Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 709

TH E ROYAL FLYING CORPS.
The Royal Flying Corps q u ite early in the
war m ade th eir hom e in Reading and they
seem t o have qu ite settled dow n in th e tow n.
Reading has becam e an im p ortan t aeronautic
cen tre and to -d a y th e streets are th ron ged
with m em bers o f th e R .F .C . in th eir neat
workmanlike u n iform .
In th is grou p are
seen th e officers, N .C .O .€™ s and m en of the
School of Technical Training, w hose head
quarters a re at Coley Park . D u rin g th e
spring o f 1917, and again in th e autumn and
winter, hundreds of th e corps w ere billeted in
th e Katesgrove and Whitley district, m any
o f th e householders b ein g sorry when th ey
w ere transferred t o camp.

GROUP OF OFFICERS AND N.C.O .s, R.F.C. SCHOOL OF TECHNICAL TRAINING, READING

N ot only have th e airmen becom e a com
posite p a rt of th e social life o f th e tow n , b u t
th ey have also aroused m uch in terest in connection w ith athletics and sports of all kinds.
D u rin g th e summer cricket and rowin g
claim ed th eir energies. M an y an excitin g
gam e o f cric et w as w itn essed at Liebenrood
Road and elsew here, gam es w hich served to
prom ote th e com plete u nderstan d in g betw een
th e School o f Technical Training and th e
School of Military Aeronautics, w hile both
sections o f th e Corps evin ced grea t prow ess
w ith th e oar at th e Regatta on August Bank
Holiday. W ith th e approach of winter they
tu rn ed th eir atten tion t o football, Association
and Rugby , and hockey, and m any th rilling
con tests w ith oth er military units stationed
in th e loca lity h ave resulted.

A rem arkably successful Sergeants'€™ Mess
social was held at the University College Hall,
and everyone w ho had th e privilege of being
presen t at th a t happiest o f function s heard
w ith pleasure th a t th e sam e organisation
decided t o hold a dance.
In many ways
th e influx of a la rge number o f troops
in to a tow n is bound t o influence its
life, and it can tr u th fu lly be said th a t when
and if th e R .F .C . men now stationed in Reading
leave th e tow n it w ill sustain a very real
loss.
The ever-in creasing need fo r aeroplanes
and m ore aeroplanes, and still m ore pilots to
man th em , ca n n ot be to o h ighly estim ated,
and th e a ll-im p ortan t p a rt these men w ho are
stationed in th e tow n are pla yin g t o help win
th e w ar can only be fu lly u nderstood when
due consideration is given to th e gig a n tic pro
portion s o f th e w ar in th e air to-da y , a very
good idea o f w hich is given by a despatch of
M r. Philip Gibbs, who w rote in con nection
w ith th e battle fo r Cambrai: "€œ Overhead th e
sky was blackened by our aircraft.
I have seen m any o f ou r aeroplanes b efore on days of
battle, b u t never so m any squadrons and
flights and single scouts as on Friday, when
th ey w ere lik e flocks of crow s over th e
enemy'€™ s lines. T h ere w as aerial fightin g all
day, fo r enem y planes cam e ou t in large num
bers also, and challenged ou r men t o this
deadly tournament in th e skies. A t 7.30 there
w ere 30 hostile planes over th e Bonavis Farm
area, and m any fired white lights con tin uously
over Goureaucourt and Gonnelieu and
Villers-Guislan.

[Photo by Baasano, Ltd ., 25, Ol d Bond S t . . W .