Battle of Arras

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The Flying Circus

During the early days of the war, the Royal Flying Corps provided

intelligence on enemy troop movements on the ground. As time went on

this near to real-time information was greatly valued and often informed

and directed allied offensive action. However, the Battle of Arras was in

many ways a disaster for the RFC. During the month of April alone, the

RFC lost 275 aircraft and over 200 young pilots and observers. The legend

of ‘Bloody April’ is one of the key commemorative episodes of World War I.

So many young men, inexperienced in aerial warfare, indeed in aviation

generally, died in futile attacks against an invincible foe. The German

Air Force was at its zenith, well trained, experienced in air warfare and,

importantly, flying much superior aircraft. Manfred von Richthofen

known as the ‘Red Baron’ and his ruthless gang of merciless ‘aces’ were

part of this ‘Flying Circus’, against which the RFC’s young pilots, many

with much fewer than 100 hours total flying experience, were pitted on a

daily basis. The main task of the RFC continued to be the eyes of Britain’s

supreme weapon – the artillery, essential in preparing the way for any

advance on the ground. The losses in the air were of course nowhere

near the massive losses on the ground and that perhaps was the important

factor in the tactics employed. However, selfless heroism displayed on a

daily basis by pilots of the RFC against a superior and better-equipped

enemy did much to lay down a framework of stoic vigilance, readiness

and endeavour that would, in time, prevail.

Nevertheless, the contribution of the Royal Flying Corps during

the Battle of Arras was monumental. When the British and Canadian

infantry regiments went over the top in April 1917 their extraordinary

achievements were made possible through the efforts and sacrifices of

those of the RFC.