A series of 65 aircraft were built and most were used by the Polish Air Force observation squadrons during World War II in 1939.

The aircraft was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement of 1933 for a new army cooperation plane, a successor of the Lublin R-XIII.

The RWD team of the DWL workshops (Doświadczalne Warsztaty Lotnicze) initially proposed the RWD-12 project, based on the RWD-8 trainer.

In 1937 two modified prototypes were built, designated RWD-14a, but both crashed during trials that year due to steering mechanism faults (the pilots survived).

In return for refunding the development costs, the DWL gave the rights to produce the RWD-14b to the state factory LWS (Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów – Lublin Aircraft Works, a successor of the Plage i Laśkiewicz).

[4] The Czapla entered service in the Polish Air Force in the spring of 1939, equipping some observation squadrons (eskadra obserwacyjna).

[1] Its modern successor, the LWS-3 Mewa, did not manage to enter operational units due to the war.

[5] By the invasion of Poland in 1939, the Polish Air Force had 35 Czaplas in five observation squadrons (out of twelve): No.

[4] Like the R-XIII, the Czapla was no match for any Luftwaffe fighter, bomber, or even reconnaissance aircraft, being much slower, and armed with only two machine guns.