April 13th was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), which was merged with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to become the Royal Air Force in 1918. BBC Magazine has an interesting article about the early days:
In most accounts of WWI, mention of the Royal Flying Corps goes hand-in-hand with stories of the fighter aces, men like Albert Ball and James McCudden, who downed dozens of enemy planes.
The romance of gladiatorial combat in the air — initially firing revolvers at one another from the cockpit, and then shooting machine guns through the propellers of the aircraft — makes their adventures against such legendary foes as the Red Baron some of the most stirring tales of the Great War.
But as a division of the British Army, the main role of the Royal Flying Corps, with its hundreds of pilots and thousands of ground crew, was very different.
It was the eyes of the army.
For the first time in history, it was possible not only to get a detailed view of the enemy lines from above, but to see what was going on behind those lines — the trench systems, the support routes, the railways and road vehicles that manoeuvred troops and weaponry into position.
The real heroes of the war in the air were the pilots and observers who flew in all conditions to maintain British air superiority, and to keep the ground troops aware of everything that the enemy was doing.
During the First World War, Canada hosted a training unit for British aircrew, the Royal Flying Corps Canada (Wikipedia link), from 1917 onwards. It operated the following air stations in southern Ontario:
- Camp Borden 1917–1918
- Armour Heights Field 1917–1918 (pilot training, School of Special Flying to train instructors)
- Leaside Aerodrome 1917–1918 (Artillery Cooperation School)
- Long Branch Aerodrome 1917–1918
- Curtiss School of Aviation (flying-boat station with temporary wooden hangar on the beach at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island 1915–1918; main school, airstrip and metal hangar facilities at Long Branch)
- Deseronto Airfield, Deseronto 1917–1918 (pilot training)
- Camp Mohawk (now Tyendinaga Mohawk Airport) and Camp Rathburn — located at the Tyendinaga Indian Reserve near Belleville 1917–1918 (pilot training)
- Hamilton (Armament School) 1917–1918
- Beamsville Camp (Aerial fighting)
List sourced from the Wikipedia page on the RFC.
[Lt Col (later Brig Gen) Cuthbert] Hoare made several agreements with U.S. Brig Gen George O. Squier (US Army Signal Corps) and the US Aircraft Production Board. Squier had overall responsibility for the US Army’s air service, which was short of flight instructors. The RFC released five experienced American pilots to the US Army, where they became squadron commanders. The US Air Board acquiesced in the British opening a recruiting office in New York City, ostensibly to recruit British citizens, but in fact also soliciting US citizens, of whom about 300 were successfully signed up. The RFC would also train many US Army flight personnel: 400 pilots; 2,000 ground-crew members; and 20 equipment officers. These Americans would then collect aircraft and equipment from the UK, before coming under RFC control in France. Ten American squadrons would train in Canada during the summer of 1917, while RFC squadrons were allowed to train during the winter in Fort Worth, Texas.
During the last two years of the war 3135 pilots and 137 observers trained in Canada and Texas for both the RFC and the new Royal Air Force (RAF). Of these trainees, 2,624 went to Europe for operational duty.
Dear All, my gdad served in Egypt & Salonica in the RFC in WW1 and talked about the “Silver Blade” aircraft and I can’t find the name, any ideas, please brian ps my gdad was a BEDSTEAD maker by trade????? Flying Bed?????
Comment by brian cave — May 9, 2012 @ 10:58
Not to be self-referential, but I did a Google search for “rfc silver blade” and this comment is the top entry as far as Google is concerned. WWI aircraft is very much not a topic I can claim much knowledge of … I know a few of the more famous aircraft types, but this one didn’t ring a bell for me at all. Sorry.
Comment by Nicholas — May 9, 2012 @ 20:24