Edward Maitland Maitland appears to have been in charge of the RAF side of things.
E M Maitland_P
He was awarded a
Permanent Commission as a Gp Cptn on 1 Aug 19 (
Viewing Page 11919 of Issue 31569),
and the AFC on 26 Aug 19 and a DSM by the Yanks on 12 Dec 19.
These medals were presumably for the Atlantic crossings in the R34, on which he was present and Major Scott (RAF) commanded.
The crew list for the Altantic flight lists Maitland as still being in the Army.
(
Airshpsonline : Airships : R34 Crewlist)
Therefore we might surmise that the RAF operated the R34 for the Atlantic flight, and operated all the airships after 1 Aug 19, admittedly only for 3 months.
The ownership passing from Admiralty to Civvy reg was presumably the Navy's little power-politics of "you ain't getting any of our ships", which would have set a nasty precedent.
Thoughts?