force Operations" with featured article RAF Operations books build a picture of WWII aircrew ancestors' action. These are records from The National Archives series AIR 27 Air Ministry and successors: Operations Record Books, Squadrons, which date mainly from the mid 1930s onwards, but further details of TheGenealogist coverage is not given. Note AIR 27/1-2893 have been digitised by TNA, and may be downloaded for a fee from TNA website.
  • RAF Records Office for personnel enquiries can be contacted at:
RAF Disclosures
Trenchard Hall
RAF Cranwell
Sleaford
Lincolnshire
NG34 8HB
Telephone 01400 261201
a. Extension: 8161/8159 for Officers
b. Extension: 8163/8168 for Other Ranks
See the web page Requests for personal data and Service records (gov.uk) for forms to download. Also see Get a copy of military service records (gov.uk). It is now possible to apply online for RAF records, using a debit or credit card, but you also need a digital copy of the death certificate of the person you’re requesting the records of, in the correct format.
Also refer to the equivalent section on the Fibiwiki page British Army for some hints which possibly also apply to Royal Air Force records such as requesting FULL records.
  • The Royal Air Force Museum, London, refer External links below, holds some records including First World War Casualty Cards, which extend to 1928 and cover all theatres of operations. Casualty Cards records and Officers' Casualty Forms (the latter service records) have now been digitised, and are freely available.
  • The website Royal Flying Corps, refer External links below, includes a People Index, derived from a number of different sources.
  • Royal Flying Corps Military Wing. Casualties and Honours during the war of 1914-17. Compiled by Captain G. L. Campbell, RFA ... assisted by R. H. Blinkhorn 1917 Archive.org
  • An article in Royal Air Force Quarterly, July 1935 recorded the name of every officer serving with the Royal Flying Corps in July 1914, just before the outbreak of war. (Previously, but seemingly no longer, available online). This series of Journals is available at the British Library from 1930 UIN: BLL01009228648 catalogue entry.
  • 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 catalogue entry. Also available in a reprint edition.[8] 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.[9])
The Cross Of Sacrifice Vol 4: Non-commissioned Officers and Men of the Royal Navy, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force 1914-1921. Including the Commonwealth Navies and Air Forces. Sample pages, Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01006747946 . (Reprint edition.[10])
Additionally there is a 14 page addendum to Volume 4 which is not available separately in The Cross Of Sacrifice Vol. 5: The Officers, men and women of the Merchant Navy and Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary 1914–1919. Sample pages, Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01007836149 . (Reprint edition.[11])
The three books are available at The National Archives Library catalogue entry.
Officers who died in Service of the Royal Flying Corps are identified in Volume 1, (Sample pages The Cross of Sacrifice: Officers Who Died in the Service of British, Indian and East African Regiments and Corps, 1914-1919 Google Books) or Volume 3 The Cross of Sacrifice: Officers Who Died in the Service of Commonwealth and Colonial Regiments and Corps, and these volumes are also available at the British Library and in reprint editions.
  • From Stephen Lewis' Soldiers Memorials
  • A book of reference is Royal Air Force Flying Training and Support Units since 1912 by Ray Sturtivant with John Hamlin 2007. This is a revised expanded edition of Royal Air Force Flying Training and Support Units by Ray Sturtivant, John Hamlin and James J. Halley 1997, both published by the aviation society Air-Britain, and both available at the British Library UIN: BLL01013944781 (2007) and UIN: BLL01012371366 (1997) (More details.[12])

Also see

Indian Central Flying School (Sitapur)

An Indian Central Flying School was established at Sitapur in December, 1913, commanded by an officer of the 29th Punjab Regiment. [13] Prior to establishment it was stated that "we propose... to confine the work in the first instance to experiments and not to include the tuition of beginners. It is intended to begin with four officers, all of whom are in possession of pilot certificates. They will be provided with six aeroplanes for experimental purposes".[14] The School was part of the Royal Flying Corps, Military Wing, part of the British Army, although details appear in the Navy Lists.[15]. The School was closed on mobilisation.[16]

First World War

The outbreak of World War I saw a small Indian Flying Corps assigned for defence of the Suez Canal against a Turkish attack.[13]

In January 1915, Captain P W L Broke-Smith, Assistant Director of the Indian Flying Corps, set to work to establish an airfield at Basra, in Mesopotamia.[17] A small group of pilots from the Indian Army operated in Mesopotamia, described both as the Indian Flying Corps,[18] or the Mesopotamia Flight, Royal Flying Corps[19], to which was attached an Australian contingent, known as the Mesopotamia Half Flight, or Australian Half Flight.

