Originally Posted by cazatou
Originally Posted by FODPlod
P.S. Did you know that a FAA Skua shot down the first German aircraft of WW2 and that FAA aircraft from HMS Indefatigable shot down the last enemy aircraft of the war? Every day's a school day, eh?
Yes I did - however, did you know that the CinC Coastal Command of the RAF at the outbreak of WW2 had commanded HMS Empress (one of the Navy's first aircraft carriers) on Christmas Day 1914 in the attack on the German seaplane base at Cuxhaven?
Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick William Bowhill? Good Royal Naval Air Service pedigree. Such a shame he wasn't supported by the Air Ministry. Sorry about this Wikipedia quote but it sums up the situation as well as anything else:
Early War
From its formation in 1936 the Command did not receive the support it required to be an effective naval air service...
...the events of April to June 1940 overturned the balance of power, as the Germans conquered Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium and France. This allowed the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to operate from French ports on the Atlantic coast, much closer to the Atlantic shipping lanes. It also put German air power within range of Britain's ports on all of its coasts. The advantage now enjoyed by the Germans allowed them to inflict heavy losses to merchant shipping supplying food and war materials to Britain, potentially threatening to starve Britain. While merchant shipping was suffering these high losses, Coastal Command had proven ineffective at countering air or sea attacks on Allied shipping. In particular, it was ineffective at protecting English Channel convoys, which were forced to abandon operations for a few months, starting in July 1940. RAF Fighter Command was given the task, as it enjoyed the majority of RAF resources at the time.
The strategic air attack and defence predominated in the RAF, despite the warning signs of 1914 to 1918, that U-Boats were going to become a main opponent again, and aircraft were a suitable counter to their operations. Coastal Command became the "Cinderella service" until 1943...
What price today's version of 'Coastal Command'?