Before the Second World War it had been agreed between the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...

 that in case of war, the light bomber force of the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 would move to bases within France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 from which it could operate against targets in Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. To achieve this, the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) was formed on 24 August 1939 from No. 1 Group

No. 1 Group RAF

Number 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in Air Command.The group is today referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK plus RAF Unit Goose Bay in Canada, which is used extensively as an...

, and its 10 squadrons of Fairey Battle

Fairey Battle

The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company in the late 1930s for the Royal Air Force. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance; however, the Battle was weighed...

s dispatched to airfields in the Rheims area on 2 September 1939.
It was an independent command from the British Expeditionary Force

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....

 and at first reported directly to the Air Ministry

Air Ministry

The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...

. However this arrangement proved to be inadequate and on 15 January 1940 it was placed under the command of the British Air Forces in France headquarters. That headquarters also took the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force under its command. Air Vice-Marshal

Air Vice-Marshal

Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...

 'Ugly' Barratt

Arthur Barratt

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Sheridan Barratt KCB CMG MC was an officer in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during World War II.-RAF career:...

 commanded the British Air Forces in France.

Political considerations prevented the use of the AASF against Germany and it only saw action once the Germans attacked in the west in May 1940. The AASF then consisted of 8 squadrons of Battles, 2 squadrons with Bristol Blenheim

Bristol Blenheim

The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...

 medium (by the standards of 1940) bombers, and 2 squadrons of Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

 fighters, to be reinforced by a further squadron of Hurricanes in response to any major military action.

Aircraft type	Squadron number
Fairey Battle	12, 88, 103, 105, 139, 150, 218, 226
Bristol Blenheim IV	114, 139
Hawker Hurricane	1, 73, reinforced by 501

At the start of 10 May, the AASF had 135 serviceable bombers, whereas the French Armee de l'Air had less than 100 bombers, only a quarter of which were not obsolescent.

The operational instructions issued by BAFF had stated that

Bomber aircraft have proved extremely useful in support of an advancing army, especially against weak anti-aircraft resistance, but it is not clear that a bomber force used against an advancing army well supported by all forms of anti-aircraft defence and a large force of fighter aircraft, will be economically effective

and indeed the AASF when used against German troops and key bridges rapidly suffered heavy losses in the face of the large numbers of Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 fighters and highly effective light anti-aircraft units protecting the offensive.
The Fairey Battle

Fairey Battle

The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company in the late 1930s for the Royal Air Force. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance; however, the Battle was weighed...

s of the command were known to be vulnerable to fighters attacking from below and therefore initially attacked at low level which brought fresh problems. Of 8 Battles sent to attack German troops moving through Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

 on 11 May only one returned, its pilot having seen 3 Battles lost to ground fire.) But the Blenheims hardly fared better; 7 out of the 9 Blenheims sent against a German column on the Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

- Tongres on 12 May were shot down after encountering swarms of German fighters. Consequently, by the end of 12 May the AASF had 72 serviceable bombers

Not all missions were as disastrous; for example the first attack made by the AASF against the pontoon bridges thrown across the Meuse

Meuse

Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 at Sedan by the Germans after their breakthrough there was by 10 Battles bombing from high level in the early morning of 14 May; they did not encounter enemy fighters and returned without loss. However an attack on the bridges later that day found German fighter cover was by then in place and cost the AASF 40 out of 71 attacking aircraft.

The AASF's original bases were relatively close to the German line of advance to the Channel coast after breaking through at Sedan, and the AASF was forced to retreat further south into France. However, whilst it had been anticipated that the Air Component would advance into Belgium and therefore was equipped with sufficient intrinsic transport to be readily mobile, the same was not true of the AASF. Three hundred lorries held by the French, but apparently remaining unallocated, were therefore 'borrowed' and the AASF moved (16 May) to bases in the Troyes

Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...

 area. The 2 Blenheim squadrons were disbanded, the 9 surviving aircraft being reallocated to the Air Component. To make up losses in the Blenheims it flew in a reconnaissance role. Two Battle squadrons (105, 218) were disbanded, their 4 surviving aircraft being reallocated to the 6 remaining squadrons.

which - in view of the heavy rate of lossses in daytime bombing- switched largely to night operations.

Subsequently (reflecting the deterioration of the military situation) the AASF relocated to the Orleans

Orléans

-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

 -Le Mans

Le Mans

Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...

 area (where it was reinforced by 2 more Hurricane squadrons (17 & 242)) and then to Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

. The remaining Battles returned to the UK on 15 June, with the fighters remaining at Nantes or relocated to the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

 to give cover to the evacuation of British units from western ports. On completion of this the fighters returned to the UK on 18 June. The headquarters was disbanded on 26 June 1940. From the start of the German offensive in the West to its final return to the UK the AASF had lost 229 aircraft.

The AASF's only commander was Air Vice-Marshal

Air Vice-Marshal

Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...

 P H L Playfair

Patrick Playfair

Air Marshal Sir Patrick Henry Lyon Playfair KBE CB CVO MC RAF was a commander in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force until his retirement during World War II....

.