| No. 542 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
| Active | 19 October 1942 – 27 August 1945 15 May 1954 - 1 Oct 1955 1 Nov 1955 – 1 Oct 1958 |
| Country |  |
| Branch |  |
| Motto(s) | Above all |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | A Globe surrounded by stars |
No. 542 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as a photographic reconnaissance squadron in World War II that reformed in the post war period.
The squadron formed at RAF Benson on 19 October 1942 from A and E Flights of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit. For a period, it used nearby RAF Mount Farm as its operational base. The squadron was equipped with the Spitfires with to fly photo reconnaissance missions over Europe. Originally equipped with the Spitfire IV, it received the Mark VII in November, the Mk IX in February 1943, the Mk XI in April, the Mk XIX in May 1944, and the Mk X in July. After the end of the war, No. 542 Squadron was disbanded on 27 August 1945. [1]
The squadron reformed at RAF Wyton on 17 May 1954 with photo reconnaissance Canberras, the first unit fully equipped with the Canberra, [2] but was disbanded again on 1 October 1955. During this first Canberra period the squadron detached four PR 7s to RAF Changi in May 1955 to conduct photo reconnaissance during the Malayan Emergency; the detachment remained there for three months before it rotated out. [3] It was reformed at Wyton the following month from No. 1323 Flight, moving to Westonzoyland on 15 December to prepare for its detachment to Australia. At Laverton it carried out survey and sampling flights during the Operation Mosaic nuclear weapons tests in Australia between 1956 and 1957. [4] On 31 March 1957 it returned to RAF Hemswell in the UK before being renumbered to No. 21 Squadron on 1 October 1958. [1]
| From | To | Aircraft | Variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1942 | Jul 1943 | Supermarine Spitfire | IV |
| Mar 1943 | Aug 1945 | Supermarine Spitfire | XI |
| May 1944 | Aug 1945 | Supermarine Spitfire | X |
| Jun 1944 | Aug 1945 | Supermarine Spitfire | XIX |
| May 1954 | Oct 1955 | English Electric Canberra | PR 7 |
| Nov 1955 | Oct 1958 | English Electric Canberra | B.2 |
| Nov 1955 | Oct 1958 | English Electric Canberra | B.6 |
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.
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Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England.
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Number 54 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It is based at RAF Waddington, England. On 1 September 2005 it took on the role of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operational Conversion Unit, responsible for training all RAF crews assigned to the E-3D Sentry AEW1 and the Nimrod R1 and the Sentinel R1 as well as running the Qualified Weapons Instructor Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Course. The squadron was previously a SEPECAT Jaguar strike fighter unit, operating from RAF Coltishall, until it was disbanded on 11 March 2005. Since September 2005 the unit has been formally titled 54(Reserve) Squadron, until the (Reserve) nameplate was removed from all training squadrons in 2018.
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