Today marks the anniversary of a major milestone in aviation. The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912. By the end of that year, it had 12 manned balloons and 36 biplane aircraft (as well as 43 tents and 12 black Labrador dogs). The RFC came into its own at the outbreak of World War I and its first action of the war was a two aircraft reconnaissance on 19 August 1914. Sadly, like so many early aviation exploits, the mission was not a great success and in the poor weather, both of the pilots lost their way. Readers of Biggles stories will know that one of the more unusual missions undertaken by the RFC was the delivery of spies to behind enemy lines. The first such mission took place on the morning of September 13 1915 and was not a success. The plane crashed and both pilot and spy were badly injured and captured. Nevertheless, later missions were more successful and, in addition to delivering spies the RFC became responsible for keeping the spies supplied with the carrier pigeons that were used to send back intelligence reports. One famous homing pigeon, Cher Ami, hatched on 13 May 1916, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for heroic service after delivering 12 important messages. Cher Ami helped save the Lost Battalion of the US 77th Division in the battle of the Argonne, October 1918 and on her last, heroic and fateful mission, she delivered her message despite having been shot through the breast. Cher Ami’s remains are today enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution.
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