No. 105 Squadron was a flying squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, active for three periods between 1917 and 1969. It was originally established during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and disbanded after the war. Reactivated shortly before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was inactive again after the conflict. During its second existence it was a bomber unit and had the distinction to be the first to operate the

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

light bomber. During the 1960s it was reactivated again for six years to provide transport support for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the Aden Protectorate and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

History

Formation and early years

No. 105 Squadron of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

was formed on 23 September 1917 at

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target A ...

and soon moved to

RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

with a variety of aircraft to train as a bomber squadron. Before it became operational it was decided to move the squadron to

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, with RE8 biplanes on anti-submarine and reconnaissance duties. Within a year it had re-equipped with the

Bristol F2B Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Biff"'' ...

. Though other squadrons were disbanded after the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, 105 Squadron continued on duties in Ireland until 1 February 1920, when the squadron was disbanded by being re-numbered to 2 Squadron at Oranmore.

Reformation and World War II

Trier railway yard under RAF attack 1943

The squadron was formed again on 12 April 1937 at

RAF Harwell Royal Air Force Harwell or more simply RAF Harwell is a former Royal Air Force station, near the village of Harwell, located south east of Wantage, Oxfordshire and north west of Reading, Berkshire, England. The site is now the Harwell Sc ...

from ''B'' Flight of 18 Squadron as a day bomber squadron. Its first equipment was the biplane Hawker Audax while it awaited delivery of the more modern monoplane

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...

. The Battles arrived in August 1937 and 105 Squadron was one of the first to be operational on the type. At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, as part of the

Advanced Air Striking Force The RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) comprised the light bombers of 1 Group RAF Bomber Command, which took part in the Battle of France during the Second World War. Before hostilities began, it had been agreed between the United Kingdom a ...

, the squadron moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, initially on reconnaissance missions along the France-German border. The

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

invaded France in May 1940 and the squadron was soon busy attacking the advancing German troops. One of the most important targets was the bombing of the bridges over the

River Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

in attempt to slow down the German advance. It suffered heavily from the attention of German fighters and the squadron had to retire back to England in June 1940. At RAF Honington the squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim to join 2 Group's offensive against the invasion ports and German shipping. The squadron had many losses particularly from the German ''Flak'' ships. In October 1940 part of the squadron was detached to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

to carry out attacks on Axis shipping in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. It moved to RAF Swanton Morley in Norfolk. After losing its commanding officer in a raid near

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

in 1941, it gained a new CO, Wing Commander H.I. Edwards. For his part in planning and leading a low level daylight attack on the port of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

he was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. In October 1941 the Malta detachment returned to England and the squadron began to operate at a reduced level. The reason for the reduction in sorties was the squadron had been chosen to be the first to use the Mosquito Mk.IV and was concentrating on training. In December the squadron moved to RAF Horsham St Faith near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. On the 2 July 1942, No. 105 Squadron raided the submarine yards at Flensburg, near the border of Germany and Denmark. Flying a Mosquito FB Mk. IV, Reg. DK 298, Wing Commander Alan Robertson Oakeshott DFC flew his final mission, departing from RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk. The bomb load of 4,000lbs was successfully dropped on the submarine slipways. Shortly after leaving the target area the aircraft was intercepted by a Focke-Wolfe 190. The Mosquito was shot down. W/Cdr (33209) Alan Robertson Oakeshott DFC (pilot) RAF was killed. He is commemorated on the RAF Runnymeade Memorial and on the Naphill War Memorial, in Buckinghamshire, near RAF High Wycombe (formerly Bomber Command). F/O (44980) Vernon Frank Evans Treherne DFM (obs) RAF – was also killed in this action. The squadrons commanding officer, Wing Commander Geoffrey Longfield, was killed during a raid on

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

on 26 February 1943. His replacement, Wing Commander John William Deacon, was killed the following day in a training accident. Another early Mosquito operation was a high-level attack on

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

as a follow-on to the "thousand-bomber" raid on the city. It was not the best use of the new aircraft and the squadron soon moved to low-level precision attacks where the aircraft had an outstanding performance. The first precision attack was against the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo on 25 September 1942. The squadron was the first to do a daylight raid on Berlin on 30 January 1943. By June 1943 the squadron joined No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group and upgraded to

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

-equipped Mosquito Mk.IXs. It performed precision target-marking for Bomber Command until the end of the war. The squadron was disbanded at

RAF Upwood Royal Air Force Upwood or more simply RAF Upwood is a former Royal Air Force station adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire, England, in the United Kingdom. It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United Sta ...

on 1 February 1946.

Post war

Between 1949 and 1957 the squadron was linked with 109 Squadron as 109/105 Squadron,Ransom 1967, p. 40. but on 21 February 1962 the squadron re-formed in its own right at RAF Benson with the

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a three-engine biplane airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It was the company's first airliner. The Argosy was developed during the early-to-mid 1 ...

, a medium-range tactical transport. By June it had moved to

RAF Khormaksar Royal Air Force Khormaksar or more simply RAF Khormaksar was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Aden, Yemen. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station a ...

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

, to provide support to ground forces in the area. It also carried out transport runs through the middle-east and parts of Africa. It was involved in paradropping supplies to the British Army during operations in the Radfan and was also involved in supporting the operations in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. In 1966 it was supporting troops in Aden again. When the terrorist activity worsened, it was also tasked with providing search-and-rescue searches over the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. As the British withdrawal from Aden got nearer the squadron moved out the Muharraq,

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, in 1967. On 20 January 1968 the squadron disbanded for the last time there.

Aircraft operated

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. ''Squadron Codes, 1937-56''. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 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. . * Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1976). . * Ransom, Derek. ''Battle Axe: A History of 105 Squadron Royal Air Force''. Hutton, Brentwood, Essex, UK: Air-Britain, 1967. * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. . * Scott, Stuart R. ''Battle-Axe Blenheims: No 105 Squadron RAF at War, 1940-1''. Sutton Publishing, 1999. . * Scott, Stuart R. ''Mosquito Thunder: No. 105 Squadron RAF at War, 1942-5''. Sutton Publishing, 2001. . * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'', (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing * Wooldridge John De Lane. 'Low Attack The Story of Two Mosquito Squadrons, 1940-43'. Crecy Book Ltd, 1993. .

External links

*
No. 105 Squadron official history

{{Royal Air Force

105 105 may refer to: *105 (number), the number *AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD *105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 105 (telephone number) * 105 (MBTA bus) * 105 (Northumberland) Construction Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit ...

Military units and formations established in 1917 Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations disestablished in 1969