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No. 221 Squadron RAF | |
---|---|
Active | 1 April 1918 - 1 September 1919 21 November 1940 – 25 August 1945 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Role | Reconnaissance Anti-Shipping |
Size | Squadron |
Motto(s) | From sea to sea [1] |
Aircraft flown | |
Patrol | Vickers Wellington |
No. 221 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. Its motto was "From sea to sea".
The squadron was formed in Greece on 1 April 1918, from 'D' Squadron of No. 2 Wing RNAS. Initially engaged in anti-submarine warfare in the Aegean, it was sent to Russia in December 1918 to support White forces against the Bolsheviks. The unit was based at Petrovsk from January to 1 September 1919, when it was disbanded. [2]
On 21 November 1940, No. 221 Squadron was reformed as part of Coastal Command. It flew Vickers Wellingtons on reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols in the Atlantic, first out of England, then Northern Ireland and later Iceland. The squadron relocated to the Middle East in January 1942 and operated in the Mediterranean for the rest of the war, disbanding at Idku, Egypt on 21 August 1945. [3]
No. 206 Squadron is a Test and Evaluation Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Until 2005 it was employed in the maritime patrol role with the Nimrod MR.2 at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It was announced in December 2004 that 206 Squadron would disband on 1 April 2005, with half of its crews being redistributed to Nos. 120 and 201 Squadrons, also stationed at Kinloss. This was a part of the UK Defence Review called Delivering Security in a Changing World; the Nimrod MR.2 fleet was reduced in number from 21 to 16 as a consequence.
No 36 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Cramlington in 1916 and was disbanded for the last time in 1975.
No. 247 Squadron was formerly a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was also known as No. 247 Squadron in recognition of the donations made by the British communities of the foreign concessions established on the Chinese coast. The financial gift to provide two fighter squadrons also included the badge in the form of a scroll with Chinese characters Cheu Feng meaning "fierce wind" or Hurricane, and the motto "Rise from the East". The squadron was heavily involved in air operations during the Second World War, and the defence of the United Kingdom during the early years of the Cold War.
No. 48 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars.
No. 53 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars.
Number 55 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). First formed in April 1917, the squadron saw action on the Western Front during the First World War. Based in the Middle East during the interwar period and the Second World War, No. 55 Squadron saw action over Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Italy. Between 1960 and 1993, the unit flew the Handley Page Victor. Initially on the Victor B.1A before becoming a tanker squadron in 1965 with the Victor B(K).1A/K.1/K.1A before converting to the Victor K.2 in 1975. Disbanding in October 1993, No. 55 Squadron were the last RAF unit to operate the Victor. Between 1996 and 2011, No. 55(Reserve) Squadron operated the Hawker Siddeley Dominie T.1 from RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire, helping to train navigators for the RAF.
No. 203 Squadron RAF was originally formed as No. 3 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service. It was renumbered No. 203 when the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918.
No. 251 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Squadron which operated during the First World War and the Second World War. The Squadron was disbanded in 1945 and remains inactive.
No. 205 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit formed on 1 April 1918. Prior to this it had existed as No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In 1929, it became the first RAF squadron to be permanently based in Singapore, taking as its motto Pertama di Malaya. No. 205 Squadron operated during the Second World War and the Cold War before disbanding on 31 October 1971.
No. 228 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force active at various times between 1918 and 1964. It spent the greatest part of its existence flying over water, doing so in the First, and Second World Wars and beyond, performing anti-submarine, reconnaissance and air-sea rescue tasks.
No. 62 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was originally established as a Royal Flying Corps squadron in 1916 and operated the Bristol F2B fighter in France during the last year of the First World War. After the war the squadron was disbanded and it was re-established in 1937 as part of the buildup of the RAF in the late 1930s. During the Second World War the Squadron was deployed to the Far East, operating the Bristol Blenheim from Singapore and Malaya. In 1942 No. 62 Squadron was re-equipped with the Lockheed Hudson and it moved to Sumatra, then Burma and then India. After the close of World War II the squadron disbanded for the second time. It was briefly re-established from 1946 to 1947 as a Dakota squadron and operated out of Burma and India. It final incarnation was as a Bristol Bloodhound missile unit in the early 1960s.
Number 58 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.
No. 116 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron first formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Reformed as part of the RAF during the Second World War it served as an anti-aircraft calibration unit and also operated post-war from 1952 until 1958.
No. 250 (Sudan) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron which disbanded in January 1947. It initially formed during May 1918 as a reconnaissance and anti–submarine unit in the First World War, disbanding in May 1919. It reformed as a fighter unit in the Second World War, in April 1941.
No. 232 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was active in both the First and Second World Wars in a variety of roles, having seen action as an anti-submarine patrol, fighter and transport squadron.
No. 236 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, which served during the First World War in the anti-submarine role, and for most of Second World War employed on anti-shipping operations.
No. 82 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that was first formed in 1917 and last disbanded in 1963. It served at times as a bomber unit, a reconnaissance unit and lastly as an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) unit.
No. 98 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I and World War II. It flew fighter-bombers post-war, and converted to fighters in 1955. Reformed as a ballistic missile unit between 1959 and 1963, its final incarnation was as a radar calibration unit. It was disbanded in 1976.
No. 143 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as a fighter unit in the First World War and reformed as an RAF Coastal Command fighter and anti-submarine unit in the Second World War.
No. 260 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron formed as a reconnaissance and anti–submarine unit in World War I and a fighter unit in World War II.