19 August
First RFC aerial reconnaissance flights
22 August
German columns threaten Anglo-French positions
23 August
Battle of Mons, followed by Allied retreat
3 September
RNAS assumes aerial defence of UK
6–10 September
First Battle of the Marne, Paris saved
7 September
Field Marshal Sir John French, British C-in-C in France, formally praises RFC
12 September
Violent storm devastates RFC in the field
15 September
First aerial photos taken in battle by RFC
19 September
Term ‘archie’ coined for German anti-aircraft guns
22 September
RNAS aeroplanes raid Zeppelin sheds on Rhine
8 October
Second attack against Zeppelin sheds on Rhine
10 October
Antwerp formally surrenders
19 October
First Battle of Ypres begins
November
RFC in the field organised into two Wings
21 November
Three RNAS machines raid Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance
22 November
First Battle of Ypres ends
21 December
First aeroplane raid on Dover
24 December
Second aeroplane raid on Dover, first bomb hits land
1915
19 January
First airship raid on Britain against East Anglia
3 March
3rd RFC Wing formed in France, fourth created in England
10–13 March
Battle of Neuve Chapelle
22 April
Second Battle of Ypres begins: first use of gas
26 April
2/Lt W.B. Rhodes-Moorhouse wins posthumous VC for bombing Courtrai
25 May
Second Battle of Ypres ends
31 May
First airship raid on London
7 June
FSL R.A.J. Warneford destroys Zeppelin over Ghent: awarded VC
25 July
Capt L.G. Hawker wins VC patrolling Ypres Salient
29 July
Admiralty declares RNAS ‘an integral part of the Royal Navy’
31 July
Capt J.A. Liddell wins posthumous VC in Belgian coastal area
19 August
Col H.M. Trenchard assumes command of the RFC in France, replacing Maj Gen Sir David Henderson.
25 September
Battle of Loos begins
8 October
Battle of Loos ends
7 November
2/Lt G.S.M. Insall wins VC for action near Bapaume
6 December
Allied conference at Chantilly plans for 1916
19 December
Gen Sir Douglas Haig replaces Field Marshal Sir John French as C-in-C in France
1916
15 February
Joint War Air Committee (JWAC) established under Lord Derby
16 February
Aerial defence of the United Kingdom taken over by RFC
21 February
Battle of Verdun begins
March
RFC in field reorganised: one Brigade to support each Army
22 March
Accusations of ‘Fokker fodder’ and murder in Parliament
31 March
Derby resigns and JWAC collapses
11 May
Air Board established with Lord Curzon, Lord Privy Seal, as its president
5 June
Lord Kitchener (Secretary of State for War) drowned, when cruiser Hampshire strikes mine
18 June
German airman Max Immelmann killed
1 July
Battle of the Somme begins, Maj L.W.B. Rees wins VC while on lone patrol, No 3 (Bombing) Wing RNAS operational under Capt W.L. Elder: to attack industrial targets
3 September
Lt W.L. Robinson brings down airship at Cuffley, Herts, to win VC
15 September
First British use of tanks on the Somme
13 October
Anglo-French bombing raid on Mauser arms factory at Oberndorf in Germany
28 October
German airman Oswald Boelcke killed
18 November
Battle of the Somme ends
23 November
Maj L.G. Hawker VC killed
7 December
David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister
18 December
Battle of Verdun ends
1917
7 January
Sgt Thomas Mottershead posthumously awarded VC for saving blazing machine
6 February
Two months after Curzon joins the War Cabinet, Lord Cowdray appointed president of new (second) Air Board
6 April
USA declares war on Germany
9 April
Battle of Arras begins, Vimy Ridge taken
16–20 April
Nivelle Offensive on the Aisne fails
May
No 3 (Bombing) Wing RNAS disbanded
7 May
Capt Albert Ball killed, awarded posthumous VC
16 May
Battle of Arras ends
25 May
Cloud prevents Gotha aeroplane attack on London but Shorncliffe and Folkestone bombed
2 June
Aerial action earns Capt W.A. Bishop a VC
7 June
Battle of Messines Ridge begins
13 June
Daylight Gotha raid on London resulting in heavy casualties, political and public uproar
14 June
Battle of Messines Ridge ends
2 July
War Cabinet approves expansion of RFC to 200 squadrons
7 July
Second daylight raid on London; renewed outcry
19 July
First Smuts report on aerial defence
31 July
Battle of Passchendaele begins
19 August
Second Smuts report on bombing strategy and air force organisation
21 August
Flying a Sopwith Pup off HMS Yarmouth, FSL Bernard Smart shoots down German airship off Denmark
