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The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force of the United Kingdom and the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts. The RAF operates 1,114 aircraft (2010) and, as of late 2009, had a total manpower strength of 44,300 regular, and 2,500 volunteers. The majority of the RAF’s aircraft and personnel are based in the UK with many others serving on operations (principally Afghanistan and the Middle East) or at long-established overseas bases (Ascension Island, Canada, Cyprus, Diego Garcia, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Germany)
Main article: History of the Royal Air Force
Distinctive shape of the Spitfire which played a major part in the Battle of Britain. While the British were not the first to make use of heavier-than-air military aircraft, the RAF is the world’s oldest independent air force: that is, the first air force to become independent of army or navy control. It was founded on 1 April 1918, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). After the war, the service was drastically cut and its inter-war years were relatively quiet, with the RAF taking responsibility for the control of Iraq and executing a number of minor actions in other parts of the British Empire. The Royal Naval Air Service, or Fleet Air Arm as it became known, was later returned to Admiralty control on 24 May 1939.
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