History of No. IX Squadron.
Aircraft:
Tornado Gr1/Gr4
Motto:Per noctum volamus - Throughout the night we fly
The squadron was formed at St Omer, in France 1914 and then disbanded again in 1915, but only to be reformed again the same year. The Squadron was again disbanded in 1919 and didn't reform again until 1924 flying Vickers Vimy night bombers from Upavon but soon to move to Manston.
In 1925 the squadron upgraded to long range Virginia heavy bombers and Heyfords in 1936.
Feb 1939 the squadron moved to RAF Honnington and were to recieve Wellington Bombers where they carried out numerous anti-shipping missions during the early stages of WW II .
In Sep 1942 they were to recieve the famous Lancaster bomber and were now based at RAF Waddington taking part at taking out strategic targets in Germany they then moved to Bardney. No 9 Sqn became specialised in using large bombs mainly the Tallboy and it was the sqn to sink the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944.
After the war the Lancasters were replaced by Avro Lincolns and were used up to 1952, where they in turn were replaced by Canberra bomber and were used during three months of operations in Malaya in 1956 and the in the Sues crises.
1962 the squadron became part of the V-Force flying Vulcan's and were to spend the next 6 years stationed at Cyprus, where they were disbanded in 1982 only to be reformed again at RAF Honington the same year and were the first squadron to be deployed with the Panavia Tornado, in 1986 the squadron was moved to it's current home at RAF Bruggen Germany.
History of No. 12 Squadron.
Aircraft:
Tornado GR1B
Motto:
Leads the Field
12 sqn were formed in 1915 at Netheravon then moved to St Omer France in 1916 in a reconnaissance role and by 1918 had added bombing and strafing to it's arsenal.
After WWI the sqn moved to Germany and by Nov 1919 were the only operational sqn in Germany until 1922 when they were disbanded only to be reformed in 1923 at Northalt with DH9A's then moving to Andover were they became involved in deployment of bombing techniques and by 1926 had become the sole operator of the Fairey Fox.
In 1935 they moved to Abyssinia re-equipping with Hawker Hearts before returning in 1936 using Hawker Hind's.
At the begining of WWII 12 sqn departed to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force equipped with Fairey Battles.After the British withdrawal from France in June 1940, the Squadron began night attacks on enemy shipping and re-equipped with Wellingtons bombers.
1942 saw the introduction of Avro Lancasters which were replaced by Avro Lincolns in 1946.
1952 the sqn received their first jet aircraft namely the English Electric Canberra in 1961 the sqn was again disbanded to be reformed a year later at RAF Coningsby equipped with the Avro Vulcan only again to be disbanded in 1967 and once again to be reformed 1n 1969 with Buccaneers.
1980 the sqn moved to their present location of RAF Lossiemouth and in 1991 were participate in Operation Deserts Storm based at Murarrq Bahrain with a mixture of 208sqn aircraft.
The Buccaneers remained with the sqn until 1993 were they were replaced with Tornado GR1B's. The sqn was again to see action during 1998 when again they took part in Operation Desert Fox.
History of No. 14 Squadron.
Aircraft:
Tornado GR1/GR4
Motto:In Arabic -
'I spread my wings and keep my promise',
No 14 Squadron were formed at Shoreham in 1915 and departed for the Middle East November of the same year, and in 1917 the sqn received RE8's and were to concentrate on a reconnaissance role until the were recalled to the UK in 1919 and were disbanded the same year to be reformed in Palestine a year later Squadron remained in the region throughout the Inter-War years, flying Bristol Fighters and on various duties including air policing, photo survey and many long-distance 'flag waving' flights around the region. Fairey IIIFs and Gordons replaced these in the early 1930s
At the start of WWII they were flying Wellesley bombers before re-equipping with Bristol Blenheims and a flight of Gloster Gladiators taking part in bombing enemy targets over Africa, in the summer of 1942 they were replaced by Martin Marauder's.
1944 the sqn moved to RAF Chivenor equipped with Wellington bombers until 1945 when they moved to Banff in Scotland where they used Mosquitoes in an Anti Submarine Role.
In 1946 they moved to Wahn Germany with their Mosquitoes and continued to use them untill 1951 when they were replaced by DH Vampires these were joined by DH Venoms in 1953 and officially became a fighter sqn in 1955 when the received Hawker Hunters .
They moved to RAF Wildenrath equipped with Canberras in a strike role untill 1970 when Phantoms arrived Jaguars replaced these aircraft in the fighter/attack role in 1975 whilst the Squadron was at Bruggen and remained on strength until 1985 when Tornado GR1s replaced them.
The sqn saw action during Operation Desert Storm were they were based at Muharraq and Dhahran.
The sqn is still currently at RAF Bruggen Germany.
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strike attack
