[1] When the RAF was formed in May 1918, the total strength of the air force in India was 80 officers and 600 men.

[1] During the 1920s and 1930s, RAF India suffered from under-funding and subordination to the Commander-in-Chief, India; in July 1938, Thomas Inskip, the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, released a report highlighting the command's "deplorable obsolescence which rendered it un-employable against modern aircraft.

[4] On 3 September 1939 under Air Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte, the force comprised No.

1 Group (India) at Peshawar with 5, 20, 27, and 60 Squadrons; 28 and 32 Squadrons reported directly to de la Ferte's headquarters; the AHQ Communications Flight was at Lahore; a Target Towing Flight at Trincomalee; the India Aircraft Depot at RAF Drigh Road, Karachi; and No.

[5] On 1 July 1942 the force had four groups (221, 224, 225, 222, and 223) and two separate squadrons reporting directly to Air Headquarters.

221 Group RAF at Calcutta comprised Nos 60 and 113 Squadrons flying Bristol Blenheim Mk.

Lieutenant General George E. Stratemeyer, itself being made up of the Strategic Air Force (7th Bombardment Group USAAF and No.

225 Group RAF (responsible for the "air defence of southern India and the whole coastline from Bengal to Karachi," by January 1943 controlling Nos 172 and 173 Wings[10]), No.

When Hugh Walmsley arrived at the headquarters he was initially appointed as Air Officer Administration.

[12] A series of demonstrations and strikes occurred at several dozen Royal Air Force stations in the Indian subcontinent beginning on 22 January 1946.

[13] As these incidents involved refusals to obey orders, they technically constituted a form of mutiny.

However, later declassified reports have shown that British troops were deliberately retained in India to control possible unrest from the Indian independence movement.

Lord Wavell, Viceroy of India, commented at the time, "I am afraid that [the] example of the Royal Air Force, who got away with what was really a mutiny, has some responsibility for the present situation.

"[16] The four major RAF formations under HQ Air Command South East Asia in India and Ceylon at the end of the war were HQ Base Air Forces South East Asia (BAFSEA); Air Headquarters Burma; HQ 222 Group at Columbo, controlling all operational squadrons in Ceylon, largely carrying out maritime duties; and 229 Group, a Transport Command group located in New Delhi.

A month before, on 1 March 1946, Air Headquarters India Communication Squadron had been established at Safdarjung Airport (RAF Willingdon).

[20] Following the dissolution of AHQ India, two new air force headquarters for India and Pakistan were established, with two and 13 RAF officers, respectively, being assigned to each AHQ to assist with reconstituting the former RIAF into a new RIAF and Royal Pakistan Air Force.