{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name=Air Battalion |image= |caption= |start_date=1 April 1911 |country=UK |allegiance= |branch= |role= |size= |command_structure=[[Royal Engineers]] |garrison=[[Farnborough Airfield]] |garrison_label=Headquarters |equipment= |equipment_label= |nickname= |motto= |colors= |colors_label= |march= |mascot= |battles= |anniversaries= |decorations= |battle_honours= <!-- Commanders --> |commander1=[[Sir Alexander Bannerman, 11th Baronet|Sir Alexander Bannerman]] |commander1_label=Commander |ceremonial_chief= |ceremonial_chief_label= |colonel_of_the_regiment= |colonel_of_the_regiment_label= |notable_commanders= <!-- Insignia --> |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label= |identification_symbol_2= |identification_symbol_2_label= <!-- Aircraft --> |aircraft_attack= |aircraft_bomber= |aircraft_electronic= |aircraft_fighter= |aircraft_interceptor= |aircraft_recon= |aircraft_patrol= |aircraft_trainer= |aircraft_transport= |aircraft_helicopter= }}

The '''Air Battalion Royal Engineers''' ('''ABRE''') was the first flying unit of the [[British Armed Forces]] to make use of [[heavier-than-air]] craft. Founded in 1911, the [[battalion]] in 1912 became part of the [[Royal Flying Corps]], which in turn evolved into the [[Royal Air Force]].

==Establishment== In 1911, following the growth in early aviation activity, the [[War Office]] issued instructions for the [[School of Ballooning]], which had originally been formed in 1888, to be expanded into a [[battalion]]. An order was issued on 28 February 1911 for the formation of the Air Battalion of the [[Royal Engineers]] effective 1 April the same year. The initial establishment was 14 officers and 150 [[Other ranks (UK)|other ranks]]. Officers could be selected from any branch of the service whereas other ranks were selected from the Corps of Royal Engineers.

Pilots had to already have earned a [[Royal Aero Club]] certificate from a private flying school. The GBP 75 charge for flight training was reimbursed only if the student passed the course.

==Structure and activities== The battalion comprised two [[Company (military unit)|companies]] and a headquarters located at [[Farnborough Airfield|Farnborough]]. The commander of the Air Battalion was Major Sir [[Alexander Bannerman, 11th Baronet|Alexander Bannerman]].

[[No. 1 Squadron RAF|No. 1 Company]], at Farnborough, was equipped with [[airship]]s and was under the command of Captain [[Edward Maitland (aviator)|Edward Maitland]], an experienced [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] and airship pioneer. He also helped pioneer the [[parachute]] and in 1913 made the first parachute jump from an airship.

[[No. 3 Squadron RAF|No. 2 Company]], at [[Larkhill]] on [[Salisbury Plain]], was equipped with aeroplanes and was commanded by Captain [[John Fulton (aviator)|John Fulton]]. A mechanical engineer from the [[Royal Regiment of Artillery|Royal Field Artillery]], Fulton had been an early enthusiast of military flying and had attended the world's first [[air show]] at [[Rheims]] in 1909. He had earned his pilot's certificate, number 27, on 15 November 1910.

On 17 September 1911, Lt. [[Reginald Archibald Cammell|R.A. Cammell]], RE was killed in the crash of a [[ASL Valkyrie|Valkyrie monoplane]] at Hendon airfield;<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200828.html The Passing of Lieut R.A. Cammell, R.E.] [[Flight International|''Flight'']], 23 September 1911, p.830</ref> a 1922 account of the formation of the RAF states this was the only fatal accident in the Air Battalion.<ref name="RaleighJones1922">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud9mAAAAMAAJ|title=The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force ...|author1=Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh|author2=Henry Albert Jones|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1922|page=196|authorlink1=Walter Raleigh (professor)}}</ref>

On 14 February 1912, Lt. Barrington-Kennet flew a government-bought aeroplane – a two-seater [[Nieuport]] monoplane with a 50&nbsp;hp Gnome engine – 249.5 miles in 4 hours and 32 minutes, setting a record.<ref>Raleigh, Jones (1922). pp195–196</ref>

==Creation of the Royal Flying Corps== In October 1911, Italy's use of aircraft in combat against the [[Ottoman Empire]] in Tripoli, Libya led to the formation of a sub-committee of the [[British Imperial Defence Staff]] to recommend policy for the future of British military flying. The committee recommended the formation of a separate flying corps and on 13 April 1912 the Royal Flying Corps was created, with the Air Battalion becoming its Military Wing on 13 May.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/rfc_centenary/the-rfc/formation.aspx |title=Formation |publisher=[[Royal Air Force Museum]] |date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

No. 1 Company became [[No. 1 Squadron RFC]] on 1 April 1911.

No. 2 Company became [[No. 3 Squadron RFC]] on 1 April 1911 and a detachment of No. 2 Company became [[No. 2 Squadron RFC]] on 13 May 1912.

<gallery> File:1911 Valkyrie Racer plan-elev.jpg|ASL Valkyrie File:Nieuport IVG at Malmso.jpg|Nieuport IV File:Breguet IV-folded.jpg|Breguet III </gallery>

==See also== * [[Bertram Dickson]] – first British serviceman to fly in 1910, pre-dating the Air Battalion

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070222132627/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/specialism/rem_spec_aero.htm Royal Engineers Museum] Royal Engineers and Aeronautics * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070109033423/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_special.htm Royal Engineers Museum] Origins of the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070118124520/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part8.htm Royal Engineers Museum] Early British Military Ballooning (1863)

{{s-start}} {{succession box |before=[[School of Ballooning]] |title=Air Battalion |years=1911–1912 |after=[[Royal Flying Corps]]<br><small>(Military Wing)</small>}} {{s-end}} {{Use British English||date=September 2018}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1911]] [[Category:Battalions of the British Army]] [[Category:British military aviation]] [[Category:History of the Royal Air Force]] [[Category:Units of the Royal Engineers]] [[Category:1911 establishments in the United Kingdom]]