No. 78 Squadron RAF

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No. 78 Squadron RAF
Latin: Nemo non paratus
("Nobody unprepared")[1]
Battle honours
  • Home Defence (1916–1918)*
  • Fortress Europe (1940–1944)*
  • Ruhr (1940–1945)*
  • Invasion Ports (1940)
  • Biscay Ports (1940–1945)
  • Berlin (1940–44)*
  • Channel and North Sea (1942–1945)*
  • Normandy (1944)*
  • Walcheren, France and Germany (1944–1945)*
  • Rhine*
  • Afghanistan (2001–2014)*
  • Iraq
    (2003–2011)
*Honours marked with an asterisk are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
King George VI in November 1939.[3]
Squadron codesKA (Feb 1939 – Sep 1939)
YY (Nov 1936 – Sep 1939)
EY (Sep 1939 – Apr 1950)
SA–SZ (May 1986 – Dec 2007)

No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, is the squadron number plate of RAF (Unit) Swanwick based at London Area Control Centre, Swanwick, Hampshire. The squadron was allocated the role in early 2021.[4]

Between January 2008 and September 2014 it operated the

RNAS Yeovilton
.

Between May 1986 and December 2007, No. 78 Squadron was based at RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, operating Westland Sea King HAR3s and until 2006 the Boeing Chinook HC2.

History

First World War

No. 78 Squadron was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps on 1 November 1916 for home defence at Harrietsham and tasked with protecting the southern English coast. It was originally equipped with obsolescent B.E.2 two-seat biplanes, and the closely related B.E.12 single-seater. On the night of 25 September 1917 a Captain Bell of the squadron encountered a German Gotha and attacked it over RAF Joyce Green. John Rawlings, writing in Fighter Squadrons of the Royal Air Force (1969), stated that 'it was believed that he damaged it for one of the German raiders failed to return that night, being lost at sea.'[5] The squadron received Sopwith 1½ Strutters in late 1917, followed by Sopwith Camels in mid-1918. It arrived at Sutton's Farm, under the command of Major Cuthbert Rowden, in September 1917 and was there until December 1919, with a detachment at Biggin Hill. The squadron disbanded on 31 December 1919 following the Armistice.[6]

Reformation and Second World War

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V T4131 of No. 78 Squadron, 1940.

During the buildup of the RAF in the period before

RAF Boscombe Down on 1 November 1936, twenty-two years after it was first formed, by redesignating a flight of the Handley Page Heyford equipped No. 10 Squadron. The new squadron moved to RAF Dishforth in Yorkshire early in 1937, joining No. 4 Group RAF of RAF Bomber Command. In July 1937 it was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley night bombers.[7]

On the outbreak of the

RAF Middleton St. George. In September, the squadron flew its first bombing raid against Berlin. It moved again, to RAF Croft, in October 1941.[7][9]

RAF Breighton
, 1941

In early 1942, the squadron started to receive four-engine

Operation Millennium, the first "1,000 bomber" raid against Cologne.[7]

The squadron moved back to Middleton St. George in June 1942 and to Linton-on-Ouse in September 1942.

No. 6 Group.[9]

In January 1944, the squadron replaced its

invasion of France in June 1944. In total, the squadron had dropped 17,000 tonnes of bombs and mines during 6,337 operational sorties, losing 182 aircraft but claiming 28 enemy fighters shot down.[10]

Transport operations (1945–1971)

In May 1945, the squadron was transferred into

Mediterranean.[11] It remained active in the post-war period as a transport squadron, converting to Vickers Valetta C.1s in April 1950, before being disbanded at RAF Fayid in Egypt on 30 September 1954.[9][11]

The squadron was reformed on 15 April 1956 at

Search and Rescue roles until being disbanded on 1 December 1971.[13]

Helicopter operations (1986–2014)

The Squadron reformed on 22 May 1986 when No. 1310 Flight, operating Boeing Chinooks, and the Westland Sea King HAR.3 equipped No. 1564 Flight merged at RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands.[8][14]

From 1988, No. 78 Squadron was based in the Falkland Islands. The squadron operated Westland Sea King HAR.3 and Chinook HC2s.[15]

AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ137 of No. 78 Squadron during a training exercise in the Californian Desert
, 2009.

In December 2007, No. 78 Squadron reverted to its previous identity of

AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 and six new Merlin HC3A helicopters purchased from Denmark. The squadron shared the total fleet of twenty eight RAF Merlin helicopters with No. 28 (AC) Squadron, also based at RAF Benson.[17]

Following the transfer of the squadron's Merlins to 846 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm,[18] No. 78 Squadron was disbanded on 30 September 2014.[19]

On 24 March 2020, the squadron was awarded a

War in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.[20]

Military air traffic control (2021 – present)

The squadron number plate was allocated to RAF (Unit) Swanwick during early 2021.[4] The unit is embedded in the civilian London Area Control Centre, based at Swanwick in Hampshire and provides a military air traffic control service across the UK.[21]

Aircraft operated

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X
    .
  2. ^ a b "78 Squadron Standard Laid In Falkland Islands". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. ^ "78 Sqn". RAF Heraldry Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Two historic RAF Squadron Numberplates are set to return". Royal Air Force. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  5. ^ John Rawlings, Fighter Squadrons of the Royal Air Force, MacDonald, 1969, p.193
  6. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 48
  7. ^ a b c d e Rawlings Air Pictorial April 1961, p. 104.
  8. ^ a b "78 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b c "No 76 - 80 Squadron Histories" Archived 28 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  10. ^ Rawling Air Pictorial April 1961, pp. 104–105.
  11. ^ a b c Rawlings Air Pictorial April 1961, p. 105.
  12. ^ "No.78 Squadron". www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.org. Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  13. ^ Rawlings 1982, pp. 39–40, 91.
  14. ^ Ashworth 1989, p. 157.
  15. ^ "No. 78 Squadron". Air of Authority. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  16. ^ "78 Squadron History". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  17. ^ "78 Squadron Operational". Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  18. ^ "No 78 Squadron". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  19. ^ "RAF Bension". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  20. ^ "RAF Squadrons Receive Battle Honours from Her Majesty The Queen". Royal Air Force. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  21. ^ "RAF(U) Swanwick". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 7 May 2021.

Sources

External links

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