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[Page 23]
By the end of March, however, the full establishment of 18 machines was made up entirely of Bristol Fighters – twelve being fitted with Mark 1 Rolls Royce engines, 190 H.P. and the remaining six with Mark with Mark III Rolls Royce engines 260 H.P. These constituted a special flight intended to carry out patrol and escort work, the remaining two flights being designated respectively Reconnaissance and Photographic flights. This specialisation , however was in name only, as it was impracticable for any single Flight to be devoted exclusively to any particular duty. The work of the squadron was extremely varied, embracing strategical and photographic reconnaissance, Hostile Aircraft patrols, escort duty and bombing.
During the previous year it had been designated an Army Squadron, but in addition to carrying out the whole of the "Army Work" which involved all long distance reconnaissances on the front and all photography for map making purposes, the other duties enumerated above were added to the Squadrons daily work. This necessarily imposed a heavy task upon the flying members of the unit, as it was evidenced by the fact that the Squadron's flying time was always far in excess of any other squadron, and at some periods equalled the aggregate of the hours flown by the three other Squadrons in the Wing. During the month of September, when the 'big drive' was launched, the hours flown reached the substantial total of 866. This constituted a record for the Squadron but on several other occasions the monthly figures were only slightly below this mark. The highest number of hours flown in one day was 68, this figure being recorded on three separate days in September- the 19th, 21st and 25th. This was a record not only for the Squadron but for the front.
For the purposes of this review it is proposed to divide the operations during 1918 into three periods – the first leading up to the capture of JERICHO and the country immediately surrounding it; the second embracing the preparation for the big offensive on the Western Sector, commonly spoken of as the 'the coastal sector', and the two memorable assaults upon ES SALT and AMMAN; the third covering the big drive commencing in September and culminating in the annihilation of the Turkish Armies operating in this theatre.