WWI – Military Aviation around the Forth

< Military History around the Forth

Introduction and Background

Military Aviation first started in 1912 shortly before the outbreak of World War 1 with the creation of The Royal Flying Corps (RFC). It consisted of two wings: the Military Wing making up the Army element and the Naval Wing.

The Royal Flying Corps in WWI

The RFC had several hundred airfields around the country. These were mainly focussed on the defence of the homeland, as long range bombers were still under development.

Reconnaissance Aeroplanes

On the front lines, reconnaissance aeroplanes played a critical role in the “war of movement” of 1914. In August, British aircraft reported that a German offensive was poised to surround the British Expeditionary Force. The British withdrew saving the lives of 100,000 soldiers. Later during the First Battle of the Marne observation aircraft discovered weak points and exposed flanks in the German lines.

Fighters

The success of reconnaissance and artillery spotting led to an arms race to develop single-seater fighter aircraft, with forward firing machine guns that could attack reconnaissance scouts. By late 1915 the German Fokkers had achieved air superiority, blocking rendering Allied access to aerial reconnaissance intelligence.
By 1916, two new British fighters the F.E.2b and D.H.2, and the new French Nieuport 11, proved more than a match for the Fokkers. Then the Albatros D.III aeroplane swung air superiority back to Germany in first half of 1917.
During the last half of 1917, the British Sopwith Camel and S.E.5a and the French SPAD S.XIII, arrived and the air superiority pendulum swung once more in the Allies’ favour.

Zeppelins and home defences

Before WWI, Britain had been concerned about Germany’s lead in airship development, and that Zeppelins might be used as long-range bombers. These concerns proved to be well-founded as Zeppelins bombed Liege, Antwerp, Warsaw, Paris and Bucharest in the opening weeks of the war.

In January 1915 the Germans began a bombing campaign against Britain that was to last until 1918. Gradually British home defences improved. In 1917 and 1918 there were only eleven Zeppelin raids against England, and the final raid occurred on 5 August 1918. By the end of the war, 54 airship raids had been undertaken, in which 557 people were killed and 1,358 injured.

Bombers

By 1917, both Britain and Germany had developed similar types of bomber aeroplanes. The Handley-Page 0/400 and the Gotha G.V. From September 1917 to May 1918, the Zeppelin raids were complemented by the Gotha G bombers and five Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI “giant” four engine bombers from late September 1917 through to mid-May 1918. Twenty-eight Gotha twin-engine bombers were lost on the raids over England, with no losses for the Zeppelin-Staaken giants.

Here are more details about The Royal Flying Corps in WWI

The Royal Naval Air Service in WWI

In 1914, the Naval Wing became the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, it had 93 aircraft, six airships, two balloons and 727 personnel. The RNAS operated twelve airship stations around the coast of Britain from Longside, Aberdeenshire in the northeast to Anglesey in the west.

Before techniques were developed for taking off and landing on ships, the RNAS used seaplanes in order to operate at sea. Beginning with experiments on the old cruiser HMS Hermes, special seaplane tenders were developed to support these aircraft. It was from these ships that a raid on Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven, Nordholz Airbase and Wilhelmshaven was launched on Christmas Day of 1914. This was the first attack by British ship-borne aircraft.

On 1 August 1915 the Royal Naval Air Service officially came under the control of the Royal Navy.

On 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force (RAF). [Prior to this the abbreviation RAF meant the Royal Aircraft Factory.]

At the time of the merger, the Navy’s air service had 55,066 officers and men, 2,949 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations.

The RNAS squadrons became the Fleet Air Arm of the new structure, individual squadrons receiving new squadron numbers by effectively adding 200 to the number so No. 1 Squadron RNAS (a famous fighter squadron) became No. 201 Squadron RAF.

The Royal Navy regained its own air service in 1937, when the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force (covering carrier borne aircraft, but not the seaplanes and maritime reconnaissance aircraft of Coastal Command) was returned to Admiralty control and renamed the Naval Air Branch.

In 1952, the service returned to its pre-1937 name of the Fleet Air Arm.

Here are more details about Royal Naval Air Service in WWI
 

Military Aviation around the Forth in WWI

WWI Military Aviation Sites around the Forth

Aeroplane production

Before WWI, Britain was lagging in the development and production of aircraft. Aeroplanes were bought from French manufacturers – Henry and Maurice Farman, Bleriot, Deperdussin, Borel. In 1913, the Royal Aircraft factory was given permission to design British aircraft. These designs were then built at factories throughout the UK, including The Caudron Aeroplane Factory and Aerodrome at Alloa

RFC activities

In Britain, the RFC Military Wing initially focussed on training pilots to fight on the front-line, first as reconnaissance scouts, then both sides developed fighter planes to attack the scouts, so training switched to . British and German twin-engine heavy bombers arrived in 1917 to complement German Zeppelins, which had bombed cities in Europe from the first weeks of the war.
RFC Training Aerodromes

In 1916, Zeppelin raids on Britain led to the formation of home defence squadrons equipped with fighter aeroplanes to ward off these attacks.
RFC Home Defence Aerodromes and Landing Strips

Royal Naval Air Service Activities

The Royal Naval Air Service initially used land-based seaplanes for coastal defence observation, and airships for long-range spotting. They also had ship-based equipment. Kite Balloons tethered to ships improved observations, while ship-borne seaplanes were used as scouts and as bombers. This eventually led to the development of aircraft carriers which could launch and land aeroplanes for offensive operations.
There were several RNAS – Seaplane Stations around the Forth in WWI
RNAS Land and Seaplanes were maintained at RNAS Donibristle – naval aircraft maintenance station
RNAS East Fortune was a Coastal patrol station using airships. At the end of the it was home to a torpedo-bomber squadron flying Sopwith Cuckoos. These were intended to be be carrier-based planes, but arrived too late to see active service.
From 1917, Naval Kite Balloon Stations at North Queensferry and Methil supplied ship-borne observation balloons to extend the field of view of the Grand Fleet.

Many Navy-related activities ceased at the end of 2018, when the bulk of the German High Seas Fleet was interned at Scapa Flow.

These included the Kite Balloon Stations at North Queensferry and Methil Docks; the Granton Harbour Seaplane station and the torpedo dropping trials at Belhaven Sands.

HMS Tarlair at Hawkcraig Point in Aberdour closed in 1919.

1918 – Creation of the Royal Air Force

In April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) combined to form the Royal Air Force (RAF).

All existing stations became RAF stations.
RAF East Fortune became home to a Torpedo Training School

One new station opened around the Forth in 1918 – RAF Crail.

RAF Crail opened in July 1918, as a training station for fighter reconnaissance aircraft such as the Avro 504K and Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b. The American 120th Aero Squadron was at Crail in 1918, and No 104 Squadron RAF in 1919. The airfield was closed in 1919 and lay dormant until the Second World War.

The Inter-War years saw the creation of New Civilian Aerodromes which were requisitioned for military use in WWII
Military Airfields in World War II