No. 84 Squadron RAF

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox military unit

No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is at present a Search and Rescue Squadron based at RAF Akrotiri. The squadron transitioned from the previously operated Bell Griffin HAR.2 to operate the Puma HC.2 in 2023, until the Puma's retirement in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Although originally formed at Beaulieu in 1917 as part of the RFC, it was already in France when the RAF came into being, and as of 2024, 84 Squadron is the only remaining RAF squadron that spent its entire service history abroad.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> It is currently one of the two operational parts of the RAF Search and Rescue Force left in service (the other being the RAF Mountain Rescue Service) after the stand-down of the UK effort on 5 October 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

First World War

No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed on 16 February 1917 at East Boldre (Beaulieu)<ref name=":RN:" /> under the command of Major Hazelton Nicholl.Template:Sfn It was equipped with a variety of types for training purposes, including Avro 504Ks, a Curtiss JN, Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s, Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12s, Nieuport 12s and Sopwith 1½ Strutters.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The squadron started to receive its intended operational equipment, the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a single-seat fighter, in July 1917, although at first its SE.5as suffered engine problems, delaying the squadron's work up. On 8 August, Nicholl was replaced as commanding officer by the experienced major Sholto Douglas, who had already commanded 43 Squadron.Template:Sfn

The squadron moved to France for service over the Western front in September 1917, equipped with SE.5as.Template:Sfn Initial operations were patrols and escort duties over Flanders,Template:Sfn and when the Battle of Cambrai took place in November–December that year, the squadron flew top cover for aircraft carrying out ground attack and artillery spotting duties, while countering German attempts to attack British troops.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn From December 1917, the squadron joined the 5th Brigade of the Royal Flying Corps, operating in support of the British Fifth Army.Template:Sfn In January 1918, it added ground-attack operations to its normal fighter duties, with the squadron heavily committed to ground-attack duties during the German spring offensive from March 1918.Template:Sfn One speciality of the squadron was the destruction of German observation balloons,Template:Sfn with one of the squadron's pilots, Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, claiming 16 destroyed as well as 22 enemy aeroplanes. Beauchamp-Proctor was awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts.Template:Sfn In total the squadron had claimed 129 German aeroplanes and 50 balloons destroyed by the end of the war on 11 November 1918.Template:Sfn The squadron deployed to Germany as part of the British occupation forces until August 1919 when discarded its SE.5as and returned to the United Kingdom as a Cadre in August 1919. It was disbanded on 30 January 1920.Template:Sfn

The squadron's aces during the First World War included Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, Hugh Saunders and Walter A. Southey.Template:Sfn

Between the wars

File:Westland Wapitis over Busaiyah 1929 No. 84 Squadron RAF.jpg

Three 84 Squadron Westland Wapitis

The squadron was reformed on 13 August 1920 at Baghdad in Iraq, moving to RAF Shaibah in September, where it remained for the next 20 years.Template:Sfn Its initial equipment was DH.9As (until January 1929) and these were replaced by Wapitis (beginning July 1928),Template:Sfn Vincents (December 1935)Template:Sfn and Blenheims Mk.Is (February 1939).Template:Sfn

One of the squadron's artefacts is a pair of pink frilly knickers known as 'Jane's Panties'. These were presented to the squadron in 1936 by Jane Newman (a debutante from Australia) who was rescued by 84 squadron when her aircraft crashed in the Western Desert.<ref name=":RN:">Template:Cite news</ref> This story may more accurately relate to the location and rescue by Vickers Vincent aircraft of 84 Squadron of Imperial Airways Handley Page H.P. 42E G-AAUC Horsa which forced landed on 29 August 1936, in the Arabian Desert south of Salwa Wells in Qatar, having overflown Bahrain airport. Miss Jane Wallace Smith, an American novelist is named as the presenter of the undergarments to the squadron.Template:Sfn

Second World War

The squadron flew its first combat operation of the war on 15 August 1940, when six 84 Squadron Blenheims, which were being ferried from Iraq to Aden to reinforce the Blenheim squadrons based there, encountered an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 near Kamaran Island and shot it down.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> It moved to RAF Heliopolis in Egypt in September 1940, operating from forward bases at Fuka and Qotaifiya for operations against the Germans from October 1940.Template:Sfn The Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940 resulted in Britain diverting much of its aerial strength to support the Greeks, and 84 Squadron was moved to Greece in November 1940.Template:Sfn The squadron operated from Menidi near Athens, initially bombing Italian forces on the Albanian front, but as the Italian offensive stalled in December 1940, switched to attacks against the port of Valona and the airfield at Berat, both in Italian-occupied Albania.Template:Sfn In April 1941 German forces invaded Greece, quickly over-running the Greek and British defences, and the few surviving Blenheims were evacuated via Crete on 21 April.Template:Sfn

