History of the Royal Air Force

The history of the Royal Air Force, the air force of the United Kingdom, spans nearly a century of British military aviation.

The RAF was founded in 1918, toward the end of World War I 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 it was used to "police" the British Empire. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War. During the war it was responsible for the aerial defence of Great Britain, the strategic bombing campaign against Germany and tactical support to the British Army around the world.

During the Cold War, the main role of the RAF was the defence of the continent of Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, including holding the UK's nuclear deterrent for a number of years. After the Cold War, the RAF was involved in several large scale operations, including the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War.

Formation and the inter-war years

Formation

Whilst the British were not the first to make use of heavier-than-air military aircraft, the RAF is the world's oldest independent air force: that is, the first air force to become independent of army or navy control.The Finnish Air Force claims to be the first independent air force in the world. When it was founded on 6 March 1918, it consisted of one aircraft and was commanded by a junior officer. Shores, Christopher. Finnish Air...
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