Air and Sea Power in World War I

Combat and Experience in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy

Maryam Philpott

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781780761510
• eBook ISBN: 9780857733320
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

The Great War tore the fabric of Europe apart, killing over 35 million men and challenging the notion of heroism in war, Air and Sea Power in World War I focuses on the experience of World War I from the perspective of British pilots and sailors themselves, to demonstrate that the army-centric view of war studies has been too limited. The Royal Flying Corps, created in 1912, adapted quickly to the needs of modern warfare, driven by the enthusiasm of its men. In contrast, the lack of modernisation in the Royal Navy, despite the unveiling of HMS Dreadnought in 1906, undermined Britain's dominance of the seas. By considering five key aspects of the war experience, this book analyses how motivation was created and sustained. What training did men receive and how effectively did this prepare them for roles that were predominantly non-combative? How was motivation affected by their individual relationship with weaponry development, and how different was defensive service on the Home Front, when in close proximity to ordinary civilian life?
Finally, Air and Sea Power in World War I looks at the changing reputation of the services during and after the conflict, and the extent to which these notions were created by the memoirs of pilots and sailors. Featuring new primary source material, including the journals of service men themselves, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of World War I and of Naval, Aviation and Military History.

CHAPTER 1

TRAINING

During the Great War the military authorities faced a bewildering task – that of turning civilians into fighting men in just a few months. When it was realised that the conflict would last beyond Christmas 1914, the demand for recruits became acute. New methods of enrolment were required to encourage thousands of men – who would otherwise not have joined the army, navy and air force – to sign up for the duration of the conflict, and learn to be effective personnel. As Joanna Bourke has asserted, ‘in all these training programmes, the fundamental process was the same: individuals had to be broken down and rebuilt into efficient fighting men.’¹ This chapter examines the training process in the navy and airforce to understand how effectively it prepared men for conflict.

The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Navy fulfilled quite diverse purposes in the war, and consequently offered different training programmes. The RFC’s system taught men to fly. Instruction in service and the development of professional culture were left to develop ‘naturally’ and unofficially amongst squadrons at the front. In this sense, the Flying Corps’s training system can be described as pragmatic because it prepared men to understand their technology and enabled them to master it effectively. Pilots were taught how to do their duty through practical instruction in the use of their craft, and could enter service fully cognizant with the work they were expected to do. Training centres provided pilots with the skills they required to perform their role, be it photography, wireless or skilled use of aircraft.

In contrast, the Royal Navy taught sailors the prestige of their service. Focusing on discipline, order and hierarchy, the navy inculcated the history and purpose of the service. Recruits were being trained for a long career in which it was hoped they would emulate the great heroes of the service and attain climactic victories. Consequently, this training programme was different of the RFC’s because it supplied more than the technical knowledge of shipping; it taught a way of life. Pilots were recruited to perform a specific role just for the duration of the conflict. Yet for the purposes of the First World War, naval training can be described as ‘defensive’ because it did not encourage men to initiate hostile action when the opportunity arose, but instead to rely on the traditions of strategy, hierarchy and command that had served their predecessors so well. This chapter compares the practical and immediate training programme of the Royal Flying Corps with the more theoretical grooming of men for a life in the navy, and discusses how effectively they prepared men for conflict.

Royal Flying Corps Training

The Royal Flying Corps training programme had two main purposes – teaching men to fly and creating loyalty. The programme was divided into three sections: creation of military identity, theories of flight and weaponry, and flight training. Prior to this, as a condition of entry, men had to earn a Royal Aero Club Certificate, funded at their own expense, from one of the numerous civilian flying schools. ‘To join the Royal Flying Corps officers would first have to have the consent of the military authorities,’ historian Geoffrey Norris explained, and ‘be medically fit, and then obtain a Royal Aero Club certificate. The cost of this, some £75, would have to be borne by the officer, who would be refunded if he passed and was accepted into the RFC.’² Consequently, only those who could afford the initial outlay of £75 would have a chance to enter the newest military service.

The civilian flying schools based at Hendon soon became Britain’s most important aviation centre. ‘Before the war,’ historian Peter Hart enthused, ‘Hendon was the home of a dramatic series of aerial flying displays that provided entertainment for huge crowds. It was the absolute cutting edge of modern science; yet wildly unpredictable and dangerous to boot.’³ Leonard Rochford, awaiting his nineteenth birthday in order to join the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), travelled to Hendon to obtain his certificate or ‘ticket’. Rochard had a choice of five civilian schools – the Grahame-White, Beatty, Ruffy-Baumann, Hall and London & Provincial:

After visiting them all and reading their brochures I eventually decided on the London & Provincial, although their fee was £100 whereas the other schools charged £75. I think I preferred it because it was the only one that did not use dual control, its methods being to put the pupil into the machine alone and get him into the air by stages, giving him verbal instructions on the ground at each stage.⁴

