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- British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912 - 1920
Records in this collection
- 1st Sportsman's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 1914-1918
- 1861 Worldwide Army Index
- Afghan War, Fallen Officers & Victoria Cross Recipients 1878-1880
- Airmen Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
- Army Deserters 1828-1840
- Army List August 1878
- Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945
- Birmingham City Battalions 1914-1918
- Birmingham Employers Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Bradford Pals 1914-1918
- Britain, Gestapo Invasion Arrest List 1940
- British Armed Forces Soldiers' Wills 1850-1986
- British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
- British Armed Forces, First World War Widows' Pensions Forms
- British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Baptisms
- British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
- British Army Discharges, 60th Foot 1854-1880
- British Army Officers' Widows' Pension Forms 1755-1908
- British Army Service Records - WO 363 & WO 364
- British Army Service Records WO 22 & WO 23
- British Army Service Records WO 96 & WO 97
- British Army, Bond Of Sacrifice: Officers Died In The Great War 1914-1916
- British Army, British Red Cross Society volunteers 1914-1918
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, Honourable Artillery Company
- British Army, Imperial War Museum Bond of Sacrifice 1914-1918
- British Army, Indian Volunteer Force Medal Awards 1915-1939
- British Army, Irish regimental enlistment registers 1877-1924
- British Army, List Of Half-Pay Officers 1714
- British Army, Lloyds Of London Memorial Roll 1914-1919
- British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Railwaymen Died in the Great War
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officer Deaths 1850-2011
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officers 1716-1899
- British Army, Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book, 1914-1918
- British Army, Royal Artillery, 80th Field Regiment, WW2
- British Army, Royal Welch Fusiliers
- British Army, War of 1812 Casualties
- British Army, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps 1917-1920
- British Army, worldwide index 1851
- British Casualties, Aden 1955-1967
- British Casualties, Indian Mutiny 1857-1859
- British Casualties, Korean War 1950 – 1953
- British Casualties, Spanish Civil War 1936 - 1939
- British in Argentina 1914-1919
- British India Office Army & Navy pensions
- British Officers Taken Prisoner of War 1914-1918
- British Red Cross & Order Of St John Enquiry List, Wounded & Missing, 1914-1919
- British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers, 1914-1918
- British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939
- British Royal Air Force, Gallantry Awards 1914-1919
- British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912 - 1920
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM240
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM337
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle of Jutland 1916 servicemen
- British Royal Navy Allotment Declarations 1795-1852
- British Royal Navy personnel 1831
- British Royal Navy Seamen 1899-1924
- British Royal Navy, Foreign Awards To Officers Index 1914-1922
- British Royal Navy, Ships' Musters
- British subjects who died in the service of the Indian Empire
- British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920
- Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 - WO 131
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 - WO 121
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 - WO 122
- City of York militia & muster rolls 1509-1829
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1914-1921
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1938-1947
- Crimean War casualties 1853-1856
- Cyprus Emergency Deaths 1955-1960
- De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Edinburgh Pals 1914-1918
- Essex, Clacton Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- Glasgow Pals 1914-1918
- Hampshire, Portsmouth Military Tribunals 1916-1919
- Harold Gillles Plastic Surgery Archives from WWI
- Harts Army List 1840
- Harts Army List 1888
- Honourable Women of the Great War, 1914-1918
- Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 - WO 128
- Irish Officers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Jersey, 1815 Militia Survey
- Kempston Servicemen 1914-1920
- Kilmainham Pensioners British Army service records, 1771-1821
- Leicestershire and Rutland, Soldiers Died 1914-1920
- Lincolnshire, Kesteven Militia Ballot List 1824
- Liverpool Pals 1914-1918
- London County Council Record Of War Service 1914-1918
- London Stock Exchange Memorial Roll 1914-1918
- London volunteer soldiers, 1859-1955
- Manchester Employers' Roll Of Honour 1914-1916
- Manchester Regiment city battalions 1914-1916
- Middlesex War Memorials
- Middlesex, Poplar, Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Military Nurses (Royal Red Cross)
- Military Nurses 1856-1994
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records 1775 - 1817
- National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
- Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Northamptonshire militia lists 1771
