The birth of Britain's Royal Air Force can be traced to 1912 when King George V signed a royal warrant on the 13^th April 1912 establishing the Royal Flying Corps. This followed a report by the Committee of Imperial Defence of the potential for aircraft to be used as reconnaissance and artillery observation which was started in November 1911. The report recommended that a flying corps be formed consisting of a military wing, a naval wing, a combined flying school to teach both wings and an aircraft factory.

In 1912 the Royal Artillery already had an Air Battalion and on the 13^th of May 1912, a month after the King signed the royal warrant forming the Royal Flying Corps, they became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps.

At the end of 1912 the British Royal Flying Corps had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes.

In 1914 the Royal Navy had different priorities to the Army and wanted to retain better control over its aircraft so it formally separated and it was renamed the Royal Naval Air Service.

At the start of the Great War the Royal Flying Corps was the air arm of the British Army and it consisted of five squadrons, four aeroplane squadrons and one observation balloon squadron which was first used for aerial spotting on 13 September 1914. The RFC was tasked with photographic reconnaissance and artillery observers. This eventually led to aerial battles with the German air force.

By the end of the war the RFC was attacking German Infantryman, military instillations and emplacements, bombing German military airfields, dog fighting with German aircraft in the sky's, strategic bombing of German transportation and industrial instillations.

On the 1^st April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) where amalgamated together to make better use of resources and to make better use of the RNAS. The two became known as the Royal Air Force (RAF).

An interesting note which shows how the Generals of the day thought was that the RFC and later the RAF where not issued parachutes even though the balloonists had been issued them for 3 years. The reason was they were bulky and the high echelon thought pilots would bail out rather than continue fighting or trying to bring the aircraft back home. At the end of the war the RAF had adopted the Calthrop Guardian Angel parachute 1916 model.

The RFC/RAF grew at an amazing rate at the start of the First World War the RFC started with 2,073 personnel and four aeroplane squadrons but by the start of 1919 the Royal Air Force had 114,000 personnel and 4,000 combat aircraft in 150 squadrons.

Equipment and uniform of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in the Great War (First World War 1914 to 1918).

The Royal Flying Corps wore a very distinctive uniform which when worn with the Sam Brown belt was very smart and elegant.

What uniform clothing, equipment and insignia did the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) wear in WW1? Hopefully the following will answer some of these questions.

WW1 1915 Royal Flying Corp Flight Sergeant Pilot Uniform Clothing.

Field Service Cap. Army F.S. cap with RFC cap badge.

RFC Maternity Tunic. The R.F.C. wore a special tunic which was often called the Maternity jacket as it resembled the clothing worn by expectant mothers at the time. The design wrapped over the front and fastened off center and was secured by concealed buttons. It has a high collar and two lower pockets.

Greyback shirt. The classic overhead shirt which was the standard issue shirt in the Great War.

1902 Service Dress Trousers. Standard British Army WW1 issue wool trousers, cavalry breeches were also sometimes wore.

B5 ankle boots. Various footwear was worn by the RFC including the standard British Army issue B5 ankle boots with long putties. High leg leather cavalry boots or ankle boots with one piece leather gaiters could also be worn.

RFC Equipment.

1908 Specialist Belt.

P1914 Holster. Pattern 1914 leather pistol holster for the Mk4 Webley service revolver.

Webley MK4 Pistol. The standard British Army Service revolver of the First World War.

Pistol Lanyard. The lanyard loops around the shoulder and fastens onto the handle of the Webley revolver.

RFC Insignia For A Flight Sgt Pilot.

Royal Flying Corps Titles. Cloth shoulder titles of the R.F.C. one title was worn on the top of each arm.

Royal Flying Corps Cap Badge. Brass cap badge of the RFC.

Flight Sergeant Propellers Rank. A Flight Sgt wore the standard Sergeant stripes plus the cloth propellers above them to denote that he was a Pilot and not an Observer.

Sergeant Stripes. Cloth rank stripes, the rank of Sergeant was 3 stripes and these were worn on each arm.

Royal Flying Corps Pilots Wings. The Pilot's in the Great War worn cloth RFC Pilots wings on the left breast on the RFC Maternity tunic.