| No. 69 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 69 Squadron Mosquito FB.VI, coded 'WI-F', March 1946 | |
| Active | 10 Jan 1941 – 6 August 1947 1 October 1954 – 1 July 1958 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Motto(s) | With vigilance we serve [1] |
| Insignia | |
| Badge | In front of an anchor, a telescope. |
| Codes | MJ Apr – Sep 1939 WI Aug 1945 – Mar 1946 |
No. 69 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Air Force. The designation has been used for two quite different units.
No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps was formed at Point Cook, Victoria, Australia in 1916. [2] To avoid confusion with No. 3 Squadron, RFC, it was known to the British military as "No. 69 Squadron RFC", although this terminology was never accepted by the squadron or the Australian Imperial Force. [3]
The squadron was "re-formed" on 10 January 1941 during World War II, when No. 431 (General Reconnaissance) Flight RAF, briefly re-designated as No. 1431 Flight RAF, on Malta became No. 69 Squadron. It carried out strategic reconnaissance missions mainly using Martin Marylands until May 1942 when Spitfires began to carry out all reconnaissance missions. These were later supplemented by Martin Baltimores for shipping reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols until April 1944 when the squadron returned to the UK. [4] Adrian Warburton was a notable pilot who served with the squadron during its service on Malta.
No. 69 Squadron re-assembled at RAF Northolt on 5 May 1944 as part of No. 34 Wing of the RAF' Second Tactical Air Force equipped with Vickers Wellington XIIIs [5] for night reconnaissance duties, beginning operations on the eve of D-Day, using flares to locate enemy troop movements. In September the squadron moved to France and Belgium until 7 May 1945. It disbanded on 7 August 1945. [3]
On 8 August 1945, No. 613 Squadron at Cambrai-Epinoy, France, was renumbered No. 69 Squadron, flying Mosquito FB.VI fighter-bombers until it was again disbanded on 31 March 1946. [5] The next day, 180 Squadron was renumbered No. 69 at Wahn again equipped with Mosquito light bombers until again disbanded on 6 November 1947. [2]
The squadron flew from RAF Gutersloh in Germany briefly from 1954. No. 69 had been reformed on 5 May 1954 at RAF Laarbruch as a Canberra reconnaissance unit and remained in Germany until renumbered 39 Squadron on 1 July 1958. [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. 4 Squadron, normally written as No. IV Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since November 2011, it has operated the BAE Hawk T2 from RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. The squadron provides weapons and tactics training for student pilots after they have completed their conversion to jet aircraft with No. XXV(F) Squadron. Between 1970 and January 2011, No. IV Squadron operated various marks of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and British Aerospace Harrier II.
No. 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the maritime and mountains training element of the No.1 Flying Training School, operating the Airbus Helicopters H145 Jupiter.
No. 34 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. During the First World War it operated as a reconnaissance and bomber squadron and in the 1930s operated light bombers. It was re-equipped with fighter-bombers in the later half of the Second World War and in the post-war period was reformed four times; first as a photo-reconnaissance unit, then anti-aircraft co-operation, then as a jet fighter squadron through the 1950s. It was last active in the 1960s, as a Blackburn Beverley transport squadron.
No. 21 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1979.
No. 192 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron operational during the First World War as a night training squadron and during the Second World War as a radar countermeasure unit. After the war the squadron served again in the Electronic Intelligence role, until disbanded in 1958.
No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.
No. 210 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit established in the First World War. Disbanded and reformed a number of times in the ensuing years, it operated as a fighter squadron during the First World War and as a maritime patrol squadron during the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and the Cold War before it was last deactivated in 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. 239 Squadron RAF was an anti-submarine squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War I. During World War II the squadron performed as an army co-operation squadron and later as a night intruder unit. After the war the squadron was disbanded.
No. 613 Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force later Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron formed on 1 February 1939 at the then new municipal airport at Ringway, nine miles south of Manchester. The squadron served at first in the army cooperation role, and later during the Second World War became a tactical bomber unit. After the war the squadron reformed as a fighter unit and as such flew until its last disbandment in March 1957.
No. 105 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force, active for three periods between 1917 and 1969. It was originally established during the First World War as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and disbanded after the war. Reactivated shortly before the Second World War, it was inactive again after the conflict. During its second existence it was a bomber unit and had the distinction to be the first to operate the de Havilland Mosquito light bomber. During the 1960s it was reactivated again for six years to provide transport support for the British Army in the Aden Protectorate and the Far East.
No. 204 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit first formed in March 1915 as No.4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service.
No. 605 Squadron was formed as an Auxiliary Air Force Squadron. Initially formed as a bomber unit, it became a fighter squadron prior to the Second World War and was one of the most successful participants of the Battle of Britain. It also had the distinction of being active during the war on two fronts at the same time, when the squadron was split up between Malta and the Dutch East Indies. In its last incarnation as an active flying unit, the squadron served as the first jet fighter unit in the post-war Royal Auxiliary Air Force; 616 having already flown Gloster Meteors during the war. No. 605 Squadron was reformed as a RAuxAF Logistic Support Squadron (LSS) on 1 Nov 2014 within No. 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing of the RAF A4 Force. On the 1 January 2019, the Reserve Logistic Support Wing (RLSW) was established with 501, 504 and 605 LSS Squadron's moving from No. 85 Wing RAF to form RLSW.
No. 199 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron that operated as a training unit in WWI, as a bomber and radio countermeasures unit during the Second World War, and later in the 1950s again as a radio countermeasures squadron.
No. 110 Squadron RAF was a unit of the British Royal Air Force, initially formed as a bomber squadron during the First World War. Re-formed during the Second World War, again as a bomber squadron, it was re-formed twice more post-war, firstly as a transport, and then a helicopter squadron, before being disbanded in 1971.
No. 608 Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It flew during its existence as a bomber, fighter and reconnaissance unit and was the only RAF squadron to be equipped with the unsuccessful Blackburn Botha torpedo bomber.
No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.
No. 248 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, active immediately after World War I, and again during World War II.
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.