File:Bristol Blenheim - Syria - Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. CM990.jpg

Blenheims of 84 and 203 Squadrons en route to Vichy French targets in Syria

The squadron moved to RAF Aqir in Palestine on 27 April as a result of tensions between Britain and Iraq.Template:Sfn When hostilities broke out on 2 May, with Iraqi forces threatening the RAF base at Habbaniya, west of Baghdad, 84 Squadron supported the forces sent to relieve Habbaniya,Template:Sfn and when Germany and Italy sent air reinforcements to Iraq via airfields in Vichy-French Syria, carried out attacks on these airfields.Template:Sfn Operations against Iraqi forces continued until 31 May when the pro-German Iraqi Prime-Minister, Rashid Ali fled and an armistice was signed.Template:Sfn The squadron then took part in the invasion of Syria and Lebanon,Template:Sfn taking part in attacks on Vichy French airfields and reconnaissance missions.Template:Sfn In 25–28 August 1941, the squadron took part in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.Template:Sfn By November, it had returned to Egypt and operations over the Western Desert.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

The Japanese invasion of Malaya resulted in 84 Squadron being one of a number of squadrons ordered to reinforce British and Commonwealth forces in the Far East,Template:Sfn with the squadron arriving in Sumatra in late January 1942.Template:Sfn The squadron evacuated to Java in February 1942 following the Japanese Invasion of Sumatra,Template:Sfn but lost its remaining Blenheims and twenty of its personnel during the Battle of Kalijati when Japanese troops attacked and captured the base of the RAF's bombers in Java.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In March 1942, eleven members of 84 Squadron commandeered a lifeboat and sailed away from Java to escape the advancing Japanese forces. They made land 47 days later in north-western Australia. The lifeboat was named 'Scorpion' in honour of the Squadron Badge.Template:Sfn

The squadron reformed at Karachi on 17 March 1942, moving to Drigh Road airfield on 1 April, equipping with more Blenheims and moving to Quetta in June, where it discarded its Blenheims. In December 1942, the squadron, now based at Vizagapatam on the East coast of India (now known as Visakhapatnam), received its planned operational equipment, the Vultee Vengeance dive bomber.Template:Sfn Training was delayed by slow deliveries of Vengeances, and while other squadrons began operations in March, 84 Squadron moved to Ceylon in April, to guard the island against potential Japanese attack.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The squadron relieved 45 Squadron based at Kumbhirgram in Assam on 10 February and flew its first operational mission with the Vengeance on 16 February.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn It flew its Vengeances in support of the second Chindit operation behind Japanese linesTemplate:Sfn and against the Japanese offensive against Imphal and Kohima.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

After the Japanese retreat from Imphal and Kohima, it was decided to withdraw the Vengeance from operational service in Burma, as more versatile fighter bombers were becoming available in increasing numbers and the Vengeance would not be able to carry out its normal dive-bombing attacks once the monsoon season was underway.Template:Sfn 84 Squadron flew its last bombing raid with the Vengeance on 16 July.Template:Sfn After withdrawal from the front line, the squadron discarded its Vengeances, and used Airspeed Oxfords to train its aircrews on twin-engined aircraft in preparation for operating De Havilland Mosquitos,Template:Sfn but it did not receive Mosquitos until February 1945.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn It was still training when the Second World War ended in September 1945.Template:Sfn

Postwar

The squadron moved to Singapore in September 1945,Template:Sfn but in November a detachment was sent to Java in response to the Indonesian war of independence, flying reconnaissance and bombing missions against Indonesian republican forces.Template:Sfn The rest of the squadron moved to Java in January 1946, remaining there until May, when it moved to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya.Template:Sfn By this time the squadron's Mosquitos were suffering structural problems caused by gluing failures,Template:Sfn and in November 1946 the squadron re-equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter which it flew until March 1949, re-equipping with Bristol Brigands at RAF Habbaniya in Iraq,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn becoming the first squadron equipped with Brigands.Template:Sfn

In February 1950, four Brigands were detached to Mogadishu, joining a detachment from 8 Squadron flying support for the British withdrawal from Somalia.Template:Sfn In April 1950, the squadron was transferred to RAF Tengah on Singapore to take part in Operation Firedog, the RAFs response to the Malayan Emergency.Template:Sfn The Brigands were employed on strikes against insurgent strongholds with guns, rockets and bombs. Operations were affected by a number of problems with the Brigand, including the loss of several aircraft due to cannon explosions, which resulted in the aircraft being prohibited from firing their guns for several months, problems with the aircraft's propellers, which again caused the loss of several aircraft, and the development of skin cracks, which caused the Brigand's bombload to be restricted. In January 1953, following the crash of a Brigand after one of its wings had failed during a dive, the squadron's Brigands were permanently grounded.Template:Sfn

The squadron was disbanded on 20 February 1953, but on the same day, 204 Squadron, a transport squadron equipped with Vickers Valettas based at RAF Fayid in Egypt, was renumbered to No. 84 Squadron.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The squadron was used mainly for routine transport flights around the Middle East,Template:Sfn until British forces left Egypt in March 1956, with the squadron moving to RAF Nicosia in Cyprus.Template:Sfn The squadron took part in Operation Musketeer, the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis, in November 1956, its Valettas carrying out paratroop drops.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The squadron moved to RAF Khormaksar, Aden in January 1957, carrying out transport operations around the Arabian peninsular, and in particular, supporting the British Army in the Aden Protectorate.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In June 1958 it received a flight of four-engined Blackburn Beverley heavy transports to supplement its Valettas, and in August 1960 the squadron's Valetta flight was detached to become No. 233 Squadron RAF.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In late 1967, the Beverley was replaced by the Hawker Siddeley Andover, and when UK forces left Aden the squadron moved to RAF Sharjah, then in the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates). The squadron was disbanded at Muharraq on 31 October 1971.Template:Sfn

Cyprus

File:100 years of the RAF MOD 45163612.jpg

UN troops of UNFICYP boarding an 84 Squadron Whirlwind in 1977

The squadron was reformed on 17 January 1972 from 1563 Flight and a detachment from 230 Squadron Template:Sfn with Westland Whirlwind HAR.10s assigned to British Forces Cyprus at RAF Akrotiri, with a detachment at Nicosia International Airport. Duties included support of United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) operations and search and rescue duties for the whole of southern Cyprus.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn To meet this dual role, the squadron was divided into two flights, with "A" flight, based at Akrotiri for search and rescue duties, with its helicopters painted in overall yellow, and "B" flight for UN support at Nicosia with camouflaged helicopters marked with pale blue bands matching the blue berets of UN peacekeepers,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn but with no RAF roundels or titles displayed on the B Flight helicopters.Template:Sfn After the 1975 Defence Review resulted in the withdrawal of the RAF's fixed-wing squadrons from the Mediterranean, 84 Squadron was the only RAF squadron permanently based in Cyprus, sharing Akrotiri with RAF fighter squadrons visiting the island to attend Armament Practice Camps.Template:Sfn The squadron later (December 1981) replaced the Whirlwind with the Westland Wessex HC.2Template:Sfn and later still (June 1984) with the Westland Wessex HU.5C. It was the last squadron to use the Westland Wessex.<ref name=":0" /> The Wessex HU.5C was retired during February 1995.Template:Sfn The two flights were combined when the squadron shrunk in size to five helicopters after re-equipment with the Wessex, but its helicopters retain aircraft the light blue band around their tail.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

No. 84 Squadron was the first RAF contingent into Beirut in the Lebanese Crisis of 1983. This resulted in the evacuation of the peace-keeping element from the city.Template:Sfn The responsibility for civil search and rescue duties was eventually transferred to the Cyprus Police Aviation Unit.Template:Sfn

File:RAF-firefighters-Carmel-2010.jpg

84 Squadron Bell Griffin HAR2 dips its bucket off the coast of Atlit, Israel during the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire on 3 December 2010

In January 2003 the squadron discarded its Wessexes, replacing them with four contractor owned but military flown Bell Griffin HAR.2 helicopters, with the main duties being search and rescue in support of British forces on Cyprus, also carrying out transport operations for British army units based on the island.Template:Sfn On 31 March 2023, the squadron replaced its Griffins with Westland/Airbus Helicopters Puma HC.2s.<ref name="Akpuma"/>

The squadron's Puma HC.2s were retired from service in March 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Puma will be replaced by the Jupiter HC2 helicopter in 2026,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though in the interim the Chinook helicopter took over the role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Symbols

The squadron's badge, approved by George VI in December 1936 is the scorpion,<ref name=":0" /> and its motto is Scorpiones pungunt, Latin for "Scorpions sting".Template:Sfn