No. 15 Squadron RAF
| No. XV Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 March 1915 – 1 April 1918 (RFC) 1 April 1918 – 31 December 1919 (RAF) 24 March 1924 – 15 April 1957 1 September 1958 – 31 October 1964 1 October 1970 – 1 July 1983 1 September 1983 – 18 December 1991 1 April 1992 – 31 March 2017 |
| Disbanded | 31 March 2017 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Type | Flying squadron |
| Motto(s) | Aim Sure[1] |
| Battle honours |
|
| Insignia | |
| Squadron badge heraldry | A hind's head affrontee erased at the neck between wings elevated and conjoined in base. The badge was a modification of the hart emblem used previously, changed to highlight the fact that the Hawker Hind was in service with the squadron when the badge was authorised. Approved by King Edward VIII in May 1936. |
| Squadron codes | EF (Nov 1938 – Sep 1939) LS (Sep 1939 – Apr 1951) DJ (1943) EA–EZ (Sep 1983 – Dec 1991) D (Tornados) TA–TZ (Apr 1992 – 2006) |
Number 15 Squadron, sometimes written as No. XV Squadron, was a squadron of the
Operational Conversion Unit
for the Tornado GR4 which taught pilots and Weapon Systems Officers (WSO) how to fly the aircraft and what tactics to use to best exploit the performance of their aircraft and its weapons.
History
World War I
No. 15 Squadron was first formed at
Farnborough Airfield on 1 March 1915 as a Royal Flying Corps training unit, commanded by Major Philip Joubert de la Ferté. It was mainly equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2cs, supplemented with a few Bristol Scouts, and moved to France on 22 December 1915, undertaking a reconnaissance role in support of the Army. It operated in support of IV Corps during the Battle of the Somme in summer 1916, suffering heavy losses from both ground fire and German fighter aircraft. It was praised by Douglas Haig for its work in support of the Fifth Army in the Ancre salient in January 1917.[2]
It was again heavily committed to action in support of the
First World War.[3] The squadron was based at La Gorgue in northern France from 7 July until 18 August 2017.[4]
For the great tank attack at the Battle of Cambrai (November–December 2017), No.15 Squadron was specially tasked with checking the camouflaging of the troops, guns and dumps assembled before the attack.[5]
The squadron moved back to the United Kingdom in February 1919, and was disbanded at
Fowlmere on 31 December that year.[3]
One of the officers who began his career in the squadron during this era was future
Charles Steele.[citation needed
]
Interwar 1919–1939
It reformed on 20 March 1924 at
Commanding Officer of the day, Squadron Leader T W Elmhirst, DFC, instigated the squadron's tradition of writing its squadron number in Roman numerals.[7] It received Hawker Hinds as a temporary replacement for the Harts before re-equipping with Fairey Battle monoplanes in 1938.[6][8]
World War II
Still equipped with Fairey Battle light bombers, the squadron flew to France in September 1939 as part of
MacRobert's Reply.[citation needed
]
In 1943, the squadron converted to Avro Lancasters and was based at RAF Mildenhall. In mid-1945 the squadron was involved in Operation mana dropping food to Dutch civilians and later in repatriation flights for returning allied POWs.[citation needed]
Cold War service
In 1947, the Lancasters were replaced with
Boeing Washingtons
in 1951.
No. XV Squadron re-equipped with the English Electric Canberra B.2 bomber in June 1953, whilst at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, later moving to RAF Cottesmore, Rutland and then to RAF Honington, Suffolk. The Canberra was used in combat in the Suez Crisis and dropped the most bombs in the eighteen days of conflict. The Squadron disbanded on 15 April 1957.[9]
On 1 September 1958, it was reformed as the second
Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. Following this, it was disbanded on 31 October 1964 upon withdrawal from overseas detachment.[9] It was then intended to be reformed with the BAC TSR-2 and then the General Dynamics F-111K, but with both acquisitions cancelled, these plans were not carried out.[10]
Service as a nuclear force
Blackburn Buccaneer S2B
of No. 15 Squadron in 1977In 1970, the Squadron was finally reformed with the
SACEUR, was the support of the army in a European land battle, first in a conventional role, and later in a tactical nuclear delivery role, if required. RAF planning staff expected the squadron's twelve Buccaneer S2B aircraft to suffer attrition of one third their strength, leaving sufficient survivors, with those held back in reserve from the conventional phase, to deliver the squadron's allocation of eighteen WE.177 nuclear bombs.[11][12]
In 1983, the squadron exchanged their twelve Buccaneer S2s for the same number of
Tornado GR.1s, for use in a similar role from early 1984.[13]
Because of the UK's commitment to SACEUR, this involved the use of the "Designate" process whereby a Tornado squadron was formed and worked up at Honington and once operational moved to Laarbruch and assumed the No.15 Squadron identity from the Buccaneer unit. This made the squadron the first Tornado unit in Germany - a force that would grow to eight squadrons - and remained in the nuclear delivery role for SACEUR with an increased allocation of 18 weapons owing to the Tornado's ability to carry two bombs. The squadron's nuclear delivery role assigned to SACEUR continued at this strength until 1991, when it disbanded.
