Royal Air Force Operations 1919 to 1929

How the RAF Secured Its Independence

Vic Flintham

• Publisher: Fonthill Media
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781036156701
• Index: History

The Royal Air Force was just eight months old when the First World War ended. It then had to fight for survival against huge pressure from the Admiralty and War Office. The number of squadrons was swiftly reduced to a handful, but salvation came with the application of air control in India and mandated Iraq. In addition, Chief of the Air Staff Lord Trenchard laid strong foundations with the establishment of the Cadet College, Staff College and apprentice scheme, institutions not easily dismantled.

Throughout the first decade of its existence, the RAF, which then also controlled the Fleet Air Arm, performed operations in Somalia, Germany, Iraq, Palestine, Ireland, Russia, India, Turkey and China, while bringing into service new types of aircraft, albeit in small numbers. In the Middle East and Africa, it conducted and supported trailblazing flights, continually pushing the boundaries of what was achievable.

Royal Air Force Operations 1919 to 1920: How the RAF Secured Its Independence is the comprehensive story of the RAF in the 1920s, covering the service’s development at both home and abroad, including all its operations across the globe. Controversies, such as the RAF’s alleged use of chemical weapons in Iraq, are examined in detail, and some 350 photographs, many previously unpublished, bring the story to life like never before.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 The Royal Air Force at the Beginning of 1919
• 2 Withdrawal from the Western Front and the Occupation of Germany
• 3 Allied Intervention in North Russia 1918–1919
• 4 South Russia 1918–1920
• 5 The RAF in the United Kingdom 1919–1926
• 6 The RAF in Ireland 1918–1922
• 7 Outcomes of the Great War and the Middle East
• 8 Egypt, Somaliland, Sudan, Persia and Palestine
• 9 India 1919–1924
• 10 The Cairo Conference and the Middle East 1922
• 11 Bombers to Transports and the Airmail Route
• 12 Kurds, Turks and Chanak
• 13 Controversial Weapons
• 14 The Far East—Malaya and Singapore from 1918 to 1930
• 15 Sheikh Mahmoud, Kurds and Wahhabi Akhwan
• 16 China 1926
• 17 Eastern Mediterranean
• 18 The RAF in the United Kingdom 1926–1930
• 19 India 1925–1930
• Appendix: RAF Squadrons in France or Belgium on 1 January 1919
• Endnotes
• Glossary of Terms
• Bibliography
• Index