Today in Technology History

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April 1

Britain's Royal Air Force is playing an important part in the war in Iraq, so we thought we might talk about the early history of the RAF on this, the 85th anniversary of its establishment.

Eight years elapsed between the Wright brothers' historic 1903 flight and the creation of the first British air units -- originally just one balloon and one airplane company. A year later, the Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner to the RAF, was founded. In 1914, the naval aviation wing split off, becoming the separate Royal Naval Air Service.

British military aviation remained thus divided for the first four years of World War I, during which time British pilots engaged in fierce dogfights over Europe. The Royal Air Force was created on April 1, 1918, unifying the two branches of military aviation again. The new RAF was also granted independent status, with its own ministry, thus separating it from the Royal Navy and the British Army. (You'll notice that Britain's navy and air force both have "royal" in their names, while the army doesn't. That's because the navy and air force were always under control of the royal government, while some parts of the British Army date back to the centuries when the monarch didn't have the country's only army.)

At the same time the RAF was established, the Women's Royal Air Force was created; it was an auxiliary organization that gave women mechanical and maintenance jobs, so men in the RAF could be freed up for combat roles. (The WRAF fully merged with the RAF in 1994.)

The RAF played a major part in many of Britain's military victories, including both world wars. It was during the second world war that Winston Churchill, speaking of the airmen of the RAF, memorably said, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

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