DBWI An 'independant Royal Air Force'

Suppose the 'Smuts Report' favours an intergrated independant Air Force - perhaps called Royal Air Force - how would it have developed, over the years?

Rather than the 'Report' actually advocating a more structured force similar to that which successfully fought in the air in WW1
Namely, a RAC -Royal Air Command, comprising the Independant Bomber Comand, the HADC - the Home Air Defence Comand, and the AASC - Army Air Support Command.
With the RNAS being responsible for Maritime affairs - from land & sea.

The mind boggles what would have happend with an independant 'Air Force' independant! Independant of what?
 
I suppose they mean an Air Force as an independent service on a par with the Army and Royal Navy. I seem to remember the Soviet Union had one- but then, they had the tank units as a separate service!
 

bard32

Banned
Suppose the 'Smuts Report' favours an intergrated independant Air Force - perhaps called Royal Air Force - how would it have developed, over the years?

Rather than the 'Report' actually advocating a more structured force similar to that which successfully fought in the air in WW1
Namely, a RAC -Royal Air Command, comprising the Independant Bomber Comand, the HADC - the Home Air Defence Comand, and the AASC - Army Air Support Command.
With the RNAS being responsible for Maritime affairs - from land & sea.

The mind boggles what would have happend with an independant 'Air Force' independant! Independant of what?

It did. The Smuts Report was a response to the German Gotha bombers bombing London in April 1917. The Royal Air Force was created out of the Royal Flying Corps, RFC, and the Royal Naval Air Corps, went into
operation in April 1918.
 
It did. The Smuts Report was a response to the German Gotha bombers bombing London in April 1917. The Royal Air Force was created out of the Royal Flying Corps, RFC, and the Royal Naval Air Corps, went into
operation in April 1918.

What TL are you from?

OOC: Yes, but this is a DBWI, set in an ATL and looking at OTL.
 
The idea of a air force is just stupid. You can't hold the air. It exists to support the sea and ground forces.
I guess you'd need to extend its domain into a air and space force. And of course have space actually be worthwhile unlike IOTL- greatly speed up space faring technology, man on the moon 10 or 20 years early, man on Mars by now (70s or 80s?), meanwhile no agreements about weapons in space so space becomes militarised.
But it seems you want it at this early period...That's a bit unlikely.
 
That sounds risky. If we had had an independent air force, would it have played attention to the needs of the other forces and the overall picture or got involved in intra-service politics. Would such a service have developed the Shorts Shark dive-bombers that did so much in the naval war - sinking Bismarck in the Denmark Straits, the two Italian BBs off Sicily, so many subs in the Atlantic for instance. Similarly, without the AAC would you have had the Hawker Storm ground attack a/c and its successor Typhoons? The former were too few to stop the Germans in France in 1940 but really mauled their armoured forces. Later in the war they were vital for the destruction of the Italian forces in Libya, the Japanese in Malaya and the landings in Italy and the Balkans later in the war.

After all remember the losses the USAAF suffered in their bombing campaigns in Europe in 1942-45. True when they developed long ranged fighters they inflicted heavy losses on the German fighters and effectively disarmed the Luftwaffe. However were the losses they suffered worth the minimal effect on German production. I admit that the war in the Pacific with the fire-bombing of the Japanese cities were a different matter but that was not compatible to situations in Europe.

Steve
 
Air power is merely an adjunct to sea and land power.

One might as well have the submarine service separate from the Royal Navy, or the parachute regiment separate from the Army.
 
If you have this supposed RAF of yours, it's likely to going to demand that all aviation assets belong to it, just as the American USAF kept trying. Can you imagine what that would have meant for the Royal Navy? Fat luck trying to get decent naval aviation if all your aviation has to come from some Douhet worshipping airmen.
 
You just can't have a separate air service flying around doing whatever it wants. It has to be part of the army, even attached to the navy at times, so it can support the army & navy in their endeavours on the frontline. After all that's were the main battles are fought & that's where wars are won!

But if you have these spoilt brats flying around, doing whatever they want, then goodness knows what'll happen. Furthermore they'll turn an independent air force into some elitist club thinking they're far better than everyone else - especially those doing the real fighting. So when they'll be really needed, they'll be off somewhere else, probably drinking until they're all comatose, whilst the army & navy are engaged in real battle.

Then there's the high possibility that they'll do the dastardly German tactic of dropping bombs on cities! Outrageous! That simply isn't British! And that, by itself, is as good as any other reason not to let the Royal Fly Corps become an independent service unaccountable to no one but themselves.
 
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