Formed in 1918, it is the oldest air force in the world and was originally called the Royal Flying Corps. It isn’t the largest, and it doesn’t always have the best equipment, but put pilots with the right aircraft and miracles happen.
A link to the RAF’s official website… http://www.raf.mod.uk/
The RAF’s finest hour was the Battle of Britain, fought through the summer and autumn of 1940, where pilots from all corners of the British Empire plus Poland, Czechoslovakia and Palestine took to the skies over Southern England and the English Channel, gallantly fighting off the German Luftwaffe and the threat of invasion.
Winston Churchill in part of a speech made in August 1940, said “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. Too right. Pilots didn’t grow on trees and we were running out of serviceable aircraft at the time.
A few of the mechanical heroes from different times:
- Sopwith Camel
- Bristol F.2
- Avro 504
- Hawker Hurricane
- Supermarine Spitfire
- De Havilland Mosquito
- Avro Lancaster
- Avro Vulcan
- Gloster Meteor
- Hawker Hunter
- Hawker Harrier
There were many others of course, far too many to mention here. Also, one must not forget the guys who had the guts to get into the aircraft, some with minimum training, and take on enemies of our British Isles and its Empire.
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