Between 1918 and 1920, South African pilots even took part in the Russian Civil War in Eastern Europe. In June 1918 the North Russian Expeditionary Force, which had a Royal Air Force detachment (previously the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service), disembarked at Murmansk. No. 47 Squadron RAF was commanded by South African Samuel Kinkead, and had a number of other South African pilots such as Kenneth van der Spuy and Pierre van Ryneveld.