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No. 206 Squadron RAF

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No. 206 Squadron RAF
Active1 November, 1916 (RNAS)
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Garrison/HQRAF Kinloss
Motto(s)Latin:Nihil nos effugit
"Nothing Escapes Us".
Battle honoursWestern Front 1916-1918, Arras 1917, Channel and North Sea 1939-1945, Dunkirk, Atlantic 1939 and 1941-1945, Fortress Europe 1940 and 1942, Biscay 1943-1944, Bismarck.[1]
Insignia
BadgeAn Octopus[2][3][4][5]
The Octopus, with its many legs and quick activity, sybolises the squadron's efforts in many branches of Service work[6]
Squadron CodesWD (Nov 1938 - Sep 1939)[7][8]
VX (Sep 1939 - Mar 1944)[9][10]
PQ (Apr 1944 - Apr 1946)[11][12]
B (Sep 1952 - May 1958)[13][14]

No. 206 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit employed, until 2005, 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.

History

206 Squadron was founded on 1 November 1916 as No. 6 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, a fighter unit operating Nieuport 17s and then Sopwith Camels over the Western Front before disbanding on 27 August 1917.[15] The squadron was reformed in 1 January 1918 as a bomber and reconnaissance unit, operating Airco DH9s. With the establishment of the RAF in 1918 the squadron was renumbered No. 206 Squadron, RAF, being used for photo-reconnaissance in support of the British Second Army and for bombing support during the Allies final offensive. Following the Armistice it was used to operate an air mail service for the British Occupying army in Germany, before being deployed to Helwan, Egypt in June 1919. It was renumbered as 47 Squadron on 1 February 1920.[16]

The squadron was again reformed in 1936, with Avro Ansons as part of the new RAF Coastal Command, initially as a training squadron but later assigned to maritime patrols. It operated from RAF Bircham Newton in the early years of World War II, managing to shoot down a Heinkel He 115 floatplane and attack a German submarine before re-equipping with the Lockheed Hudson in March 1940. It converted to the Flying Fortress II in July 1942, allowing long range patrols over the Atlantic, moving to the Azores during October 1943, before returning to the United Kingdom for re-equipping with the Liberator VI later augmented by the Liberator VIII.[17] The Squadron's Liberators were based at St Eval until after D-Day, when the unit moved North to RAF Leuchars. A section was detached to West Africa for anti-submarine and convoy patrols as No. 200 Squadron RAF. Detachments also operated from bases such as RAF St Eval in Cornwall and RAF Aldergrove in County Antrim.

The squadron was disbanded in 1946. It was reformed in 1947 but again disbanded in 1949. Reformed again in 1952, the squadron moved to Kinloss in 1965 and was equipped with Nimrods in 1970. It continued to operate the Nimrod until disbanding in April 2005.

On 1 April 2009, the Heavy Aircraft Test & Evaluation Squadron at Boscombe Down gained the 206 Squadron numberplate, as 206 (Reserve) Squadron.

Aircraft operated

Template:Standard table ! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|From ! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|To ! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft |----- |Dec 1916||Jun 1917||Nieuport 17 |----- |Jun 1917||Aug 1917||Sopwith Camel |----- |Jan 1918||Mar 1918||Airco D.H.4 |----- |Feb 1918||Jan 1920||Airco D.H.9 |----- |Jun 1936||Jun 1940||Anson I |----- |Mar 1940||Aug 1942||Hudson I |----- |Apr 1941||? 1941||Hudson II |----- |Apr 1941||Aug 1942||Hudson III |----- |Apr 1941||? 1941||Hudson IV |----- |Jun 1941||Aug 1942||Hudson V |----- |Jul 1942||Apr 1944||Fortress II, IIA |----- |Apr 1944||Apr 1946||Liberator VI |----- |Mar 1945||Apr 1946||Liberator VIII |----- |Nov 1947||Feb 1950||Avro York C.1 |----- |Jan 1950||Feb 1950||Dakota C.4 |----- |Sep 1952||May 1958||Shackleton MR.1A |----- |Feb 1953||Jun 1954||Shackleton MR.2 |----- |Jan 1958||Oct 1970||Shackleton MR.3 |----- |Nov 1970|| 1979 ||Nimrod MR.1 |----- |1979||Apr 2005||Nimrod MR.2 |} [18][19][6][20][21]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Halley 1973, p. 8.
  2. ^ Halley 1973, p. 5.
  3. ^ Rawlings 1982, p. 136
  4. ^ Halley 1988, p. 266.
  5. ^ Moyes 1976, p. 193.
  6. ^ a b Rawlings 1978, p. 321.
  7. ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 13.
  8. ^ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 52.
  9. ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 106.
  10. ^ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 115.
  11. ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 83.
  12. ^ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 97.
  13. ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 127.
  14. ^ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 192.
  15. ^ Lewis 1959, p. 71.
  16. ^ Ashworth 1989, p. 192.
  17. ^ Ashworth 1989, pp. 192—193.
  18. ^ Halley 1973, p. 84.
  19. ^ Jefford 2001, p. 71.
  20. ^ Moyes 1976, p. 194.
  21. ^ Halley 1988, p. 267.

Bibliography

  • Ashworth, Chris. Encyclopedia of Modern Royal Air Force Squadrons. Wellingborough, UK: Patrick Stevens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-013-6.
  • Bowyer, Michael J.F and John D.R. Rawlings. Squadron Codes, 1937-56. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
  • Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. Combat Codes: A Full Explanation and Listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied Air Force Unit Codes Since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-84037-281-8.
  • Halley, James J. Famous Maritime Squadrons of the RAF, Volume 1. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Hylton Lacy Publishers Ltd., 1973. ISBN 0-85064-101-2.
  • Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
  • Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Lewis, Peter. Squadron Histories: R.F.C, R.N.A.S and R.A.F., 1912-59. London: Putnam, 1959.
  • Moyes, Philip J.R. Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1976). ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
  • Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0187-5.
  • Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
  • Westrop, Mike. History of no. 6 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service in World War I. Atglen, Pennsylvania; Schiffer Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0-7643-2425-X.
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