Rob Hall Antiques has dated this Royal Flying Corps Finger Plate to the 1910s.
This Independent Date Guide was compiled by Sellingantiques using its own proprietary system. It works only from the photographs shown on this page and is never told the date the dealer has declared. It is a guide, not a guarantee of age, and occasional errors can occur.
The Royal Flying Corps, formed in April 1912, pioneered military aviation during the First World War. Initial roles focused on reconnaissance and artillery observation, but soon expanded into aerial combat and ground attack. Pilots flew rudimentary wood-and-canvas biplanes without parachutes, radios, or modern safety systems. Casualties were catastrophic—over 9,300 RFC/RNAS personnel were killed or went missing, including more than 700 aircrew in 1916 alone, and losses peaked during “Bloody April” of 1917 when 316 aircrew were killed or went missing in the space of a month. Parachutes weren’t issued to fixed-wing pilots until late 1918—long after many had already perished—making every sortie a fight for survival.
Surviving hardware like this finger plate is exceptionally rare. Most items were removed, scrapped, or lost when the RFC was amalgamated with the RNAS to form the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. Presented on a later-painted board with a typed provenance label “ROYAL FLYING CORPS. Door Plate from R.F.C. Squadron Office or Mess door. This would be circa 1912–1918. The RFC became the R.A.F in April 1918." This is a tangible relic of the deadly dawn of air warfare.
Measuring: 24 cm high, 8 cm wide (plate)
England, c.1912–1918
Rob Hall Antiques has dated this Royal Flying Corps Finger Plate to the 1910s.
This is an independent date report produced by Sellingantiques using its own proprietary system. The process uses the photographs shown on this page. The system is never told the date the dealer has declared. This report shows that the two dates corroborate.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Rob Hall Antiques Profile Page
A Rare Royal Flying Corps Finger Plate 1912-1918