31 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force

31 Squadron, formed in 1915, was the first operational military unit in Indian skies. During the First World War it was operational in the North West Frontier region of India . During the Second World War it saw action in Iraq and Burma. For details see The History of No. 31 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in the East from its formation in 1915 to 1950.[20] A later history is First in the Indian Skies by Norman Franks, 1981.[21] (British Library UIN: BLL01011032123)

114 Squadron, originally RFC, was formed at Lahore in September 1917, from a nucleus provided by 31 Squadron. See the letters of Thomas Gilbert who was posted to 114 Squadron in late September 1917, below under "Individuals".

Other Squadrons in India

20 Squadron arrived in India May 1919, and received the following battle honours Mahsud 1919-1920, Waziristan 1919-1925, Mohmand 1927, North West Frontier 1930-1931, Mohmand 1933, North West Frontier 1935-1939, North Burma 1943-1944, Arakan 1943-1944, Manipur 1944, Burma 1944-1945[22]

The RAF units which operated the Westland Wapiti in India were Nos 5, 11, 20, 27, 28, 31 and 60 Squadrons.[23]

A squadron history is The flying elephants : a history of No. 27 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, 1915-69 by Chaz Bowyer 1972 (British Library UIN: BLL01008362080).

North West Frontier

India’s North-West Frontier (now modern-day Pakistan) was divided into three areas for the RAF. The northern area comprised the region to the north of the Khyber Pass up to the foothills of the Himalayas – referred to as the ‘Roof of the World.’ The second or central area lay south west of the Khyber Pass roughly between the rivers Kabul and Kurram. This was universally mountainous, criss-crossed by deep valleys and dried up water courses. The third region was the southern area which lay to the south west of Kohat, from the Kurram River down towards Fort Sandeman and Baluchistan. This was dominated by Waziristan, the storm centre of the frontier and stronghold of tribal resistance.[24]

Also see North West Frontier Campaigns

RAF Chaklala

RAF Chaklala was located in part of Rawalpindi. During World War 2, from 1942 RAF Chaklala was the location of a Paratroopers Training School.[25]

Second World War

  • RAF bases at Fazilpur and Feni were forward bases for the invasion of Burma, located in the area of Bengal which is now Bangladesh.[26]
  • There were many airfields in Bengal and the Calcutta area, such as Digri, Salbani, Jessore, Dum Dum, Piardoba, Kharagpur, Alipore, Dhubalia, Pandaveswar, and Barrackpore.[27]