Rochford’s class included approximately a dozen other men, a combination of civilians, army officers and RFC aspirants. ‘I never had any dual control work before I took my licence, which I succeeded in obtaining about three weeks after I started,’ L. A. Strange boasted in his 1933 memoir, ‘this was about the average time it took in those days.’ To gain a Royal Aero Club Certificate, Strange had to ‘learn thoroughly (by instinct rather than any experience based on vision) what should be the machine’s altitude in regard to the ground when taxying {sic}, how to get the tail up to the correct height to gain flying speed in the shortest possible distance and how to take off.’⁵ Within three weeks of first stepping into an aeroplane, a pupil would be qualified to fly and could join the Royal Flying Corps for military instruction.

Men clamoured to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps, eager to ally themselves with Britain’s newest military service. When war began in 1914, the RFC had existed for only two years and training was undertaken at the Central Flying School (CFS) at Netheravon, but this would soon be inadequate for the numbers demanding instruction, as the War Office noted in 1922:

From the beginning of war applications for commissions in the Royal Flying Corps were very numerous, and there was in May, 1915, a waiting list of 500. Instruction, during the first six months of the war, was hampered by the paucity of experienced pilots available at home to act as instructors, and by the shortage of serviceable aeroplanes ... . In August, 1914, the Central Flying School provided accommodation for 20 military pupils, and was our only source of supply.⁶

With limited means, the programme was designed to quickly create identity and loyalty in the newly recruited civilians who could be moved rapidly through the stages of training and ultimately shipped to France.

The first stage of RFC training was instruction in military bearing and attitude. To create an effective fighting force, the RFC needed to encourage trainees to think and act like pilots, putting their military duties above personal fears. The process of ‘rebuilding’ the trainee thus began from the first moments of his entering the Royal Flying Corps. With three weeks of civilian flight training, the officer-pilot was first sent to a Cadet Training School for basic theoretical training. ‘We soon settled down to the task in hand,’ Australian farmer’s son, F. C. Penny wrote, which first meant ‘attempting to digest that prodigious volume known as Military Law, which contains every conceivable subject that an officer must know. Correct words of command in drill. Practical demonstrations in that we were expected to take charge of small and large numbers of troops in different formations.’ Officers were taught elements of command immediately to encourage a feeling of responsibility for their men from the beginning, to learn how to manage a platoon or squadron, and to form a bond of trust with their charges whose lives they would direct.

RFC officers were simultaneously reminded of their own place in the hierarchy and the loyalty they, in turn, would owe to their commanders. ‘For drill and discipline’, Penny continued, ‘we had a S/gt Major Sunshine, one time champion heavyweight boxer ... a real martinet and a stickler for discipline in every way, even to making sure that on the first bugle call we were promptly out of bed for P/T and drilling sessions.’⁷ The training in military instruction would last approximately two months, ending with an oral and written examination in military law and command abilities. It was expected that trainees would understand the role they had volunteered for, and be able to demonstrate comprehension of their military responsibilities in combat. Penny duly passed this examination, as did about 90 per cent of candidates, and could progress to the next stage of theoretical instruction.

For stage two of the training process, learning the theory of flight and weaponry, Penny was sent to the aeronautical school at Oxford for a two-month course. Here he studied the science of flight, the workings of engines and machine-gunning. Building on the knowledge gained in stage one, of command structure and mutual responsibility, men were further induced to develop their military identity through a variety of methods in their daily study and leisure time. To aid his induction into the Flying Corps and to encourage the feeling of being a pilot, Penny was first issued with a uniform and recorded that ‘most of us were so optimistic about qualifying that from a well-known military tailor in Oxford we ordered new uniforms, Sam Browne belts and one star for our shoulder’.⁸ Pupils had to purchase their own kit, which required a monetary investment in their own training and reiterated their dedication to becoming an airman. In some cases, however, having already funded the flying certificate, the family would need to assist with the costs. ‘I have received my flying tunic from Folkestone and told them to send the bill to you but they have omitted to put a pair of RFC badges on it so do not be charged for them,’ trainee Dudley McKergow instructed his family.⁹ Costumes were an important aspect of military training, embodying both a sense of achievement in the elite status of the Royal Flying Corps, and recognition of loyalty to those also wearing the uniform.

The introduction of appropriate dress at this stage was well placed; in stage one men had been given general instruction in military behaviour, but it was in stage two that the real business of flying was taught. Issuing uniforms at this point in the training process emphasized the combatants’ attachment to the RFC. Thus, as men were becoming familiar with their role in the service, they were also encouraged to feel pride in wearing the uniform. It was important for the RFC trainers to increase the recruits’ commitment and feelings of loyalty to those they would fight alongside.

