The RAF on 1st April 1922
That is at the Point of Departure
The main sources for this is the order of battle for 1st April 1922 in
"The Source Book of the RAF" by Ken Delve and the copy of
"The Air Force List, April 1922" on the National Library of Scotland's website.
Squadrons
According to them the RAF had 34 squadrons. However, RAF List one of the (No. 238) said was a cadre squadron and which Lake's
"Flying Units of the RAF" says was disbanded on 20th March 1922 which reduces the total to 33.
From memory (which I think comes from the Air History Branch narrative about the evolution of Bomber Command to 1939) the first-line strength of the RAF at 1st April 1922 was 371 aircraft. However, when I tried to work it out I got 392 aircraft. That's assuming that.
- All the squadrons equipped with single-engine aircraft had 12 aircraft each and all the squadrons equipped with multi-engine aircraft had 10 aircraft each.
- That is except for the 6 Naval Co-operation squadrons. According to the AHB narrative on the RAF in Maritime War they had a total of 78 aircraft in January 1922.
The 33 squadrons consisted of:
- One Night Bomber squadron (10 aircraft).
- 11 Day Bomber squadrons (2 with 10 aircraft each and 9 with 12 aircraft each for a total of 128 aircraft).
- 2 Bomber-Transport squadrons (with 10 aircraft each for a total of 20 aircraft).
- 3 Fighter Squadrons (with 12 aircraft each for a total of 36 aircraft).
- 9 Army Co-operation squadrons (with a total of 108 aircraft).
- One Communications squadron (12 aircraft).
- 6 Naval Co-operation squadrons (with varying establishments for a total of 78 aircraft).
Deployment
The Metropolitan Air Force
Only 12 squadrons with 152 aircraft were deployed in the United Kingdom. They were distributed between the Coastal Area and Inland Area commands.
The Coastal Area (which would become Coastal Command in 1936) had all the home based naval co-operation units, including second-line units such as the School of Naval Co-operation and Aerial Navigation. Its first-line units were 5 squadrons with 70 aircraft as follows:
- No. 3 Squadron with 12 Westland Walrus Fleet Spotter aircraft.
- No. 203 Squadron with 18 Sopwith Camel Fleet Fighter aircraft.
- No. 205 Squadron with 18 Parnel Panther Fleet Reconnaissance aircraft.
- No. 210 Squadron with 12 Sopwith Cuckoo Fleet Torpedo aircraft.
- No. 230 Squadron with 10 Felixstowe F.5 flying boats.
According to the Air Force List and Delve there was also No. 238 Squadron with F.5 flying boats. However, Lake says it was disbanded on 20.03.22.
The four squadrons of carrier aircraft detached aircraft to the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers.
The force was reorganised at the end of the 1922-23 financial year. The four carrier and one flying boat squadrons disbanded on 31.03.23 and their aircraft & personnel were formed into 11 flights on 01.04.23.
- No. 3 Squadron became Nos. 420, 421 and 422 (Fleet Spotter) Flights
- No. 203 squadron became Nos. 401 and 402 (Fleet Fighter) Flights
- No. 205 Squadron became Nos. 440, 441 and 442 (Fleet Reconnaissance) Flights
- No. 210 Squadron became Nos. 460 and 461 (Fleet Torpedo) Flights
- No. 230 Squadron became No. 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight
The 10 flights of carrier aircraft had 6 aircraft each. It's peculiar because one would have expected No. 3 Squadron to have been split into 2 flights (instead of 3 flights) as it had 12 aircraft and for No. 203 Squadron to have been split into 3 flights (instead of 2 flights) because it had 18 aircraft.
The Inland Area had 82 aircraft in 7 squadrons. These consisted of the RAF's sole Night Bomber squadron (No. 100) with Vickers Vimys, 2 Day Bomber squadrons (Nos. 39 & 207) with DH.9As, one Fighter squadron (No. 25) with 12 Sopwith Snipes, 2 Army Co-operation squadrons (Nos 2 & 4) with Bristol F2b Fighters and one Communications squadron (No. 24) with DH.9As. As far as I know No. 100 Squadron had 10 aircraft and the rest had 12 aircraft each.
