Royal Air Force (RAF), RFC & RNAS: First World War, 1914-1918: Service Records

Military Records Information 49

1. The three Air Forces

The Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed on 1 April, 1918 when the Army's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) were amalgamated. Officers and men of both services transferred into the new service, and were joined by new entrants.

2. Officers of the three forces

RFC officers

Records of RFC officers, 1914-March 1918, were forwarded to the RAF and are in AIR 76 .

RNAS officers

Records of RNAS officers, 1914-March 1918, are in ADM 273 , search the Catalogue by name . After March 1918, look in AIR 76 .

RAF officers

Service records, mainly for officers discharged before 1920, are in AIR 76 . The career of RAF officers from March 1919 can be traced in the Air Force List, at The National Archives.

Payments made to invalided officers, 1917-1920, are recorded in PMG 42 , and pensions paid to relatives of deceased officers are in PMG 44 , 1916-1920. Supplementary payments to officers and their dependants are in PMG 43 , 1916-1920.

3. Airmen of the three forces

RFC service before April 1918

If the airman died or was discharged before April 1918, look in WO 363 or WO 364 . See research guide British Army Soldiers' Papers: First World War, 1914-1918 for further information.

If he was in service on 1 April 1918, his service record went to the RAF: see below.

Men who joined the RFC between its formation in 1912 and August 1914 (numbers 1-1400) are also listed in The Contemptible Little Flying Corps by J V Webb and I McInnes.

RNAS service before April 1918

If an airman served in the RNAS before April, 1918, his record of service up to 31 March 1918 will be found in ADM 188 . See Research Guide Royal Navy: Ratings' Service Records 1667-1923 for further information.

If he served after April 1918, his record was kept from then on by the RAF: see below.

Royal Navy service numbers used by the RNAS were prefixed with the letter "F". When they transferred into the RAF, their old RNAS service numbers were modified to bring them into line with the numbers being used by the old RFC men and the new service. The "F" prefix was removed and the number 2 and as many noughts as necessary were added in front of the old RNAS number to make it six digits, e.g. F 1 became 200001, F 1002 became 201002 or F 54559 became 254559.

A number of men of the Royal Navy who were serving before the formation of the RNAS in July, 1914 and who transferred into that service, retained their own service numbers but were given RNAS ranks. These pre-July-1914 sailors who went on to serve in the RAF were given service numbers within the 313001 and 316000 range.

RAF service from April 1918

Records of the first 329,000 men who served in the RFC before 1 April 1918, and in the RAF (formerly RFC and RNAS) from 1 April 1918 are in AIR 79 . They are in service number order. If you do not know the service number, look at the index in AIR 78 . The records in AIR 79 generally contain:

Records of those men within the service number range 1-329000 who went on to see service in the Second World War, are still maintained by the RAF.

Records of men whose service number was 329001 or higher, are still maintained by the RAF.

For details, write to
RAF Disclosures, Room 221b, Trenchard Hall, RAF Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincs, NG34 8HB
Further information and a Subject Access Request (SAR) Form can be found on the Veterans Website

4. Operational Records

Operational records of the RFC, RNAS and RAF are in three main series:

AIR 1 contains the majority of records relating to the operation of aircraft during the First World War. In this class it is possible to find records relating to individual squadrons and their activities, recommendations for gallantry awards, some biographies of RFC and RAF officers, together with records relating to aircraft and their operation.

ADM 137 contains further information, similar to the records in AIR 1 but primarily about the RNAS before the formation of the RAF.

WO 157 contains intelligence summaries for the First World War period and in many cases contains information about, and gathered by the RFC and RAF.

5. Medals and awards

Campaign medals

RFC - WO 329 .

RNAS - ADM 171 .

RAF. If an individual qualified for his medal(s) after 1 April, 1918, the only place you will find details about his medal entitlement will be on his service record.

Gallantry awards

RFC and RAF - recommendations can be found in AIR 1 , particularly in papers relating to individual squadrons, although there is no index to them.. Citations for the award of the DSO, MC, DFC and DCM appear in the London Gazette (ZJ 1 ).

RNAS - recommendations can be found in ADM 1 , ADM 116 and ADM 137 .

6. Other records

The only complete muster list of the RAF was compiled on its formation on 1 April 1918. Copies are in AIR 1/819/204/4/1316 and also AIR 10/232 to AIR 10/237 .

The first series of Air Historical Branch (AHB) Records (in AIR 1 ) contains nominal rolls of individual units for the First World War, along with correspondence with officers, awards, promotions and combat reports. Indexes to AIR 1 are available at the National Archives. The second series, in AIR 5 , contains little on individuals.

For men from the USA and Dominions who served with the British Air Forces in the First World War, try their Roll of Honour in AIR 2/219 .

Courts Martial: in AIR 21 , from 1918. These give the name and rank of each prisoner, place of trial, nature of charge and sentence.

Crashes and casualties: some correspondence may be found throughout AIR 1 , with reports for April 1916-November 1918 in AIR 1/843/204/5/369 to AIR 1/860/204/5/427 , 914-916, and 960-969.

Prisoners of War - see research guide British Prisoners of War, c1760-1919

For more records about the RAF, you may like to visit RAF Museum, Aerodrome Road, Hendon, London NW9 5LL.

7. Further reading

William Spencer, Air Force Records for Family Historians (PRO, 2000)

(ri2049) Last updated: 28 June 2004 | © Crown Copyright 2002