Desert Storm onwards
Deployed to
POWs. Mason (along with many other RAF tornado crews) flew a total of 24 bombing missions in Desert Storm, from ultra-low-level daylight, medium-level night bombing and, on 2 February 1991, the first-ever Buccaneer/Tornado attack using laser-guided bombs.[14]
During the conflict (14 February), another aircraft crewed by XV Squadron personnel was shot down, resulting in the loss of Flt Lt Stephen Hicks and the capture of Flt Lt Rupert Clark.
In 1992
SACLANT in the maritime strike role, armed with a variety of conventional weapons and eighteen WE.177 nuclear bombs.[17] After the closure of the Cottesmore-based Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE)
in 1999, 15(R) Squadron assumed responsibility for both conversion to the Tornado and weapons training.
The squadron disbanded on 31 March 2017 in preparation for the retirement of the Tornado GR4 in 2019. The squadron aircraft and crews will be absorbed into front-line squadrons at RAF Marham who will carry out refresher training when required.[18] The squadron completed its final operational flying on 17 March 2017.[19]
Aircraft operated
List of aircraft operated by No. 15 Squadron.[9][20]
- Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c (1915–1917)
- Bristol Scout (1916)
- Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2d/e (1916–1917)
- Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 (1917–1919)
- Airco DH.9A (1924–1926)
- Hawker Horsley (1926–1934)
- Various types for testing (1924–1934)
- Hawker Hart (1934–1936)
- Hawker Hind (1936–1938)
- Fairey Battle (June 1938 – December 1939)
- Bristol Blenheim Mk IV (December 1939 – November 1940)
- Vickers Wellington Mk IC (November 1940 – May 1941)
- Short Stirling Mk I/ Mk III (April 1941 – December 1943)
- Avro Lancaster B.I/B.I(Special)/B.III (December 1943 – 1947)
- Avro Lincoln (1947–1950)
- Boeing Washington B.1 (1951–1953)
- English Electric Canberra B.2 (1953–1957)
- Handley Page Victor B.1 (1958–1964)
- Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B (1970–1983)
- Panavia Tornado GR1 (1983–2002)
- Panavia Tornado GR4 (2001–2017)
See also
- List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
- "Pablo" Mason – Sqn Ldr during the Gulf War[14]
- Phil Lamason
References
Notes
- ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ Rawlings Air Pictorial 1971, p. 98.
- ^ a b Rawlings Air Pictorial 1971, pp. 98–99.
- ^ "La Gorgue". Anciens Aérodromes (in French). 7 March 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Dudley Ward, p. 173.
- ^ a b c Rawlings Air Pictorial 1971, p.99.
- ^ "15 Squadron" Archived 14 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
- ^ "No 11 – 15 Squadron Histories" Archived 30 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. 29 December 2010.
- ^ a b c "No.15 Squadron". National Cold War Exhibition. RAF Museum. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ "What if the F 111K had entered RAF service as planned". 4 July 2023.
- ^ Weapon detail and No.15 Squadron data for 1971
- ^ Weapon overview @ www.nuclear-weapons.info/vw.htm#WE.177 Carriage
- ^ http://nuclear-weapons.info/images/1984.PNG [bare URL image file]
- ^ a b "121 Sqn. ATC – News – Pablo Mason". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
- ^ Weapon detail and No.15(R) Squadron data for 1992
- ^ Weapon detail and No.15(R) Squadron data for 1993
- ^ Weapon detail and No.15(R) Squadron data for 1994
- ^ "RAF draws down Tornado training | IHS Jane's 360". www.janes.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ "End of an era for RAF Lossiemouth Tornados| RAF News". raf.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ^ "Bomber Command No.15 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
Bibliography
- Ford-Jones, Martyn R. and Valerie A. Ford-Jones. Oxford's Own: The Men and Machines of No.15/XV Squadron Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, . ISBN 0-7643-0954-4.
- Rawlings, J.D.R. "History of No. 15 Squadron". Air Pictorial, March 1971. Vol 33 No 3. pp. 98–100.
- Dudley Ward, Maj C.H., The Fifty Sixth Division, 1st London Territorial Division, 1914–1918, London: John Murray, 1921/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 9781781502877.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to No. 15 Squadron RAF.
- No. 15 Squadron
- Air of Authority – Sqn Histories (11, 12, 13, 14, 15 sqns)
- No. 15 Squadron history
- About RAF Lossiemouth
