The Palestine Brigade of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

, and later

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, was formed 5 October 1917 in response to

General Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in World War I, in which he led the Britis ...

's request for an air formation for his planned offensive against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. In 1920 it was redesignated as the Palestine Group.

Background

Prior to Allenby's appointment as commander of the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

, the German and Ottoman air services had enjoyed air superiority in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. This was because of the superior quantity and quality of German

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and

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aircraft in comparison to the British aircraft. Allenby was an air power enthusiast and he requested that the British

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

increase the number and quality of Flying Corps aircraft at his disposal.

Formation and composition

With an increased number of British aircraft in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, the Palestine Brigade was formed on 5 October 1917. It consisted of all Royal Flying Corps operational units based in the Middle East which were east of

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

. Forming part of Royal Flying Corps Middle East and it was initially commanded by Brigadier-General W G H Salmond who retained command of RFC Middle East. In December 1917, command of the Palestine Brigade ceased to be held by the commander of RFC Middle East. Brigadier-General A E Borton was appointed Brigade Commander and Salmond, who had been promoted to Major-General, was GOC RFC Middle East. Although Borton answered directly to Allenby for operational matters, Salmond maintained a keen interest in the activities of the Palestine Brigade. The Palestine Brigade consisted of the following two

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

: * 5th (Corps) Wing - tasked with aerial cooperation and direct support to Allenby's ground formations. * 40th (Army) Wing - formed at the same time as the Palestine Brigade and tasked with counter-air missions and attacking the Ottoman and German support infrastructure. In addition, by the summer of 1918 the brigade also had a balloon company, an aircraft park, an aircraft depot and an engine repair depot. In August, the brigade was strengthened by the addition of a single

Handley Page 0/400 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was one of the largest aircraft in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and the Handley Page O/4 ...

biplane bomber which had been flown from England. In June 1919, the headquarters of the Palestine Brigade and its two subordinate wings were merged to form the Arbitive Amagamated HQ. This headquarters was then redesignated as the Palestine Group on 18 March 1920. The group was reduced to Palestine Wing on 1 April 1922.

Actions

The Palestine Brigade saw action throughout the

Palestine Campaign The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revolt ...

, most notably at the Battle of Megiddo when the retreating Ottoman Seventh Army was destroyed on

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

Beisan Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to be one of the oldest citie ...

road by aerial attack.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the Palestine Brigade and its successor formations:

Commanders of the Palestine Brigade

*5 October 1917 Brigadier-General W G H Salmond *5 November 1917 Brigadier-General W S Brancker *14 December 1917 Brigadier-General A E Borton *17 May to 15 August 1918 Lieutenant Colonel C S Burnett (Temporary appointment) *29 November 1918 to 26 January 1919 Lieutenant Colonel R Williams (Temporary appointment)

Commanders of the Arbitive Amalgamated HQ

*26 June 1919 Major W J Y Guilfoyle *23 August to 7 October 1919 Squadron Leader W L Welshhttps://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Welsh.htm *5 January 1920 Wing Commander C S Burnett

Commanders of the Palestine Group

*18 March 1920 Wing Commander C S Burnett *20 March 1920 Wing Commander S Grant-Dalton *26 November 1920 Group Captain U J D Bourke *1 January 1922 Group Captain P F M Fellowes

References

{{reflist Brigades of the United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I Military units and formations established in 1917 1917 establishments in British-administered Palestine