Royal Air Forces

An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The section on Royal Air Forces lists 24 cards. The cards listed below are additional cards discovered since the book was published. The new additions are shown in RED.

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was a separate Corps within the British Army at the outbreak of the First World War at a time when air flight was still in its infancy. The Corps included all types of aircraft, including airships and balloonists, as their role was primarily in reconnaissance and directing artillery fire. As the war developed and the ability of aircraft improved, the RFC assumed more of a combat role.

The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was a separate unit within the Royal Navy. Their aircraft undertook reconnaissance sweeps for the Royal Navy, escorted ships and hunted submarines.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) was established In April 1918 from the amalgamation of the RFC and RNAS. From that point, it became an independent Force within the British Armed Forces.

Embroidered silk postcards exist for all the above branches of the Air Forces. RFC cards are the most abundant as it was the largest Air Force for most of the First World War. There are relatively few Royal Air Force cards available, which indicates that most of the designs for embroidered silk postcards had been introduced before April 1918. Not many new captions of Air Force cards have been discovered since the book was published and it is likely that most of them have now been found.

Images of a representative selection of cards are shown beneath the listings.

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