no shortage of Webley revolvers there??  also photo IWM Q6863, the two individuals on left of photo, appear to have wings and medal ribbons (MC), could they be RFC??

regards

Bob R.

Most assuredly RFC...I had been wondering if any of these guys were Canadian, with RFC being 70% Canadian at the time.

Those revolvers sure caught my eye and reminded me of how silly it seemed to be in later wars that pilots would carry them...probably they insisted on it.

Cheers, Ted

some time ago I bought a pistol collection from WW11 pilot, he carried a c-96 mauser as well as Luger when he flew, as for the airmen,could they be forward air observers for the Arty??

Bob R.

15 hours ago, ejwalshe said:

how silly it seemed to be in later wars that pilots would carry them

I have a photo of my father WW2 just landed from a European bombing mission, web holster at his side. Never thought to ask him if he'd have used it. Of course if it was in other theatres where goolie chits were carried ...

In a way they were "forward air observers for the Arty"...The O'Pip communicated by phone line...but pilots did not utilize the airwaves yet, to make their information current. 

However, they could "see" much further than the O'Pip and they were able to communicate by signals, so they were sometimes more "current" than we'd think.