The Royal Air Force fought in every major theatre of the Second World War. It underwent rapid expansion following the outbreak of war. The men of the regular pre-war air force were joined by those from the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, formed in 1924 to provide a reserve of manpower, and the RAF Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR), who were put on the active list when war was imminent. In February 1942 the RAF Regiment was formed to protect airfields from airborne troops. At its wartime peak, there were 60,000 men in the RAF Regiment, which was supported by the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and by Princess Mary’s Nursing Service.
Conscription applied to the RAF, but all aircrew were volunteers. It soon became clear that there were not sufficient resources to train replacements for anticipated losses amongst aircrew, and so the British Empire Air Training Scheme was introduced in December 1939. This eventually provided more than 168,000 men. During the Second World War, the RAF reached a total strength of 1,208,000 men and women, of whom 185,000 were aircrew. About 70,000 RAF personnel were killed.
The main conflict fought by the RAF was the Battle of Britain, which was a struggle between the German Luftwaffe (commanded by Hermaan Göring) and the British Royal Air force (headed by Sir Hugh Dowding’s Fighter Command) which was fought over Britain between July and October 1940. The battle, which was the first major military campaign in history to be fought entirely in the air, was the result of a German plan to win air superiority over Southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying the British air force and aircraft industry. Hitler saw victory in the battle as a prelude to the invasion of Britain (codenamed Operation Sealion).
Hitler turned his attention to the British Isles in the summer of 1940, directing a force of over 1,350 bombers and 1,200 fighters first against shipping, airfields, and finally against towns. The technical differences between the fighter aircraft employed by two sides were negligible: the RAF’s main fighter planes were the Spitfire and the Hurricane, whilst the Germans relied primarily on Messcherschmitt fighters and Junkers dive bombers.
During the battle, the RAF enjoyed the advantage of defending against attacks launched from widely separated airfields. This advantage was optimised by Britain’s system of radar tracking and guidance. Furthermore, the added comfort of fighting over friendly territory meant that pilots who crash-landed or parachuted out of their aircrafts could return to battle. British anti-aircraft and civil-defence preparations were inadequate in the summer of 1940, yet the Luftwaffe was unable to wreak the devastating effects feared by many.
The climax of the battle came on 15 September 1940, a day in which the Luftwaffe lost 56 planes and the RAF 28. During the twelve-week battle, 1,733 German aircraft had been destroyed, compared with 915 British fighters. On 17 September, Hitler recognised the growing futility of the campaign and postponed indefinitely the invasion of Britain. Yet this did not mean an end to the bombing terror. German tactics were changed again and the Luftwaffe resorted to indiscriminate bombing of larger cities, including London, Plymouth, Hull and Coventry.
The RAF also ran the strategic bombing campaign against Germany which began in May 1942. Bomber Command had the highest loss rate of any major branch of the British armed forces, with 55,000 aircrew dying in bombing raids over Germany.
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