The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world. Following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.
The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed: to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government’s foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The RAF describes its mission statement as "... [to provide] An agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission". The mission statement is supported by the RAF's definition of air power, which guides its strategy. Air power is defined as "the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events".
Today the Royal Air Force maintains an operational fleet of various types of aircraft, described by the RAF as being "leading-edge" in terms of technology. This largely consists of fixed-wing aircraft, including: fighter and strike aircraft, airborne early warning and control aircraft, ISTAR and SIGINT aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft and strategic and tactical transport aircraft. The majority of the RAF's rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces. Most of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations (principally over Iraq and Syria) or at long-established overseas bases (Ascension Island, Cyprus, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands). Although the RAF is the principal British air power arm, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the British Army's Army Air Corps also deliver air power which is integrated into the maritime, littoral and land environments.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory KCB,
DSO & Bar (11 July 1892–14 November 1944) was a senior commander in the
Royal Air Force. Leigh-Mallory was killed during the
Second World War and was one of the most senior British officers to be killed in the war.
He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and was posted to No. 7 Squadron, where he flew bombing, reconnaissance and photographic missions during the Battle of the Somme. He joined the newly formed Royal Air Force after the war and commanded the Armistice Squadron and was promoted to Group Captain and appointed commander of No. 12 Group, Fighter Command at the outbreak of World War II.
Leigh-Mallory devised, with Acting Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, a massed fighter formation known as the Big Wing - which they used to hunt German bomber formations as a method of protecting the South East coast of Britain. He used the same tactic once given command of No. 11 Group in 1941 and was appointed as the air commander for the Dieppe Raid before his eventual promotion to Air Marshal and movement to head of Fighter Command.
Leigh-Mallory was appointed Commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Forces for the Normandy invasion, where he drew up the air plan for Operation Overlord, and was killed en route to Burma in August 1944. He had been appointed as the Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC) and was travelling to take up this post when the aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the French Alps.
The
Avro Lancaster was a
British four-engine
Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by
Avro for the British
Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the
Handley-Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the
RCAF and squadrons from other
Commonwealth and
European countries serving within
RAF Bomber Command. The "Lanc" or "Lankie," as it became affectionately known, became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties."
Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the "Dam Buster" used in the 1943 Operation Chastise raids on Germany's Ruhr Valley dams. There are only 17 known largely complete Avro Lancasters remaining in the world.