Issuing uniforms was the quickest and most visual method to promote commonality amongst recruits but this was reinforced by a number of group activities. Sports particularly were used to create a group mentality in leisure periods that would be valuable for the ample non-combat time on the Western Front. Penny, being stationed at an Oxford college, was delighted to see the rowing teams from his window. ‘We were privileged to be given the use of their boats for recreation and made up an eight from our own college and spent many enjoyable hours in this way,’ he reminisced.¹⁰ A Central Flying School training manual from this period recommended instructors focus on the health of their pupils and should

keep your own liver and that of your pupils in order. Do so by exercise, if your pupils are slack, give them drill, and see it is carried out vigorously. Encourage and play all games conducive to health. If you keep fit, work hard and play hard, you will produce good pilots, which is the raison d’etre of your existence.¹¹

Sports were a useful physical contrast to the theoretical courses in machinery which men studied in their second stage of training, giving them both a reason to form links with one another and an outlet for their energies ahead of the practical flying training to come. This phase was an intense period of learning as Dudley McKergow wrote, explaining that ‘to learn 7 different engines, 2 machine guns and a thousand other things is rather a tall order, in 9 weeks. However most fellows manage to pass.’¹² With so much to cover, it was important for the Central Flying School to maintain the enthusiasm of its recruits and enforce their loyalty, hence the introduction of uniforms and games to create the valuable pride in the service. Having invested so much of their time and energy, men were eager to achieve the required standards in order to pass to the third and illustrious stage of training – flying.

The last stage of a pilot’s training finally involved learning to fly aeroplanes. Flying Corps recruits were keen to get into the air as this had enticed them to enrol. Although previous stages had been concerned primarily with the creation of military identity and giving men a basic grounding in the business of flight, this stage was almost entirely practical, teaching them how to handle the aeroplane. This was the most important test of the individual’s potential ability in combat. The Central Flying School Training Manual from 1916 is one of the most crucial sources for understanding what was expected from trainee pilots. Teaching flying, the CFS advised, should be taken slowly by instructors to ensure competence. ‘When a pupil joins, the type of machine he is to learn to fly should be explained to him by his instructor,’ the CFS explained, and within seven days

He should be ordered to make an accurate sketch of the machine, showing every wire &c ... . He should be flown several times round the Aerodrome to show him the use and effect of the various controls ... . Having done this, he should be allowed to take charge separately of the control lever and rudder, and then finally, a combination of both.¹³

Within a few weeks of practice, pilots would qualify for their wings. This stage would also consolidate the formative military identity that had been forged during the early courses. The aeroplane would be the pupil’s weapon and protection, and, as the Central Flying School suggested, pupils were encouraged to familiarize themselves with every aspect of the machinery that would, in battle, become an extension of themselves. At this stage, trainees would also come into contact with more senior servicemen, either as instructors or awaiting overseas postings, who initiated the new pilots into the professional culture of the Royal Flying Corps. This would begin to give the novice pilot some understanding of life on the front lines. As a result, Penny found his first experience of flight was ambushed by a seasoned pilot keen to amuse himself at a new recruit’s expense:

Before leaving the ground he said he would take me up for ½ hour just to let me get the feel of the air. It was {a} rather ‘hair-raising’ experience, for he performed all the aerobatics that the machine was capable of (not the sort of thing a good instructor should do with a new pupil). My reaction after landing was – perhaps I would have lived longer had I remained in the AIF. I discovered later that he was not an instructor but just a good pilot who wanted to try out a new machine!

Once Penny recovered from the surprise, he noted that he was ‘allotted another instructor who continued my training and I began to enjoy flying’.¹⁴ Such rituals were considered an acceptable part of the initiation of men into the service culture of the Royal Flying Corps. Trainee John Ross endured a less savoury prank at an inconvenient moment:

The lavatories were the worst contraption I have ever seen ... . For its use one had to sit on the horizontal pole ... the overseas posting men used this toilet too and some ... {of} the big heavy ones, would sit on the pole ... . At a given moment these heavy men would bounce the pole up and down as they sat down on it, with the result that the small boys with their feet off the ground lost their balance and fell backwards into the trench behind and below and became immersed in rich, messy, stinking manure.¹⁵

These rituals were an introduction to life in the RFC and contributed to their identity with the military life. Although the new recruits were at the lowest point in the hierarchy, both militarily and in terms of combat experience (always an important aspect of the RFC structure), students were taught to respect the experience and knowledge of their seniors. Penny was certainly impressed by the skills of his ‘instructor’ during his first flight, who demonstrated actions he would hope to e...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Author biography
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Training
• 2. Non-Combat & Service Motivation
• 3. Technology
• 4. Home Front
• 5. Representations of War
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography