No. 30 Squadron RAF
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox military unit No. 30 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operates the Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft and is based at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
The squadron was first formed as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, serving through the rest of the First World War in Egypt and Mesopotamia, carrying out reconnaissance, bombing and air-to-air combat duties. After the end of the war, the squadron continued to serve in Iraq, attacking rebels against the British rule in Iraq and later rebels against the Iraqi government.
History
First World War (1914–1918)
In November 1914 as war with the Turkish Empire became increasingly likely, the Royal Flying Corps despatched a flight of aircraft from Britain to Egypt to provide defence to the Suez Canal. Initial equipment consisted of Farman Longhorn and Shorthorn biplanes, which were soon supplemented by the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 and Farman HF.20 sent from India.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The flight, based at Ismailia Airfield, was redesignated No. 30 Squadron on 24 March 1915.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
On 24 August 1915, the Mesopotamian Half Flight, a unit of the Australian Flying Corps stationed in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) was formally attached to No. 30 Squadron. For several months the Half-Flight, under Captain Henry Petre, and equipped with a mixture of Farman Shorthorns, Farman Longhorns and the Caudron G.3, had been flying operations in support of the Indian Army, against Turkish ground forces, during the Mesopotamian campaign.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
On 26 August 1915, a second flight, equipped with Martinsyde Scouts, arrived at Basrah to join the No. 30 Squadron forces operating in Mesopotamia. The Martinsydes suffered from poor engine reliability in the heat and dusty conditions encountered.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Despite this, a forward deployed detachment of the squadron supported the army's advance along the Tigris river, with reconnaissance by the squadron's aircraft helping the British and Indian forces to win the Battle of Es Sinn and capture Kut al-Imara in September 1915.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In October 1915, the rest of the squadron moved to Mesopotamia, being relieved in Egypt by No. 14 Squadron.Template:Sfn On 7 November, the squadron was reorganised with headquarters and B-Flight at Basra and A-Flight deployed forward at Azizaya.Template:Sfn
.jpg){kind=link}
No. 30 squadron continued to support British forces as they advanced towards Baghdad, until the advance was stopped by the Battle of Ctesiphon on 22–25 November 1915.Template:Sfn An air reconnaissance mission on the eve of the battle carried out by Major H. L Reilly of the squadron spotted that the Turkish positions in front of Ctesiphon had been heavily reinforced, but his aircraft was shot down by ground-fire and Reilly captured. It has been suggested in the Official Histories of the Air War and the Campaign in Mesopotamia, that if Reilly had successfully returned with his intelligence to the British lines, Major General Townshend, commander of the British force, would have aborted the attack.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After Ctesiphon, the British column retreated to Kut al-Imara, pursued by the Turkish Army, and Kut was besieged from 7 December 1915. Those aircraft that could evacuate left Kut earlier that day, but most of the personnel of the forward deployed A- and B-Flights of the squadron, along with three unserviceable aircraft, were trapped in the besieged town.Template:Sfn
While reduced in serviceable strength to only a single B.E.2, the squadron provided reconnaissance support to the force sent to relieve the troops trapped at Kut.Template:Sfn The squadron was reinforced by four more B.E.2 in February 1916.Template:Sfn The relief column failed to break through to Kut, and in April 1916, the squadron, with eight B.E.2, together with seven Royal Naval Air Service aircraft, carried out one of the earliest air supply mission when it air-dropped food and other supplies to the besieged garrison. While Template:Convert of food was dropped between 15 and 29 April, this was insufficient to feed the trapped troops and the civilian population of the town, and Townshend surrendered on 29 April.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The squadron built up its strength over the summer, and by August had thirteen B.E.2, which were supplemented by six Martinsyde Elephant scouts in September 1916.Template:Sfn The squadron supported the resumed British offensive that started in December 1916,Template:Sfn which resulted in the British capture of Baghdad on 11 March 1917, with the squadron moving to Baghdad airfield later that day.Template:Sfn In April 1917, the Ottoman air defences were strengthened by the arrival of Halberstadt fighters from Germany, which outclassed the squadrons B.E.2. In response, two Bristol Scout fighters joined the squadron, with the promise that the more capable Spad VII would follow.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In August 1917, No. 63 Squadron arrived in Mesopotamia, so that No. 30 Squadron was no longer the sole source of air support for the British forces.Template:Sfn In September of that year, the promised Spads arrived to replace the squadron's Bristol Scouts, while from October the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 arrived to supersede the obsolete BE.2, which were phased out by February 1918.Template:Sfn In December 1917 and January 1918, the squadron received two Airco DH.4 bombers, but both had been lost by the end of January 1918.Template:Sfn
Interwar period (1919–1938)
