No. 71 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron. The number has been used three times: once by the Royal Flying Corps for an Australian Flying Corps squadron; in the Second World War as the first of three Eagle Squadrons; and post-war as a fighter-bomber unit under the command of Royal Air Force Germany.
Pilot Officer C W "Red" McColpin of No 71 (Eagle) Squadron RAF, standing by his Supermarine Spitfire Mark VB at North Weald, Essex.
The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until 1914 that it began flight training.
Captain Harry Cobby (centre), Lieutenant Roy King (fourth from right), and other officers of "A" Flight, No. 4 Squadron AFC, with their Sopwith Camels on the Western Front, June 1918
Members of the Half Flight gather around a Royal Naval Air Service Short 827
R.E.8s of No 3 Sqn AFC
Serny, France, November 1918. A score board recording the claims for enemy aircraft destroyed by No. 80 Wing RAF from July–November 1918, including Nos. 2 and 4 Squadron AFC.