Number 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer Saint-Pol-sur-Mer ( vls, Sint-Pols, lang) is a former commune in the Nord department in northern France. Since 9 December 2010, it is part of the commune of Dunkirk.France, as No. 9 Squadron

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS)Rawlings 1978, p. 324. and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. The use of the squadron number ceased in 1968 and it has not been reused since by an RAF squadron. However the number, badge and motto is in current service within the RAF Air Cadets at 209 (West Bridgford) Squadron ATC in Nottinghamshire.

History

Formation and World War I

The Squadron was formed as a Royal Air Force Squadron on 1 April 1918, from No. 9 Squadron,

at Clairmarais aerodrome. (All former RNAS squadrons were renumbered by the addition of 200 to their RNAS number.) During the remainder of World War I, 209 Squadron flew Sopwith Camels over the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

on fighter and ground support missions. The Squadron badge, the falling red eagle, symbolizes the destruction of

Baron Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

(commonly known as The Red Baron) who, in the 1914–1918 War, was credited to the guns of a pilot,

Roy Brown Roy Brown may refer to: Arts, music and entertainment * Roy Brown (blues musician) (1920/25–1981), American blues musician who was a pioneer of rock and roll * Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician) (born 1945), Puerto Rican musician and folk singer ...

from No. 209 Squadron. On 21 January 1919, the squadron was reduced to a skeleton organisation and disbanded in the UK on 24 June 1919 at

RAF Scopwick Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joi ...

, Lincolnshire.

The interbellum

No. 209 reformed at the

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

base at RAF Mount Batten,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 15 January 1930.Jefford 2001, p. 72. It was first equipped with Blackburn Iris flying boats and then from January 1934 by

Blackburn Perth The Blackburn Perth was a British flying boat which was in service during the interwar period. It was essentially an upgraded Iris, and hence the largest flying-boat to serve with the Royal Air Force at the time (and the largest biplane flying ...

but neither of these types were built in sufficient quantities to equip the squadron fully. In July 1936, however, the squadron was fully equipped with Short Singapore Mk.IIIs and it was transferred to RAF Kalafrana, Malta in September 1937 for three months. In December 1938, No 209 began to convert to yet another flying boat type, the Supermarine Stranraer.

World War II

When the Second World War broke out, No.209 moved to Invergordon to patrol the North Sea between Scotland and Norway. From October 1939 it patrolled the Atlantic from

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

. Two further re-equipments occurred, in December 1939 ( Saro Lerwicks) and then in April 1941 ( Consolidated Catalinas). Familiarisation with the U.S. supplied Catalinas was aided by the secondment of U.S. military personnel who also flew on active service patrols, despite the U.S. being a neutral power at the time. Anti-submarine patrols were flown over the Atlantic from

RAF Castle Archdale Royal Air Force Castle Archdale or more simply RAF Castle Archdale, also known for a while as RAF Lough Erne is a former Royal Air Force station used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force station in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. His ...

Lough Erne Lough Erne ( , ) is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the fourth biggest in Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne, ...

, in Northern Ireland, using the

Donegal Corridor The Donegal Corridor () was a narrow strip of Irish airspace linking Lough Erne to the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean through which the Irish Government permitted flights by British military aircraft during World War II. This was ...

over neutral Eire. During this time, in May 1941, a patrol by No.209 (with an American crewman) located the German battleship ''Bismarck''. In August 1941, the squadron moved to Iceland for two months. From March 1942 until July 1945, No.209 was stationed in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. It flew patrols over the Indian Ocean with detached bases in South Africa, Madagascar, Oman and the Seychelles to extend its cover. In July 1945 the squadron moved to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(now Sri Lanka), with recently acquired

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

MkVs, with a detachment at

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

(now Yangon), to harass Japanese shipping along the coast from Burma (now Myanmar) to

Post war

Hong Kong and Seletar

After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, a detachment was sent to Hong Kong in September, followed by the rest of the squadron in October. In April 1946 the squadron moved to Singapore. A detachment remained at

RAF Kai Tak RAF Kai Tak was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Hong Kong, based at Kai Tak Airport. It was opened in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units. History ...

and became No.1430 flight and then No.88 Squadron. The squadron headquarters was established at

RAF Seletar Seletar Airport is a civilian international airport serving the north-east region of Singapore. It is located approximately northwest from Changi Airport, the country's main airport, and about north from the main commercial city-centre. ...

