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Royal Air Force

aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces

17 dated entries naming Royal Air Force, drawn from 15 separate years between 1912 CE and 1975 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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20th century

  • 1912May 13 – In the United Kingdom, the Royal Flying Corps (forerunner of the Royal Air Force) is established.source
  • 1914July 1 – The Royal Naval Air Service, a forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom.source
  • 1918April 1 – The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in Britain are merged to form the Royal Air Force, the first autonomous Air Force in the world.source
  • 1920February 1 – The South African Air Force (SAAF) is established, the second autonomous Air Force in the world, after the British Royal Air Force (RAF).source
  • 1925March 9–May 1 – Pink's War: The British Royal Air Force bombards mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan.source
  • 1939The first bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II is carried out, by the British Royal Air Force (RAF).source
  • 1940August 25 – WWII: The first Bombing of Berlin is carried out, by the British Royal Air Force.source
  • 1944British Royal Air Force Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany, and he has to bail out without a parachute from a height of over 4,000 m 0. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow.source
  • 1944The "Great Escape": 76 Royal Air Force prisoners of war escape by tunnel "Harry" from Stalag Luft III in Silesia this night. Only 3 men (2 Norwegians and a Dutchman) return to the UK; of those recaptured, 50 are summarily executed soon afterwards, in the Stalag Luft III murders.source
  • 1945Bombing of Dresden (Germany) by the British Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces; 25,000-35,000 are estimated to have died.source
  • 1945The prison ships Cap Arcona (5,000 dead), Thielbek (2,750 dead) and Deutschland (all survive) are sunk by the British Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.source
  • 1950May 17 – Israeli Air Force Spitfires intercept a British Royal Air Force Short Sunderland when it inadvertently crosses into Israeli airspace, forcing it to land at Lod Airport. The Sunderland's crew have been issued maps that do not depict Israel, as Britain had not recognized the Jewish state at the time they were issued.source
  • 1956October 15 – The British Royal Air Force retires its last Avro Lancaster bomber.source
  • 1959July 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a British Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.source
  • 1967March 29 – Torrey Canyon oil spill: British Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force aircraft bomb and sink the grounded supertanker .source
  • 1971November 9 – A Royal Air Force C-130 crashes into the Ligurian Sea near Leghorn, Italy, killing all 51 people on board.source
  • 1975October 14 – A British Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber explodes and crashes over Żabbar, Malta after an aborted landing, killing five crew members and one person on the ground.source

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