DH.9S OF 98 SQUADRON ARRIVED IN FRANCE ON THE DAY THE ROYAL AIR FORCE WAS FORMED. THEY WERE SOON PITCHED INTO BATTLE, AS ANDREW THOMAS EXPLAINS
DOGGEDNESS, DETERMINATION,
Major H O’Malley led his unit across the Channel; below them the ground echelon had set sail from Folkestone. On the day that the de Havilland DH.9s of 98 Squadron touched down at St Omer they were the first British unit to arrive in France as a Royal Air Force, not a Royal Flying Corps, or Royal Naval Air Service, unit – it was April 1, 1918.
