On This Day, 1999: On 5 June 1999 RAF Tornados flew their first combat missions from Solenzara in Corsica during Operation Allied…
Read the entry →Second World War Articles
In-depth articles, analysis and long reads from The RAF Chronicle.
First Thousand Bomber Raid on Cologne by RAF Bomber Command
Second World War
On 30–31 May 1942, RAF Bomber Command sent more than 1,000 aircraft against Cologne, proving the scale of Britain’s night offensive.
Read the article →The RAF and D-Day Air Power in Operation Overlord
How the RAF helped make D-Day possible through air superiority, transport missions, tactical support and the wider air…
RAF Losses and Attrition Across the Second World War
How RAF losses in war included combat, training and hidden attrition, shaping policy, doctrine and the conduct of…
RAF Aircrew Training WWII: From Recruit to Front Line
How RAF aircrew training expanded from pre-war limits into a vast wartime system that sustained front-line operations across…
RAF Bombing Strategy: From Daylight Raids to the Night War
How RAF bombing strategy evolved from costly daylight raids to a sustained night offensive shaped by loss rates,…
Norwich Blitz: German Reprisal Raid Devastates City
Norwich Blitz: The destructive German raid on Norwich in 1942 hit large areas of the city, though the…
Sergeant Norman Cyril Jackson VC and the Burning Lancaster
Sergeant N. C. Jackson earned the Victoria Cross after climbing onto the wing of a burning Lancaster over…
Baedeker Raids Open with the Bombing of Exeter in 1942
Exeter was among the first cities hit in the 1942 Baedeker raids, retaliatory Luftwaffe attacks aimed at Britain’s…
RAF Coastal Convoy Patrols in the Second World War
How RAF Coastal Command convoy patrols protected shipping, pressured U-boats and helped sustain Britain through the Battle of…
S for Sugar Flies Its Final Mission with Bomber Command
Lancaster R5868 ‘S for Sugar’ flew its 137th and final operation in 1945 before becoming one of the…
RAF night fighters in WWII: radar, tactics and crews
How RAF night fighters used radar, specialist aircraft and crew coordination to defend Britain and conduct night operations…
RAF Pathfinders and the Evolution of Target‑Marking
How RAF Pathfinders improved Bomber Command’s night offensive through specialist crews, navigation aids and disciplined target-marking.
RAF Prepares the Evacuation of Greece in the 1941 Campaign
As the Greece campaign collapsed in 1941, Allied evacuation planning began and the RAF shifted from resistance to…