The Royal Air Force came into being towards the end of the 1914–18 War. In the time and space available it is impossible to write anything approaching a full history of it from its inception to the present day. I shall, therefore, only attempt to mention those events which have impressed themselves on my mind as landmarks in the history of the Service.

I shall also endeavour to outline briefly some of the achievements of some of our pilots between the Wars as they illustrate the development of aeroplane performance, followed by a few reminiscences and digressions in an attempt to illustrate the post-War trend.