(sometimes referred to as "Seltar"), on Singapore Island on 18 May 1946 and No.209 and was named "City of Hong Kong" Squadron on 23 January 1947.

To Korea

Operation Firedog missions during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

began on 7 July 1948. In September 1950, during the Korean War, the aircraft were moved to Iwakuni, Yamaguchi,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to patrol off the Korean coast from 15 September. On 1 January 1955 the squadron merged with

No. 205 Squadron No. 205 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit formed on 1 April 1918. Prior to this it had existed as No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In 1929, it became the first RAF squadron to be permanently based in Singapore, taking as i ...

With Pioneers in the transport role

On 1 November 1958 No. 267 Squadron at RAF Kuala Lumpur was renumbered 209 Squadron and flew Scottish Aviation Pioneers and

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was a British STOL transport aircraft built by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, during the 1950s. It was designed for both civil and military operators. It was conceived as a twin-engi ...

s on liaison and transport duties in Malaysia. No.209 Squadron was finally disbanded on 31 December 1968 at RAF Seletar.

Notable personnel

Fred Everest Banbury Fred Everest Banbury, (27 October 1893 – 1 April 1918) was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War, officially credited with eleven aerial victories while serving in the British Royal Naval Air Service. Early life and education Banbury ...

– 1917–1918 with No. 9 Naval Squadron *

Arthur Roy Brown Arthur Roy Brown, (23 December 1893 – 9 March 1944) was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War, credited with ten aerial victories. The Royal Air Force officially credited Brown with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red ...

* Stearne Tighe Edwards *

Air chief marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Robert Foster – 1918 *

John Hales John Hales may refer to: *John Hales (theologian) (1584–1656), English theologian * John Hales (bishop of Exeter) from 1455 to 1456 *John Hales (bishop of Coventry and Lichfield) (died 1490) from 1459 to 1490 * John Hales (died 1540), MP for Cante ...

Oliver Colin LeBoutillier Oliver Colin LeBoutillier (24 May 1894 – 12 May 1983) was an American aviator and flying ace. Serving with the British Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force in the First World War, LeBoutillier scored 10 aerial victories, witnessed the dea ...

* Wilfrid May * Air vice-marshal Francis Mellersh * John Paynter – 1917 with No. 9 *

Oliver Redgate Oliver William Redgate, (23 November 1898 – 1929) was a British flying ace of the First World War, credited with 16 aerial victories. Early life Redgate was born on 23 November 1898 in Nottingham, the son of Oliver Redgate, who played crick ...

– 1917–1918 *

Merrill Samuel Taylor Merrill Samuel Taylor (15 April 1893 – 7 July 1918) was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War. He was credited with seven aerial victories while flying a Sopwith Camel fighter for the Royal Naval Air Service and, later, the Royal Air Force ...

– 1917–1918 with No. 9 and No. 209Shores et al., p. 359.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Bowyer, Michael J.F and John D.R. Rawlings. ''Squadron Codes, 1937–56''. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1979. . * 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, 2003. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians), 1988. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Kennedy, Ludovic. ''Pursuit: The Sinking of the "Bismarck"''. London: Book Club Associates, 1975. * Lewis, Peter. ''Squadron Histories: R.F.C, R.N.A.S and R.A.F., 1912–59''. London: Putnam, 1959. * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1982. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers), 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978). . * Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russel. ''Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920''. Oxford: Grub Street, 1990. , .

External links

* No. 209 Squadron Coastal Command deployments {{Royal Air Force Military units and formations established in 1917 09 209 Squadron Military of Hong Kong under British rule Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1968 1917 establishments in France