RNAS Armoured Cars in WWI

[Tony Walker]

I am writing up my RNAS Armoured Car material from WWI, and have hit a difficulty and would much appreciate some assistance.

In July 1915 resulting from a reduced effectiveness of the cars in the environment of trench warfare on the Western Front, many squadrons/units were transferred to army control, often being split into small groups, such as the 9 armoured cars which fought in German South West Africa, of which four cars then went on to fight in German South East Africa and Zanzibar.  Other cars went to Mesopotamia/Iraq and so on.  They were usually still seen as RNAS, and I have covers from these latter campaigns with RNAS origins, but not with Armoured Car cachets/cancels/censors.

I do have a few covers with Michael Gould's 4A120 mark (Censored by (triangle)) of armoured cars in Europe in 1915 and into 1916 from squadrons remaining intact for a while after the transfer.

Once the squadrons were dispersed to the army, would they have lost their individual cachets/censors and become part of the overall RNAS, so looking for armoured car marks on such material is a lost cause ?  No 15 Squadron went to Russia with Locker Lampson's Division of armoured cars and retained their specific postal identity, but he was not under army authority

Tony