No. 30 Squadron was sent to Iran in 1919 as part of the Norperforce.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In April 1919, the squadron was reduced to a cadre at Baghdad, but not disbanded, and in February 1920, it returned to full strength at Baghdad as an Army co-operation squadron equipped with the RE.8, with these gradually being replaced by Airco DH.9A light bombers,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn with re-equipment being complete by early 1921.Template:Sfn
From June 1920, the squadron, along with the rest of the RAF's strength in Iraq,<ref group="lower-alpha">6 Squadron joined by 84 Squadron in August 1920, and 55 Squadron in September that year.Template:Sfn</ref> was deployed against an Iraqi revolt against British rule.Template:Sfn In May–June 1921, No. 30 and No. 47 Squadron's DH.9A supported the establishing of a permanent Cairo–Baghdad land route, providing an air escort for vehicle convoys creating a visible track across the desert, while from 21 June that year the two squadrons began air-mail runs along the Cairo-Baghdad route.Template:Sfn
In early 1924, aircraft from the squadron were deployed to Kirkuk for operations against a revolt led by the Kurdish leader Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji. The city of Sulaymaniyah, the base of Mahmud's operations was bombed, and Mahmud withdrew into the mountains.Template:Sfn The squadron again saw action in the summers of 1925 and 1926 as Mahmud's rebellion reignited, attacking rebel-held villages.Template:Sfn In late February 1938, a flight of No. 30 Squadron aircraft joined 'Akforce', a force of aircraft set up to stop Ikhwan nomadic raiders from Saudi Arabia attacking Iraq and Kuwait, these operations continuing until June.Template:Sfn
In 1929, No. 30 Squadron replaced the DH.9A with the Westland Wapiti.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In September 1930, Mahmud again raised a rebellion against the British and Iraqis, and the quadron supported Iraqi Army operations against the rebels. The campaign against Mahmud continued until May 1931, when Mahmud surrendered. Wapitis of No. 30 Squadron flew 2,204 hours between October 1930 and May 1931 in operations against Mahmud.Template:Sfn
In March 1932, the Iraqi Army launched an offensive against a revolt by the supporters of Ahmed Barzani in Southern Kurdistan. No. 30 Squadron initially provided reconnaissance support to the Iraqi Army columns, but after one column was heavily attacked and forced to retreat, the RAF launched a series of air attacks against Barzani's forces until Barzani crossed the border into Turkey.Template:Sfn In April–August 1935 the squadron received Hawker Hardys (a general purpose version of the Hawker Hart light bomber, modified for operations in the tropics), being the first squadron to receive the Hardy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In 1936, the squadron moved to the RAF's new base in Iraq, RAF Habbaniya.Template:Sfn It re-equipped with modern Bristol Blenheim I monoplane bombers in 1938.Template:Sfn
Second World War (1939–1945)
In August 1939, as war loomed, the squadron moved back to RAF Ismailia in Egypt and carried out escort missions in the Western Desert and provided fighter defence of Alexandria.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref group="lower-alpha">Some of its Blenheims had been converted to Blenheim If long-range fighter configuration, with an under fuselage gun pack.Template:Sfn</ref> In November 1940, it was sent to Greece to operate its Blenheims in both the bomber and fighter roles, with the first of its Blenheims arriving at Eleusis airfield near Athens on 3 November,Template:Sfn with forward deployments of the bombers to an airfield at Paramythia, while the squadron's fighter Blenheims remained back at Eleusis to protect Athens.Template:Sfn In March 1941, the squadron was redesignated a fighter unit.Template:Sfn On 5 April, five Blenheims were detached to Crete, and tasked with maritime reconnaissance, convoy escort and night fighting.Template:Sfn More of the squadron's Blenheims were sent to Maleme Airfield on Crete on 17 April.Template:Sfn By the middle of May, German air attacks on Crete had made the squadron's operations from the island untenable, and on 15 May the squadrons remaining three airworthy Blenheims were evacuated to Egypt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Despite this, 229 officers and men from No. 30 and No. 33 Squadrons remained at Maleme when the Germans launched an attack on the airfield by airborne troops on 20 May.Template:Sfn Many of these airmen, despite being poorly armed took part in the defence of Maleme before the survivors attempted to evacuate via Sfakia. Losses were heavy.Template:Sfn
2200.jpg){kind=link}
After the losses during the fall of Greece and the Battle of Crete, the squadron was rebuilt as a fighter unit equipped with Hawker Hurricanes and employed on night defence of Alexandria and shipping protection patrols before moving on to operations in the Western Desert.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
When the situation in the Far East worsened, the squadron was ordered to reinforce allied forces in Java, but by the time the squadron left Egypt, Java, had already fallen, and the squadron was ferried by the Royal Navy aircraft carrier Template:HMS to Ceylon arriving on 6 March 1942, just in time to assist in resisting the Japanese carrier strike against the island.Template:Sfn This raid took place on 5 April 1942 with twenty-one aircraft being launched from its base at RAF Ratmalana whilst under heavy fire from Japanese aircraft. Seven of the squadron's Hurricanes were lost, with five of its pilots being killed or dying later of wounds received during the battle. It claimed fourteen Japanese aircraft shot down, together with six probably destroyed and five damaged, out of a total claim for the whole of the island's defences of twenty-four shot down, seven probables and nine damaged. In fact, the Japanese lost seven aircraft, with a further fifteen damaged.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn
On 28 January 1944, the squadron left Ceylon for the Burma front, flying escort missions for Douglas Dakota and Curtiss C-46 transport aircraft over the Kaladan valley.Template:Sfn In March, it added night ground-attack sorties against river craft to its escort duties,Template:Sfn and moved to Comilla on 10 April 1944.Template:Sfn
On 25 May 1944, the squadron was pulled out of the front line back to Yelahanka near Bangalore for re-equipment with American Republic P-47 Thunderbolts.Template:Sfn It returned to action in October,Template:Sfn carrying out bomber and transport escort,Template:Sfn and ground attack with guns, bombs and napalm.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It operated in support of XV Corps of the British Indian Army until the end of March.Template:Sfn Operating from Akyab, the squadron supported Operation Dracula, the Anglo-Indian amphibious landings at Rangoon on 1 May.Template:Sfn Following the capture of Rangoon, with a lull of operations, the squadron was pulled out of the front line to prepare for Operation Zipper, the planned British invasion of Malaya,Template:Sfn but the Japanese surrender on 15 August meant that the squadron was not needed to support the landings.Template:Sfn
Cold War (1946–1990s)
After the Japanese surrender, No. 30 Squadron remained in India and in March 1946 its Thunderbolts were replaced by the Hawker Tempest F.2. The squadron lost its aircraft on 1 December 1946, before being disbanded on 1 April 1947 at Agra.Template:Sfn
On 24 November 1947, the squadron was reformed at RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire in the transport role, operating as part of RAF Transport Command. It flew the Dakota on numerous humanitarian supply flights during the Berlin Airlift. It re-equipped with the Vickers Valetta transport aircraft came in December 1950. The heavier four-engine Blackburn Beverley was flown between April 1957 and September 1967.
From November 1959, the squadron operated out of RAF Eastleigh in Kenya, before moving on to RAF Muharraq in Bahrain in October 1964.Template:Sfn
The Squadron temporarily disbanded in September 1967, but quickly reformed in June 1968 at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire equipped with the turbine-propeller powered Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft, maintaining the units transport role. The squadron moved to RAF Lyneham, also in Wiltshire in September 1971.Template:Sfn
21st century (2000– present)
During 2008, the squadron's A-Flight was based at RAF Al Udeid in Qatar operating the Hercules C4.Template:Sfn
The squadron flew its last Hercules flight on 8 December 2016.<ref name="AoA">Template:Cite web</ref> It then took on an administrative role and later reformed on 28 September 2021 to become the second frontline squadron operating the Airbus A400M Atlas C1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Aircraft operated
- Farman Longhorn (1915)
- Farman Shorthorn (1915–1916)
- Voisin LAS (1915–1916)
- Henry Farman F27 (1915)
- Caudron G.3 (1915)
- Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 (1915–1917)
- Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 (1917–1919)
- Airco D.H.9 (1921–1929)
- Westland Wapiti (1929–1935)
- Hawker Hardy (1935–1938)
- Bristol Blenheim (1938–1941)
- Hawker Hurricane (1941–1944)
- Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1944–1946)
- Hawker Tempest F.2 (1946)
- Douglas Dakota (1947–1950)
- Vickers Valetta C.1 (1950–1957)
- Blackburn Beverley C.1 1957–1967
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules C1, C3, C4 and C5 (1968–2016)
- Airbus A400M Atlas C1 (2021–present)
Heritage
Badge and motto
The squadron's badge features a date palm tree, signifying the squadron's long service in the Middle East. It was approved by King George VI in May 1938.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The squadron's motto is Template:Language with name/for.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Memorials
Crete
A memorial to the airmen of No. 30 Squadron and No. 33 Squadron who died during the Battle of Crete in 1941 is located between Maleme and Tavronitis (Template:Coord) on the Greek island of Crete. It overlooks the Iron Bridge across the River Tavronitis and the Maleme Airport runway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
National Memorial Arboretum
A memorial to all who have served with No. 30 Squadron was unveiled in September 2008 at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. It was designed and made from Chinese granite by Johnson Stonemason of Westbury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Battle honours
No. 30 Squadron has received the following battle honours. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may be emblazoned on the squadron standard. List from from Ashworth except where stated.Template:Sfn Template:Div col
- Egypt (1915)*
- Mesopotamia (1915–1918)*
- Iraq (1919–1920)
- North West Persia (1920)
- Kurdistan (1922–1924)
- Iraq (1923–1925)
- Iraq (1928–1929)
- Kurdistan (1930–1931)
- Northern Kurdistan (1932)
- Egypt and Libya (1940–1942)*
- Greece (1940–1941)*
- Mediterranean (1940–1941)*
- Ceylon (April 1942)*
- Arakan (1944)*
- Burma (1944–1945)*
- South Atlantic (1982)<ref name="rafht">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Gulf (1991)<ref name="rafht"/>
- Afghanistan (2001–2014)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Iraq (2003–2011)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Libya (2011)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite magazine
- Template:Cite magazine
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite web
- Tennant, Lieutenant Colonel J. E. In the Clouds above Baghdad. London: Cecil Palmer, 1920.