History No. 14 Squadron RAF

1 history

1.1 world war i

1.1.1 squadron motto


1.2 between wars
1.3 world war ii
1.4 raf germany
1.5 in middle east
1.6 recent history
1.7 disbandment , reformation

history
world war i

no. 14 squadron of royal flying corps formed on 3 february 1915 @ shoreham maurice farman s.11 , b.e.2 aircraft. after few months of training departed middle east in november of same year army co-operation duties during sinai , palestine campaign. in 1916 squadron s b.e.2s supplemented small number of d.h.1a 2 seat fighters escort duties, type remaining in use until march 1917. other fighters operated squadron s fighter flight included bristol scout , vickers fb.19, fighter flight left squadron in august 1917 form no. 111 squadron. squadron flew in support of british forces in third battle of gaza in late 1917. in november 1917 squadron equipped royal aircraft factory r.e.8s, used perform reconnaissance duties, attacking turkish seventh army retreated following battle of nablus. recalled uk in january 1919 , disbanded following month.

squadron motto

the squadron motto—i spread wings , keep promise—is believed many, including raf, extract koran suggested raf emir of transjordan in arabic, not quite depicted on squadron badge.

between wars

on 1 february 1920 squadron reformed in ramleh renumbering no. 111 squadron. squadron operated bristol fighters , used them various duties including photo surveying , air policing. squadron patrolled trans-jordan , palestine next 20 years , during period squadron gained arabic motto. airco dh.9a bombers supplemented squadron s bristol fighters in june 1924, using them attack , raf operated armoured cars defeat several-thousand strong raiding force of ikhwan tribesmen @ umm el amad, 12 miles (19 km) south of amman in jordan in august year. squadron equipped dh.9as in january 1926. fairey iiifs replaced squadron s dh.9as in november 1929, using them on reconnaissance duties during civil unrest in palestine. fairey gordon, radial engined derivative of iiif re-equipped squadron in september 1932, being used operations against arab rioters during 1933 palestine riots. in march 1938, squadron replaced gordons vickers wellesley monoplane bombers.

world war ii

when world war ii broke out squadron transferred egypt returned amman. in may 1940, likelihood of war between britain , italy increasing rapidly, 14 squadron ordered move port sudan reinforce weak raf forces in east africa facing italian forces in ethiopia , eritrea. on 10 june, italy declared war on britain , france, , on night of 11/12 june 14 squadron flew first offensive mission of second world war, when 9 wellesleys bombed fuel storage tanks , airfield @ massawa. lost first wellesley italian defences on 14 june during second raid against massawa. squadron received single supermarine walrus 47 squadron used patrols on red sea in july 1940, while squadron s wellesleys continued bombing missions against italian targets. squadron started receive twin-engined bristol blenheims in september year, flying first blenheim mission on 20 september, , flying final wellesley sortie on 20 november. in march 1941 carried out bombing raids in support of assault on keren.

14 squadron blenheims

in april 1941, following liberation of addis ababa, squadron sent egypt operations on western desert. squadron deployed in support of operation brevity on 15–16 may 1941, unsuccessful british offensive, , carried out attacks on german , italian motor transport, 5 blenheims being shot down messerschmitt bf 109 fighters of iii gruppe, jagdgeschwader 27 while carrying out strafing attacks along tobruk–capuzzo road on 21 may. squadron flew attacks against maleme airfield on 25 , 27 may during battle of crete, , in june, flew in support of operation battleaxe, unsuccessful british offensive in western desert. on 7 july 1941, squadron withdrew western desert, being based in palestine , iraq until returned egypt in november 1941.

a martin marauder of no. 14 squadron in 1942

on 17 august 1942, 14 squadron withdrawn operations convert martin marauder, first raf squadron operate american bomber. squadron flew first operational mission marauder, maritime reconnaissance mission on 26 october 1942. squadron used marauders ling-range maritime reconnaissance missions, minelaying , anti-shipping attack torpedoes. squadron s marauders sank tanker torpedoes on 19 january 1943 , 2 more merchant ships on 21 february. in march 1943, started performing anti-submarine missions out of algeria, basing detachments in italy , sardinia, moving alghero in sardinia in june 1944. squadron flew last marauder mission on 21 september year, leaving equipment behind when transferred uk.

