No. 38 Squadron Royal Flying Corps

   No. 38 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps was formed at Thetford on the 1st of April 1916 but shortly became No.25 (Reserve) training squadron. A new No.38 Squadron was formed at Castle Bromwich on the 14th July 1916. It operated as a Home Defence Squadron protecting the West Midlands. It was redesignated No. 38 Squadron, Royal Air Force in April 1918. At the end of May 1918 it was sent to Dunkirk as a night bomber force.

1st April 1916

14th July 1916   A new 38 Squadron was reformed at Castle Bromwich on the 14th July 1916.

16th July 1916

1st October 1916

13th April 1918 Air Raid

May 1918

13th June 1918

5th August 1918   By the beginning of 1917 the German High Command was losing faith in the extremely costly air ships campaign, which overall had wreaked only limited structural damage on Great Britain. From May 1917 most bombing raids were carried out by the Gotha bombers although, with a more limited range, these operations were largely limited to London and the South East. There were only seven airship-raids in 1917 and four in 1918. The final airship raid on Great Britain took place on the 5th August 1918. The command airship was shot down over the North Sea by the gunner of a British DH4 twin-seater aircraft flying from South Denes aerodrome, Great Yarmouth. The German Leader of Airships, Peter Strasser, and his 23 crew were all killed. The remaining four airships hurriedly and mistakenly dropped their bombs into the English Channel and turned for home.
The total number of airship attacks on Britain between 1915 and 1918 probably numbered only a total of 12 raids on London and 40 more over the rest of the country, but the Zeppelin was very effective in drawing RFC and RNAS resources away from the battle front. By December 1916 at the height of the Zeppelin threat 17,340 officers and men were in the AA service together with 12 RFC squadrons comprised of 200 officers, 2,000 other ranks and 110 aircraft for home defence duties. By 1918, facing the raids by Gotha bombers, there were 55 Home Defence Squadrons. The threat of bombing certainly reduced the numbers of effective squadrons and trained pilots at the front and thus reduced the pressure on the German front line.
The First Air Raid on Lancashire: The Zeppelin Menace By Scott Carter-Clavell

14th August 1918 Home defence squadron formed

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Those known to have served with
No. 38 Squadron Royal Flying Corps
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Brown William Alfred. Lt.
Noble-Campbell C. H.. Lt.

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231164

Lt. C. H. Noble-Campbell 38 Squadron

Lt CH Noble-Campbell, a New Zealander, had served in Gallipoli where he was wounded in action prior to joining the RFC. He was one of two 38 Squadron pilots who took part in the pursuit of the German airship L 62 during a raid on the night of 12th/13th of April, 1918. He and his colleague, Lt W.A.Brown, followed a similar path into the night sky over Coventry whilst tracking the German airship L62. They failed to intercept the Zeppelin and both crash-landed within a few hundred yards of each other in Coventry.

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231163

Lt. William Alfred Brown 38 Squadron

William Brown was born on the 4th of December 1899 in Newcastle upon Tyne and was educated at Ushaw College. He joined the Northumberland Fusiliers and was wounded in action on the Somme on the 1st July 1916 whilst serving in the Tyneside Irish. He subsequently joined the RFC and was posted to 38 (Home Defence) Squadron. Lt.Brown and his 38 Squadron colleague, Lt CH Noble-Campbell, followed a similar path into the night sky over Coventry on the night of 12th/13th April 1918 whilst tracking the German airship L62. They failed to intercept the Zeppelin and both crash-landed within a few hundred yards of each other in Coventry.

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No. 38 Squadron Royal Flying Corps

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Those known to have served with
No. 38 Squadron Royal Flying Corps
during the Great War 1914-1918.