File:100 years of the RAF MOD 45163644.jpg

English: Pictured are men of the newly-formed RAF Aerodrome Defence Corps (or RAF Regiment) training at RAF Odiham, Hampshire, 7 January 1942.

Formed in the storm and stress of war in 1942, the RAF Regiment was born of the official recognition of the necessity for an indigenous and credible RAF ground defence force. The success of German 'Blitzkrieg' tactics during the opening years of the war had signalled the vulnerability of airfields to attack by a highly mobile enemy. A high-level committee was convened to find a solution to the problem of airfield defence. It recommended that a 'Royal Air Force Aerodrome Defence Corps' be formed, giving RAF commanders control over the defence of their own assets and releasing Army units for redeployment.

The new Corps, to be titled the Royal Air Force Regiment, was established by Royal Warrant on 1st February 1942. Its motto was to be 'Per Ardua', translated as 'Through Adversity', with its insignia crossed No.4 Lee Enfield rifles encircled by an astral crown.

The Regiment adopted two distinct types of operational establishments, the Field squadron and the Anti-Aircraft flight. All members of the Regiment, however, were initially trained as combat infantrymen, an arrangement that continues to the present day. By the end of hostilities, the RAF Regiment had served in all theatres of the war and had gained an enviable reputation for tenacity and versatility.

• Some of these images have had some dodging and burning done and have been retouched to remove detritus and dust and scratch marks only*
• Organization: RAF
• Object Name: CH-4578
• Category: MOD
• Supplemental Categories: Equipment, People, Historic, Airfield
• Keywords: WWII, World War Two, War, RAF Odiham, RAF Stations (UK), Historic, Royal Air Force, RAF, Black and White, B&W, RAF Aerodrome Defence Corps, RAF Regiment, Barbed Wire, Firing Trench, RAF 100
• Country: UK