on return uk, squadron based @ raf chivenor , carried out anti-submarine mission on western approaches , bay of biscay using vickers wellington mk.xivs. squadron again disbanded on 1 june 1945 reborn same day, when 143 squadron @ banff, equipped de havilland mosquito mk.vi in anti-shipping strike role, renumbered. incarnation of squadron short lived, being disbanded on 31 march 1946.

with raf germany

disbandment did not last long however, following day no.128 squadron, operating mosquito b.16s @ raf wahn in germany, renumbered no.14 squadron , squadron lived again. in december 1947 mosquito b.16s replaced mosquito b.35 variant. squadron moved raf celle in september 1949, short placement moved again in november 1950, time raf fassberg. in 1951 squadron received vampire fb.5s replace mosquitos, while in 1953 vampires made place venom fb.1s. squadron converted day-fighter role when received hunter f.4s in 1955 while based @ raf oldenburg, stayed 2 years before moving raf ahlhorn. squadron used hunters until 17 december 1962, when unit disbanded @ raf gutersloh. same day no.88 squadron renumbered no.14 squadron, flying canberra b(i).8s raf wildenrath until disbandment there on 30 june 1970.

on same 30 june 1970 squadron reformed @ raf bruggen , operated phantom fgr.2s until april 1975, when replaced sepecat jaguar. 1976 role @ raf bruggen, assigned saceur, support of army in european land battle, first in conventional role, , later in nuclear delivery role should tactical nuclear weapons used. squadron s twelve jaguars expected raf planning staff suffer attrition of 1 third strength, leaving sufficient survivors deliver stockpile of 8 we.177 nuclear bombs. 1986 squadron s twelve jaguars exchanged twelve tornado gr.1s, use in similar role. tornados able carry 2 we.177 nuclear bombs, , raf staff expected there enough survivors of conventional war phase deliver increased stock of eighteen bombs. no.14 squadron believed have relinquished nuclear delivery role in 1994, last year information available, although raf retained we.177 bombs until 1998.

back in middle east

in august 1990, squadron dispatched bahrain in response iraqi invasion of kuwait part of operation granby along 2 other squadrons bruggen, no. 9 , no. 31 squadrons.

recent history

the squadron returned uk in january 2001. operated raf lossiemouth, tornado gr4 force squadron specialising in low level tiald, night electro-optical low level , operational low flying. participated in operation resinate(south), flying sorties ali al salem ab, kuwait until january 2003. sqn returned ali al salem in summer of 2003 part of operation telic (phase 4) , last tornado squadron fly operations kuwaiti airbase. in september 2003, 6 tornado s took off ali al salem last time, flying operational missions on iraq , landing @ al udeid air base in qatar, tornado detachment remained until cessation of operations on iraq in summer of 2009. crews squadron took part in first detachment of tornado gr force personnel operation herrick , supported handover of raf fast jet operations harrier tornado.

14 squadron carried out autonomous detachment kandahar between november 2010 , february 2011, flying day , night in support of isaf forces across afghanistan. squadron mounted ground alert flying numerous planned recce sorties using raptor pod, , cas sorties equipped paveway iv 500 lb bombs , dual mode seeker mbda brimstone missiles.

disbandment , reformation

a beechcraft shadow r1 in june 2011

after return uk in 2011, announced disbanded 1 of 2 tornado squadrons due cease operations part of 2010 sdsr along xiii squadron based @ raf marham.

the squadron ceased operations in march 2011, , formally disbanded on 1 june 2011. hrh prince andrew, duke of york reviewing officer.

14 squadron 1 of raf units keep mascot. sqn ldr eric aldrovandi, burmese python, had been squadron since transition tornado in 1985. sqn ldr aldrovandi took opportunity of squadron s disbanding retire, , kept @ amazonia, @ strathclyde country park. handed on members of 14 squadron in july 2011.

the squadron re-formed on 14 october 2011 @ raf waddington operating beechcraft shadow r1 under no. 5 squadron raf.

from september 2014, squadron has temporarily relocated coningsby along v(ac) squadron due resurfacing of raf waddington s runway take on year complete