No. 23 Squadron RAF

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No. 23 Squadron RAF
Latin: Semper Aggressus
("Always on the attack")[3]
Battle honours
Insignia
Squadron badgeAn
King George VI in April 1937.[4]
Squadron roundel
Squadron CodesMS Sep 1938 – Sep 1939
YP (Sep 1939 – May 1945;Sep 1946 – Apr 1951)
EA–EZ (Nov 1988–Feb 1994)

Number 23 Squadron is a squadron of the

Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire
.

History

First World War

No. 23 Squadron of the

air superiority in the build-up to the Battle of the Somme.[8]

By the end of the year the "Fee" was obsolete, and the Squadron started to receive

Spad S.XIII.[10] The squadron converted to Sopwith Dolphins in April 1918 until it disbanded just after the war on 31 December 1919.[11]
It numbered 19 aces among its ranks during the war, including: William Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick; Douglas U. McGregor; James Pearson;
Clive W. Warman
,; Frederick Gibbs; Conn Standish O'Grady; Herbert Drewitt; James Fitz-Morris; Harold Albert White; Alfred Edwin McKay; Harry Compton; and Arthur Bradfield Fairclough, MC.[12]

Reformation

Hawker Demons of No. 23 Squadron

The squadron was re-formed on 1 July 1925 at RAF Henlow with the Sopwith Snipe,[13] under command of the First World War air ace Raymond Collishaw. The squadron re-equipped with more modern Gloster Gamecock fighters in May 1926,[10] and moved to RAF Kenley in February 1927.[14]

In April 1931 the squadron partly re-equipped with

Hawker Demons.[14][18]

The Abyssinia Crisis in September 1935 led to the squadron being stripped of both aircraft and men in order to reinforce squadrons that were temporarily deployed overseas, with the squadron inventory dropping to a single aircraft in March 1936 before returning to full strength.[18] It moved to RAF Northolt in December 1936, moving again in May 1938, this time to RAF Wittering.[14] In December 1938 the squadron replaced its obsolete Demon biplanes with the Bristol Blenheim twin-engine monoplane, another bomber converted to a fighter.[18]

De Havilland Mosquito II of No 23 Squadron flying over Malta

Second World War

RAF Ford
in December 1941

On the outbreak of the

Douglas Havoc, which were supplemented by the Boston III variant of the Havoc in February 1942.[18]

In July 1942 the squadron re-equipped with the more capable

Mediterranean, flying from RAF Luqa on Malta. It attacked enemy airfields and railway targets in Sicily, Tunisia and Italy through 1943, moving to Sardinia in December 1943, which allowed targets in Southern France to be attacked.[19] In June 1944 the squadron returned to England, operating from RAF Little Snoring in Norfolk as part of 100 Group. The role of 100 Group was bomber support, i.e. to disrupt the Luftwaffe's attempts to stop the British bomber offensive, with 23 Squadron being tasked with low level night intruder operations against German night fighters. In addition to its normal night time operations, the squadron also carried out daylight bomber escort missions.[20] 23 Sqn was disbanded, following the war's end, on 25 September 1945.[13][21]

Postwar operations

The squadron was reformed on 1 September 1946 as a night fighter squadron operating the de Havilland Mosquito.[13] It received jet aircraft in the form of de Havilland Vampire NF.10s in 1953, replacing them with de Havilland Venom NF.2s in June 1954.[11] The squadron acquired Venom NF.3 in 1957.[22]

23 Squadron English Electric Lightning F.6 at its RAF Leuchars base in 1970
23 Squadron Phantom FGR.2 wearing the unit's Eagle symbol in 1977
A No. 23 Squadron Phantom at RAF Stanley in 1984

