Steam Chicken
I have no ready access to RN archives from WW1. But I do have the official history of Naval 8/208 Sqn.
"During the winter months of 1915 the then Wing Commander C L Lambe, RN Commaner of the Naval Air Forces at Dover and Dunkirk, had been reorganising and building up the RNAS in the Dover Patrol. By April the following year three wings were operating between Dunkirk and Bergues, and in the summer a
loan by the Admiralty of a squadron to reinforce the RFC on the Somme was approved. Each of the three wings provided one flight towards this squadron, thus Squadron Commander Bromet (later A M Sir Geoffrey) received a rather mixed bag of aircraft consisting of six Pups, six Nieuport Scouts, and six Sopwith 1.5 Strutters" On 26 Oct the Squadron moved to le Vert Galant and were visited next day by Major-General Trenchard and some days later by Sir Douglas Haig. They began operations on 3 Nov, with No 22 wing, 5th Brigade, RFC.
I cannot find any reference to patrolling against zeppelins in the rest of the history, but they gave the Red Baron and the rest of his f*kkers brown pants !
I M Esperto
I thought your lads did well in Korea and, within the political limits imposed, in Vietnam. You would not have had any POWs back but for LINEBACKER 2 when SAC were at last allowed to give Hanoi and Haiphong the good'ole Buff treatment. And we know the Desert Storm was a breeze for the grunts because the spade-work had been done by the Buffs
I winder if anyone has done a realistic cost/benefit comparison between two strike carriers, for which (we are told) £2.7B is in the budget and a buy of some large, non-penetrating, ordnance-deliverers (bombers!) that could do for the UK what the Buffs are still doing for Uncle SAM. After all, we all know who really gave the Al Quaida the runs!
