On 1 April 1918, military history was made as the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Service merged and became the Royal Air Force (RAF) – the world’s first independent air force.
This took place during some of the most bitter fighting of World War I. Soviet Russian forces had signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, ending Russia’s participation in WWI. This allowed the German Army to transfer large numbers of men and their equipment from the Eastern to the Western Front.
On 21 March 1918, with 50 extra Divisions at his disposal, the Kaiser launched the Ludendorff Offensive. This attack enjoyed initial success, forcing the Allied Forces to retreat. Eleven days after the start of this offensive, and while involved in exhausting and costly action to stem the German advance, the RAF was formed.
Gunbus to Eurofighter
The RAF has a history of rapid technological development. Early in WWI aircraft were flimsy, lightweight machines which could be more dangerous for aircrew than the enemy. The Vickers FB.5 (Gunbus) struggled to reach an airspeed of 113kph. Today, the Eurofighter Typhoon can fly at 2,495kph, and mounts an astonishing array of advanced equipment, sensors and weapon systems.
Yet for all this technological advance, some things never change: the truth that humanity is fallen; the truth that Jesus Christ saves from sin and judgment.
As WWI was drawing to a close, the Soldiers’ Christian Association (SCA) published the following from Corporal Leith RAF in its journal ‘Ready’, September 1918.
‘Many thanks for your encouraging letter. Words are inadequate to express all that God has done for us as a Branch, during the past 12 months of our association with the SCA; let it suffice to say, ‘He has been our Light, Hope and Sufficiency in the way in which He has led us.’ To look at numbers is natural, although not always spiritual, but in this direction we are encouraged greatly because the increase is of God, our text book is ‘His Word’, our contention, ‘The Faith’, and whereas 12 months ago, an average of about ten men met with us at the Gospel Service on Sunday evenings, the attendance is now over 50. The future is large with possibilities. Brethren, pray for us.’
Mergers and renaming
A series of mergers and name changes mean that the work then undertaken by the SCA is now delivered by the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers Association (SASRA), which continues the work of proclaiming Jesus Christ to the men and women of the British Army and the RAF today, 180 years after the work first began.
From 8 August to 11 November, SASRA is holding a national prayer relay called ‘100days’ to seek the Lord’s blessing on the work of our Scripture Readers. If you would like to join us and pray for the Association on a day of your choosing during this period, please email 100days@sasra.org.uk or telephone 03000 30 1918 (open from 10am to 2pm, Monday–Friday).
SASRA has only one full-time RAF Scripture Reader, and we are asking the Lord to send us new workers. If you have served in the RAF and have a heart for seeing the gospel proclaimed amongst our serving airmen and airwomen, please get in touch.
If you are interested in reading about the work of Scripture Readers in WWI, we currently have two publications available:
Rough Journal – The account of Army Scripture Reader H. Wisbey with the Expeditionary Force in Belgium and France 1914.
And SASRA at the Somme – The war diaries of Army Scripture Reader W. Ransley, July – November 1916.
These are available from our website www.sasra.org.uk
