As the 1918 drew to a close, Walford Davies was at work correcting the printer’s proof of the RAF March Past that he had written some months earlier. At this time it was called 'Adastral 1' and did not include the broad trio melody. There were several differences to the version that is so familiar now and it also had a tempo marking of 132 crotchets to the minute. He probably did not realise that this was much faster than the normal marching tempo. An ex-member of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force remembers that the first public performance of the March Past was given during a concert in Exmouth in October 1918.

Excerpt Text taken from – Music in the Air by Ian Kendrick (out of print) click link for more information.

http://www.musicintheair.org.uk/raf-music-services/music-book.html