ke out, the Royal Flying Corps, as has been told, took
the field with all its available forces. The four squadrons which were
ready for service went abroad at once. In their desire to rise to their
great opportunity the officers appointed to command in France made
something like a clean sweep, taking abroad with them almost all the
efficient pilots, and almost all the serviceable machines. There were at
Farnborough at that time a small group of officers belonging to the
newly formed Indian Flying Corps, and another small group training as a
nucleus for a South African Aviation Corps. All these were swept into
the net. Captains H. L. Reilly and D. Le G. Pitcher, of the Indian
Flying Corps, were at once made flying officers of No. 4 Squadron; three
others, that is to say, Captain S. D. Massy (an early pioneer, who had
flown with the Air Battalion during 1911, and was commandant of the
Indian Central Flying School at Sitapur), Captain C. G. Hoare, and
Lieutenant C. L. N. Newall, were posted to squadrons forming at home.
Three officers of the South African Aviation Corps, namely, Lieutenants
K. R. Van der Spuy, E. C. Emmett, and G. S. Creed, were at once
incorporated in Nos. 2, 3, and 5 Squadrons respectively. Two others,
Captain G. P. Wallace and Lieutenant B. H. Turner, joined No. 4 Squadron
in the field early in September. Later on, both groups of officers were
used for operations in distant theatres. When in November 1914 the Turks
were preparing to attack the Suez canal, a flight, consisting of Captain
Massy, Captain Reilly, and Lieutenant S. P. Cockerell, with three
Maurice Farman machines, left England to give to the forces in Egypt the
indispensable aerial support. This small flight was the beginning of the
Middle East Brigade, which, under the command of Major-General W. G. H.
Salmond, played so great a part in the campaigns of Mesopotamia and
Palestine. Again, when in November 1914 the Union Government of South
Africa undertook to invade German South-West Africa, the officers of the
South African Aviation Corps were recalled from their squadrons in
France to provide the needed air force. When that campaign was ended,
these officers returned to England to form No. 26 Squadron of the Royal
Flying Corps, which was immediately dispatched to East Africa, and
co-operated with the forces under the command of General Smuts.

This rapid summary may serve to show how Farnborough, at the outbreak of
war, was a generating cent