British Military Aviation in 1916 - Part 2

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11 May
The Air Board is created, under the presidency of Lord Curzon. The roles of the Board included:

Discussion of matters of general policy in relation to the air, and in particular combined operations of the Naval and Military Air Services.
Making recommendations on the types of machine required. If either the Admiralty or the War Office declined to act on recommendations of the Board, the President was to refer questions to the War Committee Cabinet.
Organising and co-ordinating the supply of material, preventing competition between the two departments.
Organising a complete system for the interchange of ideas between the two Services, and such related bodies as the Naval Board of Invention and Research, the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the National Physical Laboratory.

17 May
The Air Board is formed to arbitrate between the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in matters relating to the supply of aircraft and equipment.

17 May
An experiment is conducted at Harwich, in which a Porte Baby flying boat, piloted by John Cyril Porte, takes off with a Bristol Scout attached as a 'parasite' to its wing. The Scout, with Flight Sub- Lieutenant Day at the controls, detaches successfully at 300 metres (1,000 feet).

22 May
British fighter pilot, Captain Albert Ball, records his first 2 aerial victories.

24 May
The first Sopwith 1½ Strutter 2-seat fighters arrive in France with No.70 Squadron. The 1½ Strutter was the first British aeroplane to enter front-line service equipped with interrupter gear, allowing a machine gun to fire through the propeller arc, and it also had a Lewis gun mounted in the rear cockpit.

31 May
Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) seaplanes are used to observe the German High Seas Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

18 June
The German air ace Oberleutnant Max Immelmann, 'the Eagle of Lille', is shot down and killed during an engagement with a patrol of Royal Aircraft Factory FE2bs from No.25 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Second Lieutenant G.R. McCubbin and Corporal J.H. Waller of No.25 Squadron were credited with the destruction of Immelmann's Fokker Eindekker and McCubbin was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Waller the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Immelmann was an innovative tactician. The 'Immelmann Turn', a roll off the top of a half loop, was named after him, although it is doubtful whether he invented it.

July
No.3 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service, equipped with Sopwith 1½ Strutters, becomes the first British formation tasked with strategic bombing.

1 July
The first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Allies had succeeded in concentrating 421 aircraft against a German strength of only 104 machines. This enabled them to gain and maintain air superiority for much of the battle.

The Battle also saw the organised development of contact patrols. However, many observers encountered difficulty due to the infantry's reluctance to use flares to highlight their position to both friend and foe alike. The attacking British and French armies suffered heavy casualties, with British losses on the first day totalling more than 50,000 men.

1 July
Victoria Cross Major L.W.B. Rees of No.32 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, is awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry displayed while on patrol over the Double Crassieurs zone. He disrupted a major German bombing attack on Allied positions in a de Havilland DH2, 6015.

7 July
The first Royal Flying Corps Squadron, No.17 Squadron, arrives at Mikra Bay following its transfer from the Middle East to Macedonia. The squadron was tasked with supporting British, French and Serbian operations against the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces. As a consequence, No.17 Squadron's equipment included both Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c aircraft for reconnaissance and a small number of de Havilland DH2s and Bristol Scout fighters.

7 July
British fighter pilot, Captain Albert Ball is awarded the Military Cross.

15 July
The Middle East Brigade is formed in Egypt under the command of Brigadier General W.G.H. Salmond, concentrating all Royal Flying Corps units in Macedonia, Mesopotamia, Palestine and East Africa under one headquarters.

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