No. 6 Squadron RAF

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No. 6 Squadron RAF
6 Squadron badge
Active 31 January 1914
Role Offensive Support
Garrison/HQ RAF Coningsby
Motto Oculi exercitus (Latin: "The eyes of the Army")
Equipment SEPECAT Jaguar
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 An eagle, wings elevated, preying on a serpent

No. 6 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Jaguar GR.3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

As an offensive support unit, the Squadron uses the Jaguar in the close air support (CAS) and tactical reconnaissance roles.

The Jaguar is scheduled to be replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoon in RAF service. The RAF has announced that No. 6 Sqn will be the third operational front line squadron equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon and the first with Tranche 2 aircraft. No. 6 Sqn will disband and reform with the Typhoon at RAF Leuchars in Scotland.

Contents

[edit] History

No. 6 squadron's motto Oculi Exercitus ("The Eyes of the Army") and the badge depicting an eagle attacking a serpent were gained as a result of fighter defence of army units during World War I.

The squadron was formed on 31 January 1914, at Farnborough as No 6 Sqn, Royal Flying Corps.

The bird depicted on the 6 Squadron badge is a falcon, with the snake serving two purposes, one the then (WWI) obvious anti-Central Powers symbolism, the second to circumvent the rules about squadron badges featuring a squadron's number. The cunningly coiled snake (rumoured to have been cooked up by 6 Sqn members Louis Strange and Lanoe Hawker) neatly sidestepped the regulations.

The squadron were pioneers in military aviation, being blessed with the presence of Strange and Hawker - the former an "ideas man" - almost a mad professor - the latter a skilled engineer. Their dual talents led to some ingenious mountings for machine guns, the use of which famously won Hawker the first air combat Victoria Cross, and nearly cost Strange his life, when he reached up to change the drum on a Lewis gun he had mounted on the top plane of his Martinsyde (long before the Foster Mount became de rigueur) and the machine flipped on its back, threw Strange from the cockpit and went into a flat spin from 10,000 ft. Strange, hanging for dear life to the drum of the Lewis gun, managed to get back into the cockpit and right the aircraft within 500 ft of the ground. He returned to base, and quietly disappeared, sleeping for the best part of 24 hours, telling no-one of the incident. Unfortunately for Strange, the German machine he had been firing at witnessed the whole incident, and assumed that their brave attacker had perished. As was the custom, they dropped a wreath and with it a letter describing the manner of Strange's death, and a bashful Strange found his escapade written into aviation history. Needless to say, his next invention was a pilot's safety harness!

Strange went on to be decorated for bravery in combat in both world wars, and help to initiate, develop and organise the Parachute Regiment (Ringway, Manchester) and then the catapult Hurricane system (CAM ship) in WWII. Hawker died in 1916, after an epic one-to-one battle with Baron von Richthofen.

Other members of 6 Sqn RFC included several men who went on to find fame in WWII, including Hugh "Stuffy" Dowding.

In 1969 the squadron was the first to receive the Phantom FGR2 from RAF Coningsby, before receiving the Jaguar GR1 and T2 at RAF Lossiemouth in 1974. The squadron then moved to its present home at Coltishall. From here the squadrons aircraft were deployed to the Gulf as part of Operation Granby (Gulf War), for which it received Battle Honours and later as part of the Northern No-Fly-Zone. The squadron deployed to Italy for operations over Bosnia from 1993.

[edit] Aircraft operated

[edit] See also

[edit] External link

Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon squadrons

Current: No. 3 Squadron RAF | No. 11 Squadron RAF

Future: No. 6 Squadron RAF

Other: No. 17(R) Squadron (Operational Evaluation Unit) | No. 29(R) Squadron (Operational Conversion Unit)
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