2 September
Series of night raids against London and south-east England commence
23 September
German ace Werner Voss shot down
1 October
Memorandum by Minister of Munitions, Winston Churchill, on loss of industrial production during airraids
11 October
41st (Bombing) Wing RFC established under Lt Col C.L.N. Newall to attack targets in Germany
29 October
Lloyd George praises ‘cavalry of the clouds’ in Parliament
6 November
Passchendaele village captured
10 November
Battle of Passchendaele (3rd Ypres) ends
20 November
Battle of Cambrai begins: use of massed tanks
23 November
Lord Rothermere replaces Cowdray as president of Air Board
29 November
Air Force (Constitution) Act receives Royal assent
7 December
Battle of Cambrai ends
24 December
Strong British bombing raid on Mannheim
28 December
Last meeting of Air Board
1918
3 January
Establishment of an Air Ministry: Rothermere Secretary of State, Maj Gen Sir Hugh Trenchard CAS
18 January
Trenchard hands over command in France to Maj Gen J.M. Salmond
28 January
Severe bombing raid on London; 233 casualties
1 February
41st (Bombing) Wing RFC upgraded to VIII Brigade under Brig Gen C.L.N. Newall
&nbs
p; 5 February
Order-in-Council provides for Independent Air Force
19 February
Title ‘Royal Air Force’ approved
3 March
Russian peace treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary at Brest-Litovsk
21 March
Ludendorff Offensive begins against British in Somme region
26 March
Doullens Conference: Gen Ferdinand Foch created Supreme Allied Commander Maj Gen J.M. Salmond orders RFC to ‘bomb and shoot up everything you can see’
1 April
Formation of RAF
2 April
Capt J.T.B. McCudden awarded VC after accounting for 54 enemy machines
5 April
First phase of Ludendorff Offensive checked
9 April
Second phase of Ludendorff Offensive launched in Flanders
11 April
Sir Douglas Haig’s ‘backs to the wall’ message
13 April
Trenchard’s resignation as CAS accepted
14 April
Maj Gen F.H. Sykes appointed CAS
21 April
German airman Manfred von Richthofen killed
22 April
British bombers hit targets from Liège to Mannheim
27 April
Sir William Weir replaces Rothermere as Secretary of State for Air
30 April
German advance in Flanders halted
1 May
2/Lt A.A. McLeod awarded VC for action over Albert
27 May
Ludendorff mounts third offensive on the Aisne
5 June
Attack halted on the Marne, but Paris at risk
6 June
Maj Gen Sir Hugh Trenchard appointed to command Independent (Bombing) Force, replacing VIII Brigade
9 June
Germans advance on the Oise
12 June
Oise attack defeated
9 July
Maj J.T.B. McCudden VC killed in air crash
15 July
Second Battle of the Marne begins
22 July
Maj Edward Mannock claims his fiftieth victory, leading to award of the VC
26 July
Mannock shot down and killed
5 August
Last airship raid on Britain against East Anglia
4 August
Second Battle of the Marne ends: Paris saved again
8 August
Battle of Amiens begins ‘Black Day’ of the German Army
10 August
Air battle against heavy odds, which costs him his left leg, earns Capt F.M.F. West a VC
12 August
Battle of Amiens ends
19 August
Allied counter-attack at Ypres recovers ground lost in April
21 August
Allies advance on Bapaume
29 August
Bapaume falls
2 September
Allies drive east of Bapaume
3 September
Germans fall back towards Hindenburg Line
12–16 September
Americans win Battle of St Mihiel
26 September
Major Allied assault towards the Hindenburg Line
28 September
Anglo-Belgian attack in Flanders
3 October
Hindenburg Line breached; Allies agree Trenchard to assume command of new Inter-Allied Independent (Bombing) Air Force
8 October
Culmination of two months aerial success brings South African Capt A.W. Beauchamp-Proctor a VC
9 October
Allies take Cambrai
20 October
Belgian coast in Allied hands: Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges freed
27 October
Maj W.G. Barker awarded VC after shooting down four machines unaided that day
4 November
Allies commence last major thrust
9 November
Kaiser abdicates
11 November
Armistice effective 11am
Appendix B
Sources and Acknowledgements
I am particularly indebted to Dr Neil Young and Roderick Suddaby (Imperial War Museum), Peter Elliott (RAF Museum Hendon), Andrew Orgill (Central Library, RMA Sandhurst), Robert Owen and my son, Mark, for their valuable help and advice.
