No. XXIV Squadron RAF

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No. XXIV Squadron RAF
24 Squadron badge
Crest: A black cock
Active 21 September 1915
Role Air Transport
Garrison/HQ RAF Lyneham
Motto In omnia parati
Latin: "Prepared for all things"
Equipment C-130 Hercules
Battle honours Western Front 1916-1918, Somme 1916, Somme 1918, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, France and Low Countries 1939-1940, Malta 1942, North Africa 1942-1943, Italy 1943-1944, Burma 1944-1945, Gulf 1991

No. XXIV or 24 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the C-130J Hercules C.4 and C.5 from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.

Contents

[edit] History

The squadron was founded as No. 24 Squadron Royal Flying Corps on 1 September 1915 at Hounslow. It arrived in France equipped with D.H.2 fighters in February 1916 - making it the world's first single-seat fighter squadron.

By early 1917 the DH.2 was outclassed and they were replaced by the Airco DH.5. The DH.5 did not prove suitable as a fighter but the squadron used it in a ground-attack role. One of the first actions was during the Battle of Messines and later in the Battle of Cambrai. The DH.5 was phased out of operations and the squadron were given then SE.5A in December 1917. After a few months in the ground-attack role the squadron returned to air combat operations. By October 1918 the squadron had destroyed 200 enemy aircraft. With the armistice the squadron returned to England and was disbanded in February 1919.

On 1 February 1920 the squadron was re-formed at RAF Kenley with an unusual task. It had to provide aircraft to transport VIPs and government officials and senior members of the three services. During the General Strike of 1926, because of the lack of a postal services, the squadron was used to deliver government dispatches around the country. It was soon in demand to provide air travel to royalty, when the Prince of Wales acquired his own aircraft they were looked after by the squadron.

During the 1920s the squadron used former wartime aircraft but it soon acquired more civil types better suited to the role. With the outbreak of the Second World War the squadron acquired more civil airliners which were impressed for wartime service. It provided a detachment in France to run a courier services, but with the withdrawal of British troops it was soon used to evacuate men back to England. Former British Airways and Imperial Airways aircraft were put to use on a network of communications flights including trips to Gibraltar and later Malta. The squadron also performed ambulance flights when required.

The squadron had grown into a large organisation not only with a network of routes around the United Kingdom and eventually extended to India. It also operated VIP transports including Sir Winston Churchills personal aircraft. It was decided to break the squadron up, the internal communication flight became 510 Squadron in October 1942. In June 1943 the Douglas Dakotas formed 512 Squadron. This left 24 Sqn to concentrate on the long distance routes using the Avro York and Douglas Dakotas. The long distance flights were taken over by other squadrons and No. 24 concentrated on short-range VIP duties using the Dakota.

After many years the squadron had to leave RAF Hendon in February 1946 as the airfield was now to small to operate the larger Avro Yorks and Avro Lancastrians. The squadron was also designated a Commonwealth squadron with crews from various Commonwealth countries joining the squadron strength. Although it had a VIP role it still became involved in the Berlin Airlift. When the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Hastings it soon lost the VIP business and became a standard Transport Command squadron.

In 1968 the squadron moved to RAF Lyneham and re-equipped with the Lockheed Hercules. The squadron is still at RAF Lyneham and although now equipped with the new Hercules version it will commemorate 40 years of Hercules operations in 2008.

[edit] Aircraft operated

W9104 a 24 Squadron Lockheed 10A Electra
W9104 a 24 Squadron Lockheed 10A Electra

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing.
  • G G Jefford, RAF Squadrons, second edition 2001, Airlife Publishing, UK, ISBN 1-84037-141-2.

[edit] External links