‘The Forgotten Ones’. Finding and Recruiting the Men on the Ground for the Royal Flying Corps During the First World War

Abstract

When the First World War began the Royal Flying Corps was just two years old and over the next four years it changed beyond all recognition. To successfully support the Army, the RFC recruited almost 300,000 non-officers, the vast majority for service on the ground and, for most, service in Britain. While their roles were less glamourous than the so-called ‘aces’ who dominate the historiography, the service would not have existed without them. This article explains how the RFC found multiple ways to attract sufficient manpower to successfully prosecute Britain’s first war in the air.