Harald Penrose, in the second volume of his classic history of British aviation, claims that the RAF ??ad become the largest Air Force in the world, with 27,333 officers and 263,410 men of other ranks?? He gives the aircraft figure as 22,647.
H A Jones, The War in the Air – Appendices, 1937 (The Official History) offers, in Appendix XLI, the number of airframes on RAF charge on 31/10/18 as 22,171. His total for engines is 37,702. In Appendix XXXV he gives the personnel total, for ??ovember 1918??as: 291,175
Jones, in Appendix XL (Strength of Allied Aircraft on all Fronts, June 1918), gives the following totals for the Western Front: British 1736 and French 3149.
At the moment I cannot find any comparative figures for Nov 1918, but the June figures suggest that it might well be that the French Air Force was the largest in November.
Can anyone help with November figures for the French Air Force?
Many thanks for any help you can give on this matter.
David