External links

  • findmypast
  • Royal Air Force: Contacts This page is now archived, as at 07 January 2017, but has a section about obtaining Service, and other records.
  • Royal Air Force Museum London, NW9.
    • Library collection which contains a "substantial collection of periodicals produced by RAF stations and units, which provide a fascinating insight into service life" and Archives collection, including
    • First World War Casualty cards (which extend to 1928, and cover all theatres of operation). Some records, including Casualty Cards, are now available online for free at a companion website Royal Air Force Museum Story Vault. The Search facility is accessed through the 'Archive' tab. Currently (August 2014) the Search results appear erratic, and it may be preferable to search on surname only.
Records available from the RAF Museum which provide useful information include Casualty Forms (which are different records from the Casualty Cards) and also Medical Cards (Form 6495).[28]
Update 2018/03: Online Officer’s Casualty Forms. Consists of records relating to the service of Royal Air Force Officers with the Expeditionary Force. Searchable. A companion website of the Royal Air Force Museum. Tips for searching,[29] including advice that some digital records actually have two digital images. Update 2019/12: There is now a button for the second page where it exists.[30] (Previous advice was that the second digital image may be located by increasing the number in the record URL by 1, which was not then currently (2018/03/22) otherwise stated. Also applies to records with more pages, keep increasing the number in the record URL by 1, until you come to a different record).
“RAF Inter-War Operations on the North-West Frontier” by Wing Commander Dr Andrew Walters page 110 (digital page 112) Air Power Review Volume 21, No.1 Spring 2018. raf.mod.uk
  • "The Myth of Air Control: Reassessing the History" by Dr. James S. Corum Aerospace Power Journal - Winter 2000. A historical look at air-control operations in the British Empire during the first half of the twentieth century. au.af.mil, archived.
  • XI(F) Squadron Association. No XI Squadron, RAF saw service on India’s Northwest frontier, from 1929, and in Burma from September 1943.
  • Online Photograph album of views from Iraq, India and Egypt 1932 – 1935 The images relating to India are pages 20- 38. Also one page, 31, On the North West Frontier 1934 from another album. The photographs are thought to have been taken by T Fuller, who, while he was in India, was with 27 Squadron RAF, based at Kohat. Wolfsonian-FIU, (Miami Florida). To enlarge the images, click on "Page Turner".
  • "Flying over the Himalayas: RAF Flight to Gilgit in November 1934" 07 March 2017 British Library Untold lives blog. The relevant file, IOR/L/PS/12/1993, with photographs at the end, is available online on the Qatar Digital Library
  • Details of Film: India, North-West Frontier, 1937. colonialfilm.org.uk. Film shows various military scenes, including numerous scenes of the RAF in action, bombing, shooting and dropping leaflets in Waziristan. Details of the military actions. Note, the film is not available online.
  • Waziristan In 1937 AD.Flv YouTube video. The description of the video says North-West Frontier, South Waziristan in 1937 AD. Film shows various military scenes, including numerous scenes of the RAF in action, bombing, shooting and dropping leaflets in Waziristan.
  • These photographs have subjects which are of a Military nature and were taken by Gordon Gibbons during his tour of duty in the Northwest Frontier of India, now Pakistan, with the RAF from 1937 to 1940. Bob Holland’s Raimpais website, archived. Includes
    • Miranshah Fort, NWF 1939 "Because the fort was subject to continual intermittent sniper fire the aircraft were started up inside the fort and at the last minute the gates were opened and the aircraft took off. Upon return the aircraft had to land outside and quickly taxi up to the gates which were opened just in time for them to enter and then closed again to keep out any natives with bad intentions..."