In 1957 the squadron converted to the

Tornado F3s. The squadron first acquired Phantoms on 1 November 1975 at RAF Coningsby before moving to RAF Wattisham for just under 10 years. Then in October 1983[23] the squadron deployed to Stanley airfield, Falkland Islands after their recapture from Argentina, arriving there on 1 November. They remained here until 31 October 1988 when its duty was assumed by 1435 Flight. The squadron then reformed on 1 November 1988 at RAF Leeming with the Panavia Tornado which it operated until 26 February 1994, when the unit was disbanded.[13][24]

The squadron assumed the Airborne Early Warning role upon reformation in April 1996, sharing the RAF's Sentry AEW1 fleet with No. 8 Squadron. The squadron disbanded on 2 October 2009, when it amalgamated with No 8 Squadron.[13]

Future

At the Air & Space Power Conference on 17 July 2019 it was announced that the squadron would reform as the RAF's first dedicated squadron to deal with space.[25][26] And in early January 2021, the squadron was reformed as a 'space squadron', which will be "responsible for day-to-day space command-and-control".[5][6]

Notable squadron members

Air Marshal. He served as Officer Commanding No. 38 Group from 1960, the Director of the Joint Warfare Staff from 1962, the Commander of the Far East Air Force from 1964 and the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1967 before retiring in 1969. Andrew George Walton flew with the squadron in Tornados and Phantoms, and rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal, receiving a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the process, before retiring in 2010.[28]

Wing Commander A J 'Red' Owen DFC and Bar, AFC, DFM, was 23 Squadron's commanding officer between May 1962 and October 1964. He was one of the RAFs most successful night fighter pilots during World War II, credited with destroying at least 15 enemy aircraft.[29]

Air Commodore Charles Kingsford Smith MC, Australian Aviation pioneer was assigned to the Squadron in July 1917, while in the Squadron he shot down four German fighters before being shot down himself, he would go on to hold a training role within the Squadron.[30]

Aircraft operated

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "ADS Advance - The space domain and UK security". www.adsadvance.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. ^ Chuter, Andrew (15 January 2020). "Former fighter pilot picked to lead British military's space command". Defense News. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  3. ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 58.
  4. ^ "23 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b "ADS Advance - The space domain and UK security". www.adsadvance.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b Chuter, Andrew (15 January 2020). "Former fighter pilot picked to lead British military's space command". Defense News. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. ^ Halley 1971, pp. 29–30.
  8. ^ Halley 1971, pp. 30–31.
  9. ^ Halley 1971, pp. 31–32.
  10. ^ a b c Halley 1971, p. 32.
  11. ^ a b Lewis 1959, p.22.
  12. ^ Shores, Franks & Guest 1990, p. 32
  13. ^ a b c d e "RAF – 23 Squadron Archived 14 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine" Organisation. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  14. ^ a b c Halley 1980, p. 52.
  15. ^ Halley 1973, pp. 32, 36, 41.
  16. ^ Halley 1980, pp. 51–52.
  17. ^ Mason 1992, p. 234.
  18. ^ a b c d e Halley 1973, p. 36.
  19. ^ Halley 1973, pp. 38–39.
  20. ^ Halley 1973, p. 39.
  21. ^ Halley 1980, p. 51.
  22. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 32.
  23. ^ "Wattisham Mk2 Bloodhound Missile Site – Subterranea Britannica". www.subbrit.org.uk.
  24. ^ Jefford 2001, p. 35.
  25. ^ Jennings, Gareth (17 July 2019). "RAF announces AEW&C, space, 'drone' test squadrons". IHS Janes. London. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  26. ^ Chuter, Andrew (15 January 2020). "Former fighter pilot picked to lead British military's space command". DefenseNews. Gannett. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Royal Air Force: 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943–1945". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  28. ^ "Air Marshal Sir Peter Wykeham (33211)". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  29. ^ "Wing Commander Alan "Red" Owen". The Telegraph. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  30. ^ Howard, Frederick, "Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles Edward (1897–1935)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 December 2022

Bibliography

External links

Media related to No. 23 Squadron RAF at Wikimedia Commons