The Irish air corps

The royal corps had a much better warlike force then the representatives of number 2 squadron in their flimsy machines but they were still hammered by the Fokker scourge. So it was dcided the R.F.C should be expanded urgently to 106 service squadrons and 97 squadrons. This called fo lots of more training aerodromes both in Britain and Ireland. The man picked to chose the suitable areas was a Major Sholto Douglas. When he was taking off from a French aerodrome he crashed into a horse and was injured. After he recovered he flew over to Ireland and landed in the Phoenix park. At this time it was only a few months after th 1916 rising. Sholto picked the aerodromes to go in Collinstown,Balldonnel and Aldergrove and a few more in Fermoy and at the Curragh. The RNAS set up bases at Johnstown castle in Wexford and Malahide castle, North of Dulin from which airships patrolled the Irish sea. From 1917 the United States Navy air arm operated flying boats and kite balloons from stations at Wexford, Cork harbour,Bantry Bay and Lough Foyle manned a total of 3.000 personnel. It had been intended that the Americans would take over all the anti-submarine aerial operations off the Irish coast, but before they became fully operational the armstice had not been signed. O 1st of April 1918 the RFC and the RNAs amalgamated to become teh Rotyal Air Force