("Wolf wishes, wolf flies") , dates=7 Jan 1916 – 25 Sept 1919
3 Dec 1935 – Feb 1942
1 Apr 1942 – 15 Oct 1945
1 Aug 1946 – 31 July 1947
11 Feb 1949 – 24 June 1952
1 Aug 1954 – 10 Jan 1958
1 Oct 1960 – 31 Dec 1967 , country=

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

, allegiance= , branch= Ensign of the Royal Air Force

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) a ...

, identification_symbol=In front of an increscent, a wolf passant. , identification_symbol_label=Squadron badge heraldry , identification_symbol_2=LB Apr–Aug 1939
EG Sep 1939, Mar–Oct 1945
8Q Feb 1949 – Mar 1952
6J Feb 1949 – Jul 1951 , identification_symbol_2_label=Squadron codes , battle_honours=Western Front, 1916–17, Ypres, 1917, Italian Front & Adriatic, 1917–18, Somme, 1916, Hindenburg Line, Eastern Waters 1941, Malaya, 1941–42, Arakan, 1942–44, Manipur, 1944, Burma, 1944–45 , identification_symbol_3= RAF 63 Sqn

, identification_symbol_3_label=Post-1950 squadron roundel No. 34 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the

. During the First World War it operated as a reconnaissance and bomber squadron and in the 1930s operated light bombers. It was re-equipped with fighter-bombers in the later half of the Second World War and in the post-war period was reformed four times; first as a photo-reconnaissance unit, then anti-aircraft co-operation, then as a jet fighter squadron through the 1950s. It was last active in the 1960s, as a Blackburn Beverley transport squadron.

First World War

No. 34 Squadron RFC was formed at

Castle Bromwich Castle Bromwich () is a large suburban village situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east; also Sutton Coldfield to the east and n ...

on 7 January 1916 from elements of No. 19 Squadron RFC. It went to France in July 1916 as a reconnaissance unit equipped with

BE.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

s It got RE.8s in January 1917. It transferred to the Italian front flying reconnaissance and bomber missions until the end of the war, returning to the UK and disbanding on 25 September 1919.

1935–45

34 Squadron was re-formed at Bircham Newton on 3 December 1935, out of personnel from

No. 18 Squadron RAF No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook from RAF Odiham. Owing to its heritage as a bomber squadron, it is also known as No. 18 (B) Squadron. History First World War The squadron was formed on 11 May 1915 at Northo ...

. Initially it flew

Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...

s before receiving

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until t ...

s in July 1938 and was stationed at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bo ...

when the Second World War broke out. The squadron first saw action in December 1941, against Japanese forces in Malaya. After two months, it had been withdrawn to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent is ...

and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

and losses had been so severe that it was officially disbanded. The remaining personnel, aircraft and equipment were withdrawn to India. It was officially re-formed at RAF Chakrata on 1 April 1942 and re-equipped with Blenheims.National Cold War Exhibitions, 2013, ''No.34 Squadron''
(31 Mar 2017) In July and August, some of its aircraft were used to attack rebels in North West Frontier Province. From September until April 1943, the squadron carried out bombing raids against Japanese targets in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The squadron converted to the light ground attack role from November 1943, when it began to receive single-seat

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...

s. These were replaced by

Republic Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s in March 1945. 34 Squadron was disbanded on 15 October 1945.

Post-war

On 1 August 1946 No. 681 Squadron RAF was renumbered as No. 34 Squadron, flying photo-reconnaissance

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

s until disbanding on 31 July 1947. No. 695 Squadron RAF was then renumbered to No. 34 Squadron on 11 February 1949 at 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, wit ...

. They operated in anti-aircraft co-operation using

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

s and Spitfires until it too disbanded on 24 June 1952. No. 34 was reformed at Tangmere with

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

jets as a fighter squadron in August 1954. In October 1955

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls- ...

s replaced the Meteors until disbandment on 10 January 1958. No. 34 was then reformed yet again on 1 October 1960 at RAF Seletar, Singapore, in the transport role with Blackburn Beverleys. In December 1962, four Blackburn Beverleys were used to insert Gurkhas into Brunei to combat a revolt by the North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) against the Sultan of Brunei. The Squadron lasted until the end of 1967 when it was disbanded again.

References

Bibliography

* * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . *

External links