    • Convoy Miranshah-Bannu road NWF "It was at this gorge that the convoy of 450 personnel were held up for 4 days by deadly accurate sniper fire coming from a cave high up on the cliff face. Finally the C.O. flying dangerously close to the cliff face was able to lob a bomb into the cave and kill the sniper…"
  • "Carrier Pigeons in British Army" The Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon - December 8, 1938, page 8 (Google coded Nov 30, 1938). The South Waziristan Scouts and an RAF flight from Miranshah, after a carrier pigeon message is received. Google Newspapers.
  • Bracknell Paper No 6: A Symposium on the Far East War [WW2] 24 March 1995. Available through the Royal Air Force Museum website (scroll down)
  • Mutiny In The RAF- the Air Force Strikes of 1946 by David Duncan. Originally published 1998. socialisthistorysociety.co.uk. The first chapter is titled "Mutiny in Karachi" .
  • 152(Hyderabad) F Squadron 1939-1967 Served in India from 19th December 1943 as part of Calcutta’s defence and later moved to the front. Disbanded at R.A.F. Risalpur in 1947
  • Galleries (photographs) from "Royal Air Force Commands" includes categories "India and the North West Frontier" [1930s] and South East Asia Command (SEAC) [WW2]. (retrieved 27 June 2014)
    • The latter category includes RAF Kohat - 1941 (Frank Powley's Collection). The RAF commissioned Kohat as an airfield for operational purposes in 1922 to meet the threat posed by tribesmen on the North West Frontier, along with Peshawar and Risalpur.
  • ww2images photostream with "Tags –India" flickr.com Mainly images of aircraft.
  • PAF [previously RAF] Peshawar globalsecurity.org
  • "Few Snapshots from our Aviation History" by Dr Ali Jan August 31, 2009 khyber.org.
  • SEAC Liberator Squadrons [WW2] from Robert Quirk’s website. (archive.org link). Covers operations of squadrons based in India.
    • Includes a link to pdf downloads of a report by Matthew J. Poole on the 26 July 1945 aerial collision between two RAF Liberators. (Version 6, 27 November 2008).
This collision is the subject of this article by DN Singh July 25, 2011, which appears to use details from the report by Matthew J Poole. The article briefly mentions the Air Fighting Training Unit - 228 Group and the Tactical & Weapons Development Unit based at Amarda Road, Orissa and the names of surrounding airfields- Dalbhumgarh, Dudhkundi, Salua, Digri, Salbani and Chakulia
  • With The Royal Air Force In India, [1919] Everyday life for members of 99 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF at Ambala, India, June-September 1919. A silent film from Imperial War Museums (retrieved 27 June 2014)
  • Medal Roll for India General Service Medal with clasps 1919-1935: RAF personnel. Surnames A-Brymer only. Includes the Squadrons present. html version pdf version naval-military-press.com. Retrieved 9 August 2014
  • Cross & Cockade International (CCI) Journal of the First World War Aviation Historical Society. Cross & Cockade GB was formed in, and published from, 1970 as the British arm of Cross & Cockade in the USA, which was formed in 1960. The name changed to Cross & Cockade International when the US society ceased in 1986. In 1986 Cross & Cockade [USA] amalgamated with/became associated with Over the Front, Journal of the League of WWI Aviation Historians, which holds the archives of Cross & Cockade [USA] 1960-1985. The British Journals are available at the British Library and Imperial War Museums. The IWM catalogue lists the USA Journals holdings as C&C Vol 1 1960- Vol 23 1982 (LBY E.J. 5156 but also see LBY E. 45573), OTF Vol 1 1986- Vol 11 1996 (LBY E.J. 64).
CCI Journal Index up to Vol. 50 and Recent Journals. CCI Journals include a series of articles "Gazetteer of Flying Sites in the UK and Ireland 1912–1920", catalogue details for the Gazetteer articles, together with Index.
CCI website includes a Forum.
C&C [USA] Index: Volumes 1-26 1960-1985 missing 5 quarterly issues. Over the Front Index: Volumes 1-16 1986-2001 toto.lib.unca.edu. University of North Carolina at Asheville holds the volumes listed.