The staff of the following libraries and archives have also supplied me with material and patiently answered a multitude of questions: British Library, Department of Aviation Records, RAF Museum Hendon, Imperial War Museum: Department of Documents and Department of Photographs, Ministry of Defence, Air Historical Branch and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I readily acknowledge permission to use the information that they have reproduced. I thank, too, the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office for allowing reproduction of photographs and to quote from records under Crown copyright, the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and of the RAF Museum Hendon for permitting reproduction of photographs and to quote from documents held at those locations.
National Archives, Kew
To avoid a long procession of separate items, such as those of individual squadrons, only the relevant document files are noted to give researchers a starting point.
Air 1 Air Historical Branch Records 1862–1959, Series 1, includes RFC, RNAS and RAF squadron records, and casualty returns
Air 5 Air Historical Branch Records 1914–1959, Series 2
Air 6 Records of Meetings of the Air Board and Air Council 1916–1945
Air 8 Chief of the Air Staff Papers 1916–1945
Cab 2 Minutes of Meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID)
Cab 14 Minutes, Memoranda etc of Air Committee of the CID 1912–1914
Cab 16 Ad Hoc Sub-committees of CID 1905–1922
Cab 17 Correspondence and Miscellaneous papers of CID 1902–1918
Cab 21 Registered Files 1916–1939
Cab 22 War Council, Dardenelles Committee and War Committee 1914–1916
Cab 23 Minutes 1916–1939
Cab 24 Memoranda 1915–1939
Cab 63 Collection of Official Papers by Lord Hankey 1908–1943
Imperial War Museum, Department of Documents
I am grateful for permission of the undermentioned copyright owners to quote from the following papers: Mrs J.I. Blundell (H.A. Blundell), Mr H.K. Dodwell (T.B. Dodwell), Mrs A.V. Pockney (A.S. Keep), Mrs M. Lee (F.A. Marsh), Mr J. Craig (Air Cdre J.C. Quinnell), Lady Elisabeth Rowell (Sir Robin Rowell), Mrs J. Watkins (S.R. Watkins), Mrs N. Wyllie (H. Wyllie).
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright owners of these papers: G. Allen, O.L. Beater, E.V. Bousher, Sir Sefton Brancker, C.A. Brown, H.A. Buss, C. Callender, Sir Hugh Chance, E.J. Garland, T. Gran, A.E. Horn, J.T.P. Jeyes, B.R.S. Jones, D.G. Joy, A.C. Kilburn, F.E. Rees, Sir Ranald Reid, B.A. Smart and H.G. Taylor. The Department of Documents at The Imperial War Museum would be grateful for any information, which might help to trace them.
The following papers held in the Department have also been studied: Gp Capt R.J. Bone, J.G.H. Chrispin, A.H. Curtis, C.W. Davyes, G. Donald, Gp Capt D. Gilley, J. Gilmour, A.W. Hawkins, B.A. Isaac, J.K.A. Jeakes, J.G. Kingsbury, E.D. Kingsley, W.C. Knight, J.B. Lacy, R.M.W. Loudon, L.W. Mason, Air Cdre C.R. Samson, K.H. Tilley, A.M.Vickers, C.E. Wilkins, S. Wyborn, Miscellaneous 2013 (anonymous account of No 6 Sqn RFC/RAF), Special Miscellaneous Z (combat reports from A. Ball, W.A. Bishop, W.J. Douglas, A.T. Harris, J.I.T. Jones, H. Kelly, E. Mannock, J.A. McCudden, J.B. McCudden, J.C. Slessor, A.W. Tedder).
Peter Jackson, distinguished film director and aviation enthusiast, has most generously provided me with copies of letters from the German pilots Manfred von Richthofen and Max Immelmann and the British VC, James McCudden. He has also made available a multitude of photos, due to space only a few of which could be selected. I remain deeply in his debt both for forwarding and for allowing me to make use of this material.
I am grateful to
Adam Sutcliffe for providing me with sound recordings made by his grandfather Lord Rhodes, for permission to quote from those and associated written material, making available and giving permission to reproduce relevant photos.
RAF Museum, Hendon
My special thanks are due for permission to quote from the James McCudden Collection held in the Aviation Records Department.
Other Material
I have drawn on correspondence or interviews with the following: Sir Barnes Wallis, Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris, Gp Capt J.A.G. Haslam, Herr Albert Speer, Air Cdre F.M.F. West. Use has also been made of appropriate volumes of Hansard Parliamentary Debates together with specific reports and items from Parliamentary Papers.
Previous research in the undermentioned manuscript collections has provided additional background information and clarification: Asquith Papers, Beatty Papers, Cowdray Collection, P.R.C. Groves and R.M. Groves papers, Henderson Papers, Lloyd George Papers, (Lord) Montagu Papers, Robertson Papers, Smuts Papers, Sykes Papers, Trenchard Papers, (Henry) Wilson Papers.
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