The Inland Area also included most of the metropolitan training and maintenance organisation. The major exceptions were the RAF College at Cranwell (an independent command), the specialist naval co-operation units under the Coastal Area (which have already been mentioned) and one of the 5 flying training schools (No. 4) which was part of RAF Middle East.
The Overseas Commands
The RAF Rhine command had one Army Co-operation squadron (No. 12) with 12 Bristol F2b Fighters. However, the squadron was disbanded on 27.07.22 and then be re-formed on 01.04.23 as a Day Bomber squadron at Northolt in the Inland Area.
The rest of the RAF overseas came under the Middle East Area. Most of the RAF's front-line strength (228 aircraft in 20 squadrons) was under its command. These consisted of:
- 9 Day Bomber squadrons with 104 aircraft. 6 (Nos. 8, 27, 30, 47, 55 & 84) had 12 DH.9As each. One No. 14 had 12 Bristol F2b Fighters. Two (Nos. 60 & 216) had 10 DH.10s.
- 2 Bomber-Transports with 20 aircraft. That is No. 45 wit 10 Vickers Vernons and No. 70 with 10 Vickers Vimys.
- 2 Fighter squadrons (Nos. 1 and 56) with 24 aircraft.
- No. 1 squadron would be disbanded in Iraq 01.11.26 and reformed (as a fighter squadron) in UK on 01.02.27.
- No.56 would be disbanded 23.09.22 in Egypt, but it was reformed (as a fighter squadron) in the UK on 01.11.22.
- 6 Army Co-operation squadrons (Nos. 5, 6, 20, 28, 31 & 208 with 72 aircraft all of which were Bristol F2b Fighters.
- One Naval Co-operation squadron (No. 267) with 8 Fairey IIID seaplanes which are included in my calculation of 392 aircraft and 3 Felixstowe F.5 flying boats, which are not. These were the only shore-based naval co-operation aircraft based overseas. This squadron would was disbanded on 31.03.23 and its aircraft & personnel became No. 481 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight on 01.04.23.
The 228 aircraft in 20 squadrons were deployed as follows:
- Mediterranean Group - One Naval Co-operation Squadron (No. 267). This squadron was disbanded on 31.03.23 and replaced by No. 481 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight which formed on 01.04.23.
- Egypt Group - 2 Day Bomber squadrons (Nos. 47 & 216), one Bomber-Transport squadron (No. 45) and one Fighter squadron (No. 56) - Total 44 aircraft in 4 squadrons. This group was disbanded in February 1925.
- Palestine Group - one Day Bomber squadron (No. 14) and one Army Co-operation squadron (No. 208) - Total 24 aircraft in 2 squadrons.
- Iraq Group - 4 Day Bomber squadrons (Nos. 8, 30, 55 & 84), one Fighter squadron (No. 1) and one Army Co-operation squadron (No. 6) - Total 82 aircraft in 7 squadrons.
- Indian Group - 4 Army Co-operation squadrons (Nos. 5, 20, 28 & 31) with 48 aircraft.
The Mediterranean, Palestine, Iraq and India Groups became independent commands reporting directly to the Air Ministry. Except that according to RAFWEB these changes had already taken place. That is the Mediterranean Group became RAF Mediterranean on 01.04.22, the Palestine Group became Palestine Command on 01.02.22, the Iraq Group became Iraq Command on 13.10.21 & then renamed RAF Iraq on 01.10.22 and the India Group became RAF India on 01.04.22. Furthermore, the Middle East Area was renamed RAF Middle East on 01.04.22.
Reporting directly to the Middle East Area was the Aden Flight. Aden Command was formed in February 1928. The Aden Flight was disbanded on 01.01.28 and absorbed into No 8 Squadron, which according to its Wikipeda entry moved from Iraq to Aden in February 1927.