Individuals

Page 49 30.12.16 Notified he is to be posted to Egypt for training in flying; Page 53 28.1.17 He commences training at Aboukir, Abbasia, Heliopolis; Page 67 23.6.17 Advised he is to be posted to England; Page 75 9 Sept 1917. He receives notice he will be posted to India; Page 82 27.11.17 114th Squadron. R.F.C. Lahore; Page 92 18.3.18 Transferred to Sibi, Baluchistan The war against the Marris; Page 96 23.4.18 Harnai; Page 97, 6.5.18; The squadron prepare to leave for Quetta; Page 112 10.11.18 The squadron moves to Lahore.
  • Sgt Reginald White, 48 Squadron RAF took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. 48 Squadron arrived in India by sea and by June 1919 were based in Quetta.[34]
  • Charles Frederick Langley (born 1889). He was in India 1920-23 with the Royal Air Force. His final posting was the RAF base at Risalpur, the new home for 27 Squadron. He was in charge of the base’s three pigeon lofts containing several hundred birds and one of his jobs was to teach the pilots how to handle and release the homing pigeons from the aircraft.[35]
  • John G Walser MC was in India from 1922 to the end of 1925 with the Royal Air Force, including a posting to No. 31 Squadron which was stationed at Dardoni, in Waziristan. He wrote letters to his family detailing his experiences[36]
  • Listen to the 1975 Interview with John William Easton, British NCO who served with 1 Wing, RAF at Miranshah Fort, 1928-1930 including contact with T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Imperial War Museums
  • "Come fly with me: Early days of the RAF in India" by Pat Ellingham March 22, 2019. bristolmuseums.org.uk. Information about the films made by Leonard de Ville Chisman late 1920s/1930s including on the North West Frontier. These films are now in the Bristol Archives British Empire and Commonwealth Film collection/ Chisman (ref. 2006/005). Currently (2021/06) there are some digitised films viewable online, ref. 2006/005/1 but no digitised photographs, the latter seems to include “The sequence documenting Quetta both before and after the great earthquake of 1935 are of particular interest.“ For a description of one of the films see colonialfilm.org.uk - this may be viewed online Chisman collection 15: Footage taken in Waziristan, 1937 ref. 2006/005/1/15. See also film "14: Footage taken in Waziristan" and film "7: RAF wedding in Peshawar, India" c 1930s.
  • Memoirs: Malcolm Macdougall. He was posted in January 1938 to 20 A.C. Squadron, Northwest Frontier, where he spent two years at Peshawar and one year at Kohat, with occasional detachments to Miramshah (Miranshah?). In 1941 he was posted to 27 Squadron Risalpur which later went to Singapore and Malaysia, then Ceylon. Website of RAF Cranwell Apprentices Association, 29th Entry, all archived webpages.
  • Listen to the 1977 interview with Wilfred Randall Page British aircraftman and photographer served with RAF in GB 1933-1935; served with Photographic Section, 28 Sqdn, RAF at Ambala and in Waziristan, India, 1935-1939 Imperial War Museums
  • Listen to the 2008 interview with Gawain Thomas Alexander 'Gavin’ Douglas , born 1914. British officer served in India, with British and Indian Army, 1935-1940; trained as pilot with RAF in India, 1941-1942; served as flying instructor with RAF in India, 1943-1944, served with 28 and 60 Sqdns, RAF in Burma, 1/1945-5/1945; commanded 34 Sqdn in Burma, 5/1945-10/1945; commanded 28 Sqdn, RAF in Burma and Malaya, 1945- 1946; commanded 152 Sqdn, RAF on North West Frontier of India, 1946-1947 Imperial War Museums.
  • A Story of War Colin Diarmid Campbell Dunford Wood, kept war diaries continuously from early 1939. Initially with the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment in Waziristan, he later joined the Royal Air Force, flying in Iraq, India and Burma (where he flew the last Hurricane out, before the advancing Japanese) and Europe.
  • Squadron Leader Jack Storey - obituary [1915-2015] 08 February 2015 The Telegraph, archived. He was with No 135 Squadron and fought in the Burma Campaign January 1942 - August 1943, where he accounted for eight Japanese aircraft and was then a gunnery instructor in India for a period.
  • The Mumblings of Edward Sparkes Contents page Flt Lt Edward D S N Sparkes was in the RAF and arrived in India in the latter part of 1943 in the chapter Ashore in Bombay. He subsequently joined X Squadron Royal Indian Air Force and served in Burma until he was invalided back to England in 1945.
  • Listen to the 2003 interview with Jack Gabbutt, British NCO photographer served with 681 and 81 Sqdns, RAF in India, Burma, Malaya and Java, 1944-1947 Imperial War Museums
  • W/O Roy Woodcock was called up in July 1942. Later he was sent to India. Scroll down approximately half way for his account. war-experience.org, now an archived webpage.
  • Recollections of Sgt Mike Hall, India, 1944-46 paradata.org.uk, now an archived webpage.
  • "Last stop Karachi 1946!" by John ‘Dusty’ Miller Part 1, Part 2. He was a driver in the RAF and was in India 1945-1947, his last posting in Karachi. www.qissa-khwani.com, now archived.
Indian Air Force

