British Military Aviation in 1916 - Part 1

Part 2

1 January
Fighter pilot Squadron Commander Richard Bell-Davies of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) is awarded the Victoria Cross.

13 January
The first material, a package of detonators, is dropped by air to British forces at Kut el Amara in Mesopotamia, besieged by Turkish troops since 7 December 1915. Unfortunately, the detonators fell in the enemy lines. Between January and mid-April 1915 approximately 30 successful supply drops delivered essential supplies to the garrison, including a 70 pound millstone that was dropped using a special parachute on 27 March.

14 January
In response to the continuing threat posed by the Fokker Eindekker monoplane fighter, the Royal Flying Corps adopts a formal policy of formation flying. Although aircraft had hitherto operated as singletons or pairs, tactical flexibility was now judged to be a necessity. All Royal Flying Corps reconnaissance aircraft would now be escorted by at least 3 fighters in an attempt to counter the German threat.

Although in many ways an indifferent fighter, the Eindekker was a very clean design and this allowed the aircraft to perform near-vertical dives. Moreover, the Eindekker was the first combat aircraft armed with a machine gun synchronised to fire through the propeller arc. The superiority of the Eindekker over existing Allied aircraft allowed the German Army Air Corps to establish a measure of air superiority, and demonstrated the importance of technical superiority in air warfare.

30 January
Brigade formations came into effect, further decentralising the Royal Flying Corps. Each Army was allotted two Wings grouped as a Brigade; one squadron for routine Army corps work and the other for fighting, bombing and distant reconnaissance.

February
The Joint War Air Committee is established under Chairmanship of Lord Derby to co-ordinate the question of supplies and design of aircraft for both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

February
The first officially recorded air-to-ground telephone communication is achieved by Major C.E. Prince 'somewhere in France'. He was using a Wireless Telephone MkI during a demonstration put on for Lord Kitchener.

7 February
The de Havilland DH2 single-seat pusher scouts of No.24 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, arrives at St Omer in France, primarily to combat the 'Fokker menace' which had begun the previous summer. The DH2, supplemented by the Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b and the Nieuport Scout, was successful in re-establishing air superiority by May 1916.

16 February
Control of the campaign in Mesopotamia is transferred from the Indian Government to the British Government and the Royal Flying Corps was made responsible for air operations.

April
It is decided that fighter aircraft should be concentrated under Army wings rather than scatted amongst Corps squadrons, thus making a clear distinction between strategic offensive fighting and other Royal Flying Corps work.

1 April
The Royal Naval Air Service Central Training Establishment at Cranwell is officially opened. The Admiralty had acquired the site in November 1915 and construction began in December of that year. Cranwell's primary role was to act as a surrogate central flying school of the Royal Naval Air Service, under Admiralty control, thereby removing the need for that service to draw upon the resources of the existing Central Flying School. The location of Cranwell enabled it to support the Royal Naval Air Service stations then being opened on the East Coast.

15-29 April
As the supply situation of the British garrison at Kut el Amara grows desperate, Royal Aircraft Factory BE2cs and Maurice Farman Shorthorns of the Royal Flying Corps, together with Royal Naval Air Service aircraft, begin a full-scale airlift of food and medical supplies. Between 15 and 29 April, a total of 19,000 pounds of supplies were dropped in 140 flights. However, despite the unsparing efforts of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service personnel involved in the airlift, the garrison at Kut was forced to surrender on 29 April 1916. A total of 12,000 men were taken prisoner by the Turkish forces. This was the first military airlift recorded.

9 May
Using a bombsight developed by Bourdillon and Tizard, a British Short 184 seaplane hits a target in with a 500 pound bomb from a height of 4,000 feet.

Part 2