VIII Brigade RAF
Encyclopedia
The VIII Brigade or 8th Brigade of the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 and from 1 April 1918, Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, was a bomber formation which carried out air raids against Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.
The VIII Brigade of the Royal Flying Corps was created on 28 December 1917 by raising the 41st Wing
No. 41 Wing RAF
Number 41 Wing of the Royal Flying Corps , later the Royal Air Force , conducted strategic bombing operations against Germany during World War I....

 to Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 status. The 41st Wing continued to exist as a subordinate formation of the VIII Brigade. The VIII Brigade's only Commander was Brigadier-General C L N Newall
Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Cyril Louis Norton Newall, 1st Baron Newall GCB OM GCMG CBE AM , was a British soldier and airman, who headed the Royal Air Force as the Chief of the Air Staff during the early part of the Second World War before serving as the sixth Governor-General of New Zealand...

.

Although the VIII Brigade had been established in December 1917 it did exercise command authority until 1 February 1918 when Newall took up command. The following month, on 1 April 1918 the VII Brigade was transferred to the Royal Air Force. With the British Government seeking to expand the bombing raids against Germany, the VIII Brigade itself was subsumed into a larger formation, becoming part of the Independent Air Force
Independent Air Force
The Independent Air Force , also known as the Independent Force or the Independent Bombing Force and later known as the Inter-Allied Independent Air Force, was a World War I strategic bombing force which was part of the British Royal Air Force and used to strike against German railways, aerodromes...

on 6 June 1918. The Brigade was probably disbanded towards the end of 1918 after the Armistice.
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