| No. 42 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
Official Badge of No. 42 Squadron RAF |
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| Active | 1 Apr 1916 (RFC) - 26 Jun 1919 14 Dec 1936 - 30 Jun 1945 1 Jul 1945 - 30 Dec 1945 1 Oct 1946 - 15 Oct 1947 28 Jun 1952 - 30 Mar 2010 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Role | Maritime Patrol |
| Base | RAF Kinloss |
| Motto | Latin: Fortiter in re (Translation: "Bravely into action")[1][2] |
| Aircraft | Nimrod MR.2 |
| Battle honours | Western Front, 1916-1918* Italian Front & Adriatic, 1917-1918* Somme, 1916 Arras, 1917 Ypres, 1917 Lys Channel & North Sea, 1939-1942* Biscay, 1940* Baltic, 1941* Fortress Europe, 1941 Pacific, 1943-1945 Eastern Waters, 1943* Arakan, 1943-1944* Manipur, 1944* Burma, 1944-1945 South Atlantic, 1982 Gulf, 1991. Honours marked with an asterisk (*) are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard[3] |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge heraldry | On a terrestrial globe, a figure of Perseus[1][2] No. 42 Squadron was the 1st to use the Bristol Perseus engine and this accounts for the presence of Perseus in the badge; he was known always to achieve his object and destroy his enemies and he stands in front of a globe to signify his activities over many lands and seas[1] |
| Squadron Codes | QD (Allocated Apr 1939 - Sep 1939, but probably not used)[4][5] AW (Sep 1939 - Jun 1942 1943 - Dec 1945)[6][7] QM (Oct 1946 - Oct 1947)[8][9] A (Jun 1952 - 1956)[10][11] 42 (1956 - 1968) |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Hawker Hurricane Republic Thunderbolt Bristol Beaufighter |
| Bomber | Vickers Vildebeest |
| Patrol | Avro Shackleton Hawker Siddeley Nimrod |
| Reconnaissance | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 |
No. 42 Squadron of the Royal Air Force has served during World War I as an army co-operation squadron and during World War II in various roles. In recent years, it was the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for the Nimrod MR.2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray, until the Nimrod MR2's retirement in 2010.
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Formed 1 April 1916 from crews of 19 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at Filton, 42 Squadron spent the First World War flying reconnaissance sorties. Using BE2s (and later RE8s), the squadron spent time on both the Western Front and the Austro-Italian Front. On returning to England after the war, the squadron was disbanded at RAF Netheravon on 26 June 1919.[1][12]
On 14 December 1936 'B' flight of No. 22 Squadron RAF was expanded into a new No. 42 Squadron.[1][2] In 1939 No. 42 Squadron was based at RAF Bircham Newton. Initially the unit was equipped with Vickers Vildebeests before re-equipping with Bristol Beauforts in January 1940. The squadron operated also a bomber unit in the Burma campaign flying Blenheims during 1942 and as a fighter-bomber unit flying Hurricanes during 1943. The squadron disbanded on 30 June 1945 but on the following day 146 squadron was renumbered to No. 42 Squadron and flew Thunderbolts.[2] The squadron fought on with these until the Burma campaign ended and thereafter the squadron disbanded on 30 December 1945 at Meiktela.[1][12]
On 1 October 1946 254 Squadron at RAF Thorney Island was renumbered to No. 42 Squadron. Equipped with Bristol Beaufighter, it was a strike unit in RAF Coastal Command until disbanded on 15 October 1947.[2][12]
On 28 June 1952, No. 42 Squadron was reformed, flying Avro Shackletons in the maritime reconnaissance role.[12]
On 11 January 1955, Two Shackletons (WG531 and WL743) of the squadron departed on a routine exercise off Fastnet Rock on the southwest Irish coast. The two maritime patrol aircraft took off from RAF St Eval at 10:14 and 10:20 respectively to carry out search exercises as part of their 15-hour patrol. Radio messages received from the two airplanes through 20:00 that night indicated that they were flying at the prescribed 85 mi (137 km) distance from one another, despite their having departed St. Eval with only six minutes' separation. From 20:58 all contact was lost. A three-day search was conducted, but both aircraft remained missing without a trace, leading to the assumption that there had been a mid-air collision. In 1966, the starboard outer (#4) engine of WL743 was recovered about 75 miles north of where authorities had long assumed the collision had occurred.[13]
The squadron converted to Nimrods in April 1971.[2][12] Disbanded as a front-line unit in October 1992, it was later reformed as No. 42 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Kinloss, Moray, taking over from No. 236 OCU as the Nimrod Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).[14] The squadron flew its last Nimrod MR.2 flight on 30 March 2010,[15] and was formally disbanded on 26 May 2011.[16]
| From | To | Aircraft | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1916 | August 1916 | B.E.2 | 2d |
| April 1916 | April 1917 | B.E.2 | 2e |
| April 1917 | February 1919 | R.E.8 | |
| December 1936 | December 1937 | Vickers Vildebeest | Mk.III |
| January 1937 | March 1937 | Vickers Vildebeest | Mk.I |
| March 1937 | April 1940 | Vickers Vildebeest | Mk.IV |
| September 1939 | April 1940 | Vickers Vildebeest | Mk.III |
| April 1940 | January 1942 | Bristol Beaufort | Mk.I |
| January 1942 | February 1943 | Bristol Beaufort | Mk.II |
| February 1943 | October 1943 | Bristol Blenheim | Mk.V |
| October 1943 | June 1945 | Hawker Hurricane | Mk.IV |
| September 1944 | December 1944 | Hawker Hurricane | Mk.IIc |
| April 1945 | June 1945 | Hawker Hurricane | Mk.IIc |
| July 1945 | December 1945 | Republic Thunderbolt | Mk.II |
| October 1946 | October 1947 | Bristol Beaufighter | TF.10 |
| June 1952 | July 1954 | Avro Shackleton | MR.1/1A |
| January 1953 | January 1966 | Avro Shackleton | MR.2 |
| November 1965 | September 1971 | Avro Shackleton | MR.3 |
| August 1971 | August 1984 | Hawker Siddeley Nimrod | MR.1 |
| August 1983 | April 2011 | Hawker Siddeley Nimrod | MR.2 |
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