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HISTORY OF THE ARMY AIR CORPS
A key requirement in all-military campaigns and battles since wars began has been to observe the enemy, to discover his strengths and weaknesses, and also to direct fire power onto targets.
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 Observation was originally carried out from high ground or buildings however with the advent of manned flight, using balloons, kites and eventually aeroplanes, observers were given greater opportunity to view the battlefield.
It was during World War 1 that the importance of the aeroplane as an observation platform was realised with the formation of the Royal Flying Corps. Although the Army used Royal Air Force (RAF) CO-Operation Squadrons between the wars, it was not until World War 2 that the Army required soldiers to fly again.
During World War 2, Royal Artillery officers, supported by RAF technicians, flew Auster light aircraft in RAF-owned Air Observation Post squadrons. Twelve were raised and they served as squadrons or flights in virtually every campaign. Where possible they co-located with Army formations. Many of the early Air Observation Post squadron numbers still exist within the Corps. |
Winston Churchill, early in World War 2, decreed the establishment of a new branch of Army aviation to be known as the Army Air Corps. This body of tough, red bereted soldiers comprised of lightly equipped air-landed infantry to form the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, who flew gliders carrying specially trained line infantry directly into battle, and the nucleus of what was to become the Special Air Service. All these component elements were to form the Army Air Corps. |
Gliders could be landed virtually on top of their objectives, as happened at Pegasus Bridge during the initial operations of the D-Day landings in June 1944. After landing, the pilots then fought as infantry soldiers or assisted in crewing the weapons or equipment they had brought in until withdrawn to fly other missions.
After the war, the original Army Air Corps was disbanded. As gliders became obsolete, pilots retrained on powered light aircraft and served alongside Air Observation Post Squadrons as part of the Army's eyes and ears. The Glider Pilot Regiment continued in existence until 1957 when it, together with the remaining Air Observation Squadrons, were amalgamated to form the present day Army Air Corps with its distinctive sky blue beret.
The fledgling Army Air Corps operated a mixture of Austers and Skeeter helicopters formed into squadrons of independent flights. Flights were also formed which were incorporated into Armoured, Artillery and Infantry regiments.
Evolution, and rationalisation of equipment and forces, led to the point in the late 1970's when nearly every Brigade had its own Aviation Squadron of 12 aircraft. At that stage they flew either Sioux or Scout helicopters, the latter armed with the SS11 anti-armour missile. Eventually, a typical Division had its own Aviation Regiment of 36 aircraft comprising both Gazelle and Lynx helicopters, the latter armed with tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missile.
More information on the history of Army Aviation can be found in the Museum of Army Flying; www.flying-museum.org.uk located at the home of the Army Air Corps at Middle Wallop, near Andover in Hampshire. Telephone - 01980 674421.
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