| January
1918 |
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3 - Air Ministry and
Air Council
formed |
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| April
1918 |
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1 - Royal Air Force formed.
No's
1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Areas formed |
| May
1918 |
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8 - South-Eastern,
South-Western, Midland, North-Eastern & North-Western Areas formed.
13 - Independent Force formed |
| June
1918 |
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DFC introduced. RAF Nursing Service formed. RAF
operations in North Russia |
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| October
1918 |
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3 - RAF carried out first aerial supply drop to French and
Belgium troops |
| November
1918 |
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11 - Armistice declared. No 29
(Operations) Group formed with Command status |
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| January
1919 |
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Trenchard re-appointed as CAS |
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| June
1919 |
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Northern &
Southern Areas formed |
| July
1919 |
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Vickers Vimy entered service |
| August
1919 |
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4 - RAF ranks introduced |
| September
1919 |
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15 - Coastal Area
formed |
| October
1919 |
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23 - Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund formed |
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| January
1920 |
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RAF Halton
formed. 'Z' Force begin operations in Somaililand againt the 'Mad
Mullah' |
| February
1920 |
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RAF Cranwell
formed. 5 - RAF College opened. 'Z' Force complete
operations. |
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| April
1920 |
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Inland Area
formed |
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| July
1920 |
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3 - First RAF Pageant held at RAF Hendon |
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| October
1921 |
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British Forces in Iraq placed under RAF control |
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| February
1922 |
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RAF Ireland formed |
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| April
1922 |
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4 - Royal Air Force Staff College opened |
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| September
1922 |
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Chanak Crisis begins |
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| February
1923 |
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RAF Reserve of Officers formed |
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| May
1923 |
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Air Minister appointed to a seat on the Cabinet.
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III entered service |
| June
1923 |
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RAF Nursing Service renamed Princess Mary's RAF Nursing
Service |
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| August
1923 |
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Chanak Crisis ends |
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| January
1924 |
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Short Service Commissions introduced, Air Ministry start to
recruit 400 officers |
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| March
1924 |
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24 - A & AEE formed from
Aeroplane Experimental Establishment |
| April
1924 |
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1 - Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment formed.
Fleet Air Arm of the RAF Formed |
| May
1924 |
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HQ Superintendent RAF Reserve
formed. |
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| October
1924 |
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Gloster Grebe entered service |
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| December
1924 |
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Vickers Virginia entered service |
| January
1925 |
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1 - Air Defence of Great Britain
formed |
| February
1925 |
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'Pink's War' begins |
| Mar
1925 |
|
'Pink's War' ends. |
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| May
1925 |
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HQ Special Reserve and Auxiliary
Air Force formed. Hawker Woodcock entered service |
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| September
1925 |
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12 - First Auxiliary Air Force Squadron formed (No 602).
Supermarine Southampton entered service. |
| October
1925 |
|
1 - First University Air Squadron formed
(Cambridge). 22 - No 1 Apprentices Wing formed (Halton). 27 -
Cairo to Kano flight begun, led by Sqn Ldr
A Coningham. 29 - Observer
Corps formed. |
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| March
1926 |
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Cairo-Cape Town flight begun led by Wg
Cdr C W H Pulford |
| April
1926 |
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Handley Page Hyderabad entered service |
| May
1926 |
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Gloster Gamecock entered service |
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| August
1926 |
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Fairey Fox and Vickers Victoria entered service |
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| January
1927 |
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1 - Imperial Defence College formed.
1 - Trenchard became first MRAF |
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| March
1927 |
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Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA entered service |
| April
1927 |
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HQ RAF China formed |
| May
1927 |
|
20-22 - Distance record set of 3,420 miles by Flt
C R Carr and Flt Lt L E M Gillman |
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| September
1927 |
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26 - Flt Lt S N Webster won Schneider Trophy in Venice |
| October
1927 |
|
Far East Flight left UK for Singapore under command of Gp
Capt H M Cave-Brown-Cave. Armstrong Whitworth Atlas entered
service |
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| January
1928 |
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Fairey IIIF entered service |
| February
1928 |
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Aden Command formed |
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| April
1928 |
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Boulton & Paul Sidestrand entered service. RAF
High Speed Flight formed by Flt Lt D D'A Greig. |
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| October
1928 |
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Westland Wapiti entered service |
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| December
1928 |
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23 - Kabul Legation evacuation begins |
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| February
1929 |
|
25 - Kabul Legation evacuation ends |
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| April
1929 |
|
Cranwell - Karachi flight by Sqn Ldr A G Jones-Williams and
Flt Lt N H Jenkins (4.130 miles non stop in 50hr 48min) |
| May
1929 |
|
Bristol Bulldog entered service |
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| September
1929 |
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Schneider Trophy won by RAF High Speed Flight. |
| October
1929 |
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Handley Page Hinaidi entered service |
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| January
1930 |
|
1 - MRAF Sir Hugh Trenchard retires.
