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The history of the Royal Air Force, the air force of the United Kingdom, spans a century of British military aviation. The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918, towards the end of the First World War by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. After the war, the RAF was greatly reduced in size and during the inter-war years ...
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. [5] It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the second independent air force in the world after the Finnish Air Force (established 6 March 1918), [6] by merging the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS ...
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force 's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and ...
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, GCB, OBE, AFC (13 April 1892 – 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butch" Harris, [a] was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Bomber Command during the height of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force.He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade ...
1943. 5 March – In an effort to decimate the German industrial base, Bomber Command begins bombing the Ruhr region. 25 March – Transport Command is formed by redesignating Ferry Command. 16 May – Aircraft of 617 Squadron set out on Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid.
Manna (29 April – 7 May 1945), which dropped 7,000 tonnes of food into the still Nazi-occupied western part of the Netherlands, was carried out by British Royal Air Force (RAF) units and squadrons from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and Polish Air Force squadrons in ...
The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (1940), prior to the United States' entry into the war in December 1941. With the United States still neutral, many Americans simply crossed the border and joined the Royal ...