Royal Air Force 1918

"The Royal Air Force was formed on April 1, 1918, by the amalgamations of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. The R.F.C. had come into being on May 13, 1912, and the R.N.A.S. on June 23, 1914...Regular communiques on air activities for circulation within the Royal Flying Corps had been issued since 1916, and these were continued after the Royal Air Force was formed. The R.A.F. Communiques Nos. 1 to 32 therefore describe British air operations on the Western Front up to the Armistice. Written by the Headquarters' staff from pilots'combat reports and other documents they tell the remarkable story of heroism and describe extroaordinary exploits of aircrews of the new Service, in machines which were primitive by present-day standards but had nevertheless progressed surprisingly in the mere six years which had elapsed since British military aviation was born. They cover the closing stages of the careers of outstanding fighter 'aces'--Bishop, Mannock and Collinshaw--and describe the gallant single-handed combat against 40 enemy fighters for which Major W.G. Barker was awarded the V.C. They record the almost nonchalant way in which observers climbed out on wings of crippled aircraft to enable pilots to regain control, and other almost forgotten episodes, reading more like extracts from a work of fiction--such as the aggressive manner in which airmen, lost in bad weather and about to land by mistake at enemy aerodromes, shot their way out of trouble. ...In presenting for the first time the story of day-to-day fighting as recorded by R.A.F. Headquarters from the facts available at the time, it should be noted that all claims for enemy aircraft driven down out of controll could not be fully substantiated for many reasons, and should therefore be regarded as opinion rather than established fact. This volume does not cover the activities of R.A.F. squadrons with the Independent Force, formed in May 1918 to extend the bombing offensive against German industry, or the campaigns in other theatres. These form the subject of separate communiques."--from the Introduction (pages 9-12) Each communique has an introductory paragraph.