1 - Far East Command formed. Blackburn Iris
III entered service |
| February
1929 |
|
Hawker Hart entered service |
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| October
1930 |
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5 - R101 crashes in France on way to India |
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| March
1931 |
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Hawker Demon entered service |
| April
1931 |
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Short Rangoon entered service |
| May
1931 |
|
Hawker Fury entered service |
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| September
1931 |
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13 - High Speed Flight won Schneider Trophy outright |
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| February
1932 |
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Hawker Audax entered service |
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| October
1932? |
|
Fighting Area & Wessex
Bombing Area raised to Command status |
| November
1932 |
|
Vickers Vildebeest entered service |
|
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| February
1933 |
|
Distance record set by Sqn Ldr
O R Gayford and Flt Lt G E Nicholetts
of 5,309 miles in 52hr 25min (Cranwell to Walvis Bay) |
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| July
1933 |
|
Handley Page Heyford entered service |
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| October
1933 |
|
Western & Central Areas
formed with Command status |
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| July
1934 |
|
Air Raid Precautions begun. RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme A) instituted. |
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| December
1934 |
|
Cierva C30A entered service (RAF's first rotary-winged
aircraft) |
|
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| February
1935 |
|
Vickers Vincent and Valentia entered service |
|
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| April
1935 |
|
Short Singapore III entered service |
| May
1935 |
|
Gloster Gauntlet entered service.
RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme C) |
|
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| July
1935 |
|
Royal Review of the RAF at Mildenhall and Duxford by King
George V |
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| October
1935 |
|
Italy declares war on Abbyssinia |
| November
1935 |
|
18 - 12 RAF squadrons transferred to East Africa |
| December
1935 |
|
Hawker Hind entered service |
|
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February 1936 |
|
RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme F) |
| March
1936 |
|
Avro Anson entered service (RAF's first operational
monoplane) |
|
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| May
1936 |
|
Training Command formed.
First official squadron badges authorised. |
|
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| July
1936 |
|
14 - Bomber,
Fighter & Coastal Commands formed. 30 - RAF Volunteer
Reserve formed |
|
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| September
1936 |
|
28 - Altitude record of 49,944ft set by Sqn
Ldr F R D Swain. |
| October
1936 |
|
Saro London entered service |
| November
1936 |
|
Plans to establish Balloon Barrage announced |
| December
1936 |
|
Supermarine Stranraer entered service |
| January
1937 |
|
Bristol Blenheim entered service |
| February
1937 |
|
Hawker Hector entered service.
RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme H) |
| March
1937 |
|
Gloster Gladiator entered service (RAF's last biplane
fighter). Armstrong Whitworth Whitley entered service. |
| April
1937 |
|
Handley Page Harrow and Vickers Wellesley entered service |
| June
1937 |
|
Fairey Battle entered service. 30 - New altitude
record set of 53,937ft by Flt Lt M J Adams |
|
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| November
1937 |
|
Airspeed Oxford entered service. |
| December
1937 |
|
Hawker Hurricane entered service (RAF's first eight-gun
monoplane fighter). RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme J) |
|
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|
March 1938 |
|
RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme K) |
| April
1938 |
|
1 - Maintenance
Command formed.
RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme L) |
| May
1938 |
|
Short Sunderland entered service |
| June
1938 |
|
Supermarine Spitfire and Westland Lysander entered
service. Lockheed Hudsons and North American Harvards ordered from
the USA. |
|
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|
|
|
| September
1938 |
|
24 - Munich Crisis begins, camouflage and code letters
introduced. |
| October
1938 |
|
Handley Page Hampden entered service |
| November
1938 |
|
Balloon
Command formed. RAF Expansion Programme
(Scheme M) |
| December
1938 |
|
New distance record of 7,162 miles in 48hrs set by RAF Long
Range Development Unit led Sqn Ldr R G Kellett
(Ismailia to Darwin) |