Historical books online

  • Tracing your family history: Royal Air Force compiled by Angela Wootton, edited by Sarah Patterson, 2nd edition 2006, published by Imperial War Museum, London (1999 edition). Archive.org Books to Borrow. Due to dates of publication, online sources are not covered.
  • [British] Army. Memorandum On Naval And Military Aviation Presented to both Houses of Parliament HMSO 1912 Archive.org.
  • For First World War online books, also see First World War - In the Air, and the various Fronts mention at the top of First World War - Historical books online.
  • Flight International Magazine Collection at Archive.org, which is Searchable as a Collection. Flight International (or Flight) is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport". It is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine. Contains pages relating to “Service Aviation”. Online volumes from 1909 to 1935 but missing January-June 1933. Also available for November 2014-January 2016, where the date is advised in the title, but "date of publication" has not been entered to the catalogue system.
An Archive of online volumes to 2005 was previously available on the FlightGlobal website until the introduction of a new website format c 11 December 2019. It is stated that it will return, but is still not available (9 July 2022). However another page in February 2023 says "Subscribers can also access our archived issues by clicking on the filing cabinet drawer symbol next to the search icon", so it appears that only subscribers can access the archive. Archived version of FlightGlobal Archive is available on the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive (Archive.org), but it is unclear how much of the content is accessible. This journal is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01012093219 1909-1961 and UIN: BLL01009542778 from 1962, and also at the Royal Air Force Museum.
  • "War Operations In India" page 268, War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume VI by H A Jones 1937 Archive.org. Part of the series History of the Great War based on Official Documents
  • Page 3 The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914-1918 by F M Cutlack 1933 (first published 1923) The Official History of Australia in the War: Volume VIII Archive.org. The two Indian Army airmen, and mechanics from India, sent to Mesopotamia, and their poor aircraft.
  • History of No.30 Squadron RAF. Egypt and Mesopotamia 1914 to 1919 [catalogued] by Major J.Everidge, R.A.F. is available as a reprint[37] of an original Air Ministry Historical Branch typed document, probably first published as a reprint c 2004, which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3.com located in International/Military Books/Egypt.
  • Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part 1 (Provisional) 1914 (40/War Office/2054). HMSO 1914. Archive.org
  • The King's Regulations and Orders for the Royal Air Force, 1918 Archive.org, Contents, Google Books.
The King's Regulations and Air Council Instructions for the Royal Air Force. Air Publication 958.
1943, Contents; 1944, Contents Archive.org.
1920 Volume 1, to 1929; 1930-1937. Archive.org.
Volume II, Rearmament, 1930 to 1939, 2008 is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01013074891 . Sample pages Google Books.

Fiction

It’s Me Again: The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy Volume Three by Donald Jack 1975. Both Archive.org Lending Library.
Volumes One and Three in the series The Bandy Papers, or The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy. A series of novels chronicling the exploits of a World War I fighter ace Bartholomew Wolfe Bandy. The Bandy Papers Wikipedia. “The books are noted for their humour and word play, as well as technical and historic accuracy.” Review of Volume Three, the final volume set in the WW1 period, Volume Two being That's Me in the Middle.
  • For younger readers.
    • Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter by Captain W E Johns 1954. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Set in WW1. Contains thirteen short stories, eleven of which were originally published in The Camels Are Coming (1932) and two of which were originally published in Biggles Of The Camel Squadron (1934), originally written for older adolescents. Note however Wikipedia states "The early First World War books were reprinted in the 1950s, when the Biggles books had acquired a younger readership, and were bowdlerised".
    Biggles in World War 1 Archive.org collection of 5 volumes of short stories which originally appeared in magazines.

