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The Royal Air Force was formed on April 1, 1918, from the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. The RFC was formed on 13 April 1912 as an air wing for the British Army to establish an effective method of reconnaissance and artillery observation. The original corps consisted of a central flying school, an aircraft factory, a naval wing and an army or military wing. A Royal warrant was signed in April 1912 by George V establishing the Royal Flying Corps. Initially the corps consisted of 3 squadrons, 36 aircraft and 12 balloons. The aircraft factory was the Royal Aircraft Factory situated on the site of the Army Balloon Factory, what is now Farnborough Airport.
Due to inherent rivalry between the Army and Navy and with different requirements, the Royal Navy took control of their aircraft and formed the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 July 1914. The central flying school was retained.
By the outbreak of WW1, the RFC consisted of five squadrons. No.1 Squadron RFC originally had balloons, but these were transferred to the RNAS in 1913. No.2 Squadron, No.3 Squadron, No.4 Squadron and No.5 Squadron were equipped with aircraft. The four squadrons departed from Dover for France in August 1914 with No.1 Squadron forming an aircraft park for the British Expeditionary Force. Operations commenced on 19 August. Initially purely for observation and reconnaissance, but by early 1915 it was clear that a combative role would be the primary concern. No.1 Squadron was equipped with aircraft in 1914 and dispatched to France in March 1915.
The RFC grew rapidly throughout the war as hostilities spread into the skies with a multitude of different types of aircraft emerging with increasingly more powerful engines, better armament and larger bombers. Bombing started early with the aircraft carrying 20lb Cooper bombs for attacks on ground troops. Bombing escalated and eventually whole wings were formed for long-range bombing raids on the German homeland. By March 1918 the RFC consisted of 150 squadrons of varying strengths many of which were equipped with more than one type of aircraft. The vast majority were on the Western Front in France with other units in Italy, the Balkans, Palestine, Macedonia, Mesopotamia and East Africa as well as eleven squadrons assigned to home defence.
The RNAS were primarily concerned with coastal defence and patrols as well as seaplane units on fleet ships. At the start of the war the service had 93 planes, 6 airships and 2 balloons. As the war progressed the service grew but at a lesser rate to the RFC. Patrols over the English Channel, North Sea and Gibraltar proved invaluable in the fight against enemy shipping and U-boat operations. No.3 Squadron was dispatched to the Dardanelles in March 1915 to support the Allied landings. The RNAS also provided several squadrons on the Western Front based in France. These units received superior Sopwith aircraft months before the RFC were able to use them as Sopwith were contracted to the Royal Navy. In 1915 the RNAS reorganised forming Wings incorporating several squadrons. Each Wing used land-based aircraft and seaplanes. However, this system began to be dissolved from late 1916. By 1918 the RNAS operated in three major theatres, 126 coastal stations, 103 airships and over 2,900 aircraft.
The two services were merged on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. This merger was a result of a report by General Jan Smuts on the future of air power. Instead of the Army and Navy running their own air branches the new service would combine both to form an independent force. This would in turn double resources and put an end to the rivalry between the two. The Royal Air Force came under the control of a new British government department, the Air Ministry. The RAF was the first independent Air Force in the world.
At the end of the war the RAF had 5,182 pilots and over 4,500 aircraft and 109,000 personnel. During the conflict the RFC, RNAS and RAF lost over 9,300 pilots with a further 7,245 wounded. It was certainly a risky business.