- Officers' services, First World War - WO 339 & WO 374
- Oldham Pals 1914-1920
- Oldham Pals Roll of Honour
- Palestine Conflict British Deaths 1945-1948
- Peninsular Medal Roll 1793-1814
- Plymouth Militia records 1625-1831
- Plymouth Rolls Of Honour 1914-1919
- Plymouth Second World War records 1939-1945
- Plymouth Subscribers For Redemption Of Captives In Turkey and Algiers 1680
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Europe
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Far East
- Prisoners Of War 1715-1945 - Napoleonic
- Prisoners of war 1745-1945: Crimean War to Boer Wars
- Prisoners Of War 1914-1920
- Regimental records of officers' services 1775-1914 - WO 76
- Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918
- Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942
- Royal Artillery Honors & Awards
- Royal Artillery Military Medal Awards
- Royal Artillery Other Ranks: casualty cards 1939-1947
- Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905
- Royal Fusiliers, Stockbrokers' Battalion 1914-1918
- Royal Marine Medal Roll
- Royal Marines 1899-1919
- Royal Naval Division Casualties, 1914-1919
- Royal Naval Division Service Records, 1914-1920
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve medal roll
- Royal Navy Officers 1899-1919
- Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll, 1914-1920
- Royal Sussex Regiment Southdown Battalions 1914-1918
- Royal Tank Corps enlistment records, 1919-1934
- Salford Pals 1914-1918
- Silver War Badge roll 1914-1920
- Soldiers died in the Great War 1914-1919
- South Africa Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- South Lancashire Regiment Prisoners of War 1914-1918
- Surrey Recruitment Records
- Surrey, Military Tribunals 1915-1918
- Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt)
- The Household Cavalry 1801-1919 - WO 400
- Waterloo Roll Call 1815
- Welsh Guards 1915-1918
- World War One British Army Medal Index Cards
- WW1 Ships Lost at Sea, 1914-1919
- WWI Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
- WWII Escapers and Evaders
Discover your ancestors who were officers in the Royal Air Force (RAF) between 1912 and 1920 and who served in World War 1. The record set contains records of 101,266 RAF officers. You may be able to discover your relative’s birth year, civilian occupation, military awards and decorations, and next of kin details, which will allow you to delve further back into your family tree. Included in these records are those of U.S. Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner, and W.E. Johns, creator of the fictional flying ace, Biggles.
Transcript
Each record comprises a transcript and several black and white images of the original register. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:- First name(s)
- Last name
- Birth year
- Birth date
Images
The images may contain additional information about your ancestor. These further details may include:- Address
- Next of kin details
- Occupation
- Unit
- Discharge date
- Reasons for discharge
- Appointments and promotions
- Special qualifications
- Medical results
- Death year
- Death date
- Cause of death
- Awards and decorations
The record set comprises 101,266 records.
The records began with the inception of the RAF on 1 April, 1918, but they include retrospective details of earlier service in the Royal Flying Corps or Royal Naval Air Service.
Airman is a generic term for anybody in the RAF, whether they flew or not.
Flying Aces
The First World War introduced the systematic use of true single-seat fighter aircraft, with sufficient speed and agility to catch and maintain contact with targets in the air, combined with weaponry powerful enough to destroy the targets. Around 5 percent of combat pilots account for the majority of air-to-air victories, and these pilots came to be known as aces during World War One, after newspapers in France described Adolphe Pégoud as “l’As,” the ace, when he became the first pilot to shoot down five German aircraft. The British originally used the phrase “star-turns,” a show-business expression, while the Germans named their elite fighter pilots “Uberkanonen,” which translates loosely as “top guns.” The British high command regarded praise of fighter pilots to be detrimental to equally brave bomber and reconnaissance aircrew, so the British air services didn’t publish official statistics on the successes of individuals. Nevertheless, some pilots became famous through media coverage, which made the British system for the recognition of successful fighter pilots informal and inconsistent. A number of flying aces are included in these records.Search Tips
A year of birth was not always recorded, so try leaving this out if you don't get any results. Where there is no date of birth, the record description will say '1918-1919.' Some officers’ first names are recorded with an initial or a diminutive instead of a full first name, so you should be aware of possible alternatives when searching for your ancestor’s first name. Your download might contain the records of several individuals with the same name. This is because the nature of these documents sometimes makes it hard to distinguish between the records of officers with the same name. In the case of aircrew, the record will note any Royal Aero Club certificate numbers and the dates they were granted.