References

  1. ↑ Royal Flying Corps Wikipedia
  2. ↑ Post dated 1 July 2018. Royal Artillery Museum Archive on Facebook
  3. ↑ Royal Air Force Lists 1919-1945 findmypast
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 TheGenealogist Diamond Subscription.
  5. ↑ Air Force List 1918 - April genealogysupplies.com
  6. ↑ Air Force List 1933 - October genealogysupplies.com
  7. ↑ Airmen died in the Great War, 1914-1918 : the roll of honour of the British and Commonwealth air services of the First World War by Chris Hobson. Naval & Military Press DVD.
  8. ↑ A Contemptible Little Flying Corps Naval & Military Press reprint edition]
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ Cross Of Sacrifice Vol. 4: Non-commissioned Officers and Men of the Royal Navy, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force 1914-1919 (as catalogued) Book cover states 1921. Naval & Military Press
  11. ↑ Cross Of Sacrifice Vol. 5: The Officers, men and women of the Merchant Navy and Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary 1914–1919 Naval & Military Press
  12. ↑ Carnaby. Royal Air Force Flying Training and Support Units (Since 1912) by Ray Sturtivant, John Hamlin and James J Halley Airfields Research Group Forum 09 December 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Flying high at 75" by B. G. Verghese August 5, 2007 Spectrum: The Tribune, now an archived webpage.
  14. ↑ "The Indian Budget 1913" page 216 The Rt. Hon. Mr. E. S. Montagu on Indian Affairs, published 1917. Archive.org.
  15. ↑ Page 431f Monthly Navy List August 1914
  16. ↑ Page 431k The Navy List January 1915
  17. ↑ "Only A Sideshow? The RFC And RAF In Mesopotamia 1914-1918" by Guy Warner. Refer External links
  18. ↑ Old Man. Seeking Info On R.N.A.S. Unit In Mesopotamia, Sept. 1915;June 1916 Great War Forum thread 27 April 2014, quoting "The Indian Flying Corps and the Australian Half-Flight", by Dr. Brian P. Flanagan. Cross and Cockade Journal (Summer, 1976, vol 17 no 2) , the US journal, now renamed Over the Front. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  19. ↑ Page 142, Cavalry Of The Clouds Aspects of the Air War in the Eastern Theatre,1914-1918, by CH. Whitley 1997 . Refer External links
  20. ↑ Naval and Military Press publication History of No.31 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in the East from its formation in 1915 to 1950
  21. ↑ Lindsay, Kimberley John. NW Frontier photo of 2Lt D. Thomson, RAF, 31 Sqn Obs Great War Forum 6 October 2018. Also contains an image of a Gooli Chit. Retrieved 7 October 2018
  22. ↑ 20 Squadron raf.mod.uk.
  23. ↑ A flight of Eagles : The Westland Wapiti in Indian Air Force Service bharat-rakshak.com.
  24. ↑ "“Good God, Sir, Are You Hurt?” The Realities and Perils of Operating over India’s Troublesome North-West Frontier" by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Roe Air Power Review Volume 14 Number 3 Autumn/Winter 2011 Centre for Air Power Studies, Royal Air Force, page 78 (computer page 89)
  25. ↑ Paratroopers Training School, now an archived webpage. indianairforce.nic.in
  26. ↑ High Wood RAF Fazilpur under construction 1943 WW2Talk Forum 24 December 2014. To view the photographs, you must be logged into WW2Talk Forum. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  27. ↑ Poole, Matt, airlana et al RAF Airfields in Bengal and Arakan WW2Talk Forum 11 December 2009 et al. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  28. ↑ quemerford. RAF service record: can you help decipher? Great War Forum 1 April 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  29. ↑ Ross_McNeill et al. RFC/RAF Casualty Forms Royal Air Force Commands Forum 29th January 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  30. ↑ pierssc. Officer's Casualty Forms Great War Forum 25 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  31. ↑ Pre WW2 British No.1 Rolls Royce Armoured Car Company RAF Iraq 1920 Photo Worthpoint
  32. ↑ kopite. Waziristan in 1937 WW2Talk Forum 28 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  33. ↑ Wings over Waziristan airminded.org
  34. ↑ Sgt Reginald White, 48 Squadron RAF in the Third Anglo-Afghan War, archived webpage.
  35. ↑ Charles F Langley D C M and Photographs (retrieved 18 April 2014)
  36. ↑ My Father: John G Walser Scroll down for his account of this period. Family website, now archived, (retrieved on 18 April 2014)
  37. ↑ History of No.30 Squadron RAF. Egypt and Mesopotamia 1914 to 1919 Naval & Military Press.
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