No. 150 Squadron RAF

No. 150 Squadron RAF
A Vickers Wellington of 150 Squadron being prepared for a night raid on Bizerte
Active	1918–1919 1938–1945 1959–1963
Disbanded	9 April 1963
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Fighter Heavy bomber Medium-range ballistic missile
Formed at	Salonika, Greece
Motto(s)	Αιει Φθανομεν (Greek for 'Always Ahead') [1]
Engagements	First World War Macedonian front Second World War Cold War
Insignia
Squadron badge [lower-alpha 1] [2]
Aircraft flown
Bomber	Fairey Battle Vickers Wellington Avro Lancaster
Fighter	Bristol M.1c Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a Sopwith Camel

No. 150 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War I and World War II. ^[3] In the early 1960s it was briefly reformed as a Strategic Missile squadron operating the Thor IRBM.

World War I

The squadron was founded in April 1918 at Salonika, Greece with elements from both No. 17 Squadron RAF and No. 47 Squadron RAF. It was equipped with Bristol M.1c, Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a, and Sopwith Camel aircraft during its World War I service. Ten aces served with the unit, including such notables as Gerald Gordon Bell, Charles D. B. Green, Douglas Arthur Davies, Acheson Goulding, Frederick Dudley Travers, Franklin Saunders, Arthur Jarvis, George Gardiner, and Leslie Hamilton. ^[4]

World War II

No. 150 Squadron Wellington crew are briefed at Kairouan, Tunisia, for a raid on targets in the Salerno area.

It reformed in 1938 equipped with Fairey Battle light bombers, taking them to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force in September 1939. It received heavy losses in attempting to oppose the German invasion of France in May 1940, being evacuated back to England by 20 May. ^{[2] [5]}

It re-equipped with Vickers Wellingtons in October 1940, ^[5] at RAF Newton. ^[3] It moved to RAF Snaith in July 1941 becoming operational with Vickers Wellington 1Cs. It moved to the Mediterranean Theatre in December 1942, flying its Wellingtons from Blida in Algeria against targets in Tunisia and Sardinia. It moved to Tunisia in May 1943, and to bases in Italy in December, disbanding in October 1944. ^{[2] [5]}

It reformed again in November 1944 at RAF Fiskerton in Lincolnshire, equipped with the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. It soon moved to RAF Hemswell, flying 827 operational sorties and dropping 3,827 tons of bombs while losing eight aircraft and 40 aircrew. It was involved in Operation Manna to drop food supplies to starving Dutch civilians at the end of the War in Europe, and after the end of hostilities, was used to repatriate POWs from Europe back to the United Kingdom. It was disbanded again on 7 November 1945. ^{[2] [5]}

Cold war

The squadron was reformed – as No. 150 (SM) Squadron – on 8 January 1959 as one of 20 Strategic Missile (SM) squadrons associated with Project Emily. The squadron was equipped with three Thor Intermediate range ballistic missiles, and based at RAF Carnaby in Yorkshire. In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the squadron was kept at full readiness, with the missiles aimed at strategic targets in the USSR. The squadron was disbanded on 9 April 1963, as the Thor Program in Britain was brought to a close.

Notable pilots

• Gordon Cochrane

• Erin Jasper Walker

• Malcolm James Larke Blunt

References

Notes

1. In front of a cross voided, two arrows in saltire, the points uppermost. The cross is adopted in reference to the arms of Greece.
2. The photograph is captioned by the Imperial War Museum as being a briefing conducted by S/L Langlois RAAF, the then CO. In fact, the officer shown was almost certainly his successor, Squadron Leader W.Desmond Boxwell DFC, who was immortalised in "The Wimpy Song" celebrating the Desert Air Force and sung to a Bowdlerised version of Lily Marlene.

Citations

1. Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p.  269. ISBN   0-7100-9339-X.
2. "150 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
3. Gunston (1978)
4. Shores, Franks & Guest (1990), p. 40
5. Melinsky (1971), p. 105.

Bibliography

• Gunston, Bill (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Combat Aircraft of World War II. Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN   0-89673-000-X.
• Melinsky, M. A. H (March 1971). "Your Questions Answered; No 150 Squadron RAF". Air Pictorial .
• Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1990). Above The Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London: Grub Street. ISBN   0-948817-19-4.

External links

• "No. 150 Squadron, 10 May to 30 June 1940". Traces of World War 2. 2008.
• Rickard, J. (2008). "No. 150 Squadron (RAF): Second World War". Military History Encyclopedia on the Web.
• Barrass, M. B. (2016). "No. 146-150 Squadron Histories". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation.