No. 54 Squadron RAF
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Number 54 Squadron (sometimes written as No. LIV Squadron) is a
squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...
of the Royal Air Force based 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 ...
, Lincolnshire. On 1 September 2005, it took on the role of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (
ISR ISR may refer to: Organizations * Institute for Strategy and Reconciliation, a think tank, relief and development organization * Institutional and Scientific Relations, a Directorate of the European Commission * International Star Registry, a com ...
) Operational Conversion Unit, and is currently responsible for training all RAF crews assigned to the MQ-9A Reaper, Shadow R1/R2, RC-135W Rivet Joint and Poseidon MRA1. It also controls the RAF ISR Warfare School (ISRWS) who run the
Qualified Weapons Instructor Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI) (''queue-why'') is a qualification given to graduates of the Royal Air Force or Royal Navy Qualified Weapons Instructor courses. It is the equivalent to the United States Air Force Weapons School Course or US Na ...
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (QWI ISR) and QWI Reaper Courses. The squadron was previously a
SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force. Originall ...
strike fighter unit, based at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk, from April 1974 until it was disbanded on 11 March 2005.


History


World War I

No. 54 Squadron was formed at Castle Bromwich on 5 May 1916. Like many others formed at the same time, was tasked with Home Defence duties flying BE2Cs and Avro 504s. Four months later, however, it re-equipped with Sopwith Pups, being the first
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
Squadron to operate the Pup. It moved to France as a day fighter squadron in December 1916. It was initially used as for bomber escort, claiming its first kill, an Albatros D.III, in April 1917, but specialised in attacking enemy observation balloons during the Battle of Arras.Halley 1971, pp. 51–52.Rawlings ''Air Pictorial'' August 1971, p. 294. The Pup soon became outclassed in air combat, however, and No. 54 concentrated on ground attack missions until it could re-equip with Sopwith Camels in December 1917, allowing to return to fighter duties, providing protection for Army co-operation squadrons. The German spring offensive saw a return to low level attack missions, carrying out both ground attack and fighter missions until the end of the War. In February 1919, the Squadron returned to
RAF Yatesbury RAF Yatesbury is a former Royal Air Force airfield near the village of Yatesbury, Wiltshire, England, about east of the town of Calne. It was an important training establishment in the First and Second World Wars, and until its closure in 1965. ...
, reduced to cadre status and was disbanded on 25 October 1919.Halley 1971, pp. 52–53.


Between the wars

The Squadron was reformed at RAF Hornchurch on 15 January 1930 as a fighter squadron equipped initially with dual-control Siskin Trainers until Bristol Bulldog fighters were received in April that year.Halley 1971, pp. 53–54. The squadron had a brief stay at RAF Upavon in 1931, prior to returning to RAF Hornchurch.Halley 1971, p. 65. The Bulldogs were replaced by Gloster Gauntlets, in September 1936 and Gladiators in April 1937, before the Squadron's first monoplane, the
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
, arrived in March 1939.Halley 1971, p. 54.


World War II

The early days of World War II were spent patrolling the Kent coast until, in May 1940, the unit provided air cover for the
evacuation of Dunkirk The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
, claiming 31 aircraft shot down for the loss of 4 pilots and seven Spitfires. From July, the Squadron was heavily engaged in the Battle of Britain, often using RAF Manston as a forward operating base. The fighting was intense, and losses were heavy, with the Squadron being withdrawn to RAF Catterick on 2 September 1940.Halley 1971, pp. 54–55.Rawlings ''Air Pictorial'' August 1971, pp. 295–296. One notable pilot during the first year of the year was "Al" Deere, who claimed 11 German aircraft shot down, while himself being shot down 7 times.Halley 1971, p.55. No. 54 Squadron returned to Hornchurch in February 1941, flying fighter sweeps and bomber escort missions over Northern France until November 1941, when it moved north to RAF Castletown,
Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...
, undertaking coastal patrols over the Pentland Firth. In June 1942, the squadron was moved to
RAF Wellingore Royal Air Force Wellingore or more simply RAF Wellingore is a former Royal Air Force fighter relief landing ground located south of Navenby, Lincolnshire and south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. History The airfield was originally opened ...
, to prepare for moving to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.Halley 1971, pp. 55–56. In mid-1942, the squadron joined No. 1 Wing (Spitfire Wing) of the
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
, a Spitfire unit responsible for air defence duties against Japanese aircraft in the Darwin area. No. 54 Squadron arrived at RAAF Station Darwin on 17 January. Initially, the wing as a whole suffered from the inexperience of its pilots and mechanical problems caused during the shipment of Spitfires. Although contact with the Japanese was generally brief, 54 Squadron pilots scored a number of kills. Following the end of the war, the squadron disbanded in Melbourne on 31 October 1945.


Post World War II

On 15 November 1945
No. 183 Squadron RAF No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a fighter-bomber unit in World War II. History Formation The squadron formed on 2 March 1942 at RAF Church Fenton and then equipped with rocket armed Typhoons. It was s ...
, a Hawker Tempest ground-attack unit based at RAF Chilbolton near Oxford, was renumbered to No. 54 Squadron and spent a year training pilots destined for overseas service before receiving
Vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...
and moving to RAF Odiham on 22 November 1947. In 1948, six Vampires from the Squadron made history when they completed the first crossing of the Atlantic by jet aircraft. Flying in 3 legs with over 8 hours in the air and accompanied by ground crew in Avro Yorks Following a three-year stint with Meteors, which arrived in April 1952, Hunters arrived in March 1955, and the Squadron took up fighter duties with Hunter Mk 4s in September 1955. Reequipped with Mk 6s as part of No 38 Group, frequently deploying to trouble spots around the world as part of the Group's Offensive Strike Wing. The Squadron was the first jet RAF formation team to trail smoke with a team of six
Vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...
. In 1955, No 54 Squadron flew a formation of four
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-R ...
F1 aircraft. The following year the Squadron team adopted the name ''The Black Knights'' – the pilots wore black flying suits. They re-equipped to Mk9s gradually as the squadron relocated from RAF Odiham to RAF Stradishall in July 1959 with Hunter Mk9s and to
RAF West Raynham Royal Air Force West Raynham or more simply RAF West Raynham is a former Royal Air Force station located west of West Raynham, Norfolk and southwest of Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The airfield opened during May 1939 and was used by RAF Bomb ...
, Norfolk, in 1963. The squadron was briefly disbanded on 1 September 1969, however was reformed the same day after being re-equipped with McDonnell-Douglas Phantoms at RAF Coningsby in 1969. By 1974 when twelve
SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force. Originall ...
aircraft were delivered the squadron had re-located to RAF Coltishall. From 1975 until at least 1994 (the last year for which data is available) the squadron's wartime role was as an operational squadron in the front line assigned to
SACEUR The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...
with twelve Jaguar aircraft, eight WE.177 tactical nuclear bombs, and a variety of conventional weapons. In a high-intensity European war the unit's role was to support land forces on the Continent resisting an assault by the Red Army on Western Europe, first with conventional weapons and secondly with tactical nuclear weapons, should a conflict escalate to that stage, by striking beyond the forward edge of the battlefield into enemy-held areas. The apparent mismatch between aircraft numbers and nuclear bombs was a consequence of RAF staff planners concluding that with some aircraft held back from the conventional phase as a reserve, there would be one-third attrition of aircraft, leaving the remaining survivors numerically strong enough to deliver the squadron's entire stockpile of eight nuclear bombs.


Post Cold War

The squadron moved to RAF Coltishall in 1974 and, following the retirement of the WE.177 nuclear weapon in the late 1990s, took on a more expeditionary footing with a number of operational deployments including flights over Northern Iraq from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and flights over the Balkans from
Gioia del Colle Air Base Gioia del Colle Air Base is an Italian Air Force ( Aeronautica Militare) base located in the province of Bari, Apulia, Italy, located approximately 1 km south-southeast of Gioia del Colle. World War II During World War II the air base was ...
in Italy. With the decision taken to run the Jaguar fleet down in anticipation of the arrival of its replacement, the Typhoon, No 54 Squadron was disbanded at RAF Coltishall on 11 March 2005.


ISR OCU

Reformed as No. 54 (Reserve) Squadron 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 ...
on 1 September 2005 it re-roled as the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operational Conversion Unit, responsible for training all mission crews for the E-3D Sentry AEW1, the Nimrod R1 and the Sentinel R.1, and later the MQ-9A Reaper. From 2010, 54(R) Squadron became the home of the ISR Warfare School who are responsible for the delivery of the
Qualified Weapons Instructor Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI) (''queue-why'') is a qualification given to graduates of the Royal Air Force or Royal Navy Qualified Weapons Instructor courses. It is the equivalent to the United States Air Force Weapons School Course or US Na ...
Course for ISR (QWI ISR) From 2013, 54 Sqn has also trained crews for the newly acquired RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft. The squadron was formally titled No. 54 (Reserve) Squadron up until 2018, when the (Reserve) nameplate was removed from all training squadrons. Crew from No. 54 Squadron ferried the first RAF Boeing Poseidon MRA.1 ''ZP801'' from the Boeing Renton Factory, Seattle, to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, on 31 October 2019. Since October 2020, the squadron operates a detachment at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, in order to act as the OCU for the Poseidon MRA.1.


Locations

Wartime locations included:
Locations in Britain *3 September 1939 – RAF Hornchurch, London Borough of Havering, east London *September 1940 – RAF Catterick, Catterick, North Yorkshire *February 1941 – RAF Hornchurch, London Borough of Havering, east London *November 1941 – RAF Castletown, Castletown, Scotland *June 1942 –
RAF Wellingore Royal Air Force Wellingore or more simply RAF Wellingore is a former Royal Air Force fighter relief landing ground located south of Navenby, Lincolnshire and south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. History The airfield was originally opened ...
, Lincolnshire Locations in Australia: *13 August 1942: Ascot Vale, Melbourne, Victoria *24 August 1942: Richmond, Sydney, New South Wales *13 January 1943: Sydney, New South Wales *25 January 1943:
Parap Airfield Parap Airfield was the civilian aerodrome of Darwin, Northern Territory, in Australia between 1919 and 1946. Located in the coastal suburb of Parap, it was also known as ''Darwin Aerodrome'' and '' Ross Smith Aerodrome''. History The airfield ...
,
Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...
*9 May 1944: Potshot,
Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histor ...
*19 May 1944:
Livingstone Airfield Livingstone Airfield (34 mile) was an airfield at what is now Livingstone, Northern Territory, Australia during World War II. The airfield was built by the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion, less Company A and HQ Detachment, between 16 March 194 ...
, Northern Territory *23 October 1945:
Parap Airfield Parap Airfield was the civilian aerodrome of Darwin, Northern Territory, in Australia between 1919 and 1946. Located in the coastal suburb of Parap, it was also known as ''Darwin Aerodrome'' and '' Ross Smith Aerodrome''. History The airfield ...
,
Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...
*30 October 1945: Melbourne, Victoria


Commanding officers

Wartime commanding officers included: *Sqn.Ldr. N. Orton – August 1941 *Sqn.Ldr. E. M Gibbs – 13 August 1942 *Sqn.Ldr. R.B Newton – 11 January 1944 *Sqn.Ldr J.B.H Nicholas – 1 July 1945 *F-Lt D.M Gossland – 30 October 1945


Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated include: *
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.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 ...
c (May 1916 – December 1916) * Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 (June 1916 – June 1916) * Avro 504 (July 1916 – ?) * Bristol Scout (October 1916 – December 1916) * Sopwith Pup (October 1916 – December 1917) * Sopwith Camel (December 1917 – February 1919) * Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk.IIIa/Mk.IIIdc (January 1930 – December 1930) * Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIa (April 1930 – September 1936) * Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II (August 1936 – May 1937) * Gloster Gladiator Mk.I (April 1937 – February 1941) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I (March 1939 – February 1941) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa (February 1941 – May 1941; August 1941) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Va (May 1941 – November 1941) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIb (November 1941 – March 1942) *
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Supermarine Spitfire variants powered by early model Rolls-Royce Merlin engines mostly utilised single-speed, single-stage superchargers. The British Supermarine Spitfire was the only Allied fighter aircraft of the Second World War to fight ...
(March 1942 – June 1942) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc (November 1942 – May 1944) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII (April 1944 – September 1945) * Hawker Tempest Mk.II (November 1945 – October 1946) * de Havilland Vampire Mk.I (October 1946 – August 1948) *
de Havilland Vampire F.3 The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...
(April 1948 – November 1949) * de Havilland Vampire FB.5 (October 1949 – April 1952) *
Gloster Meteor F.8 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, pioneered ...
(April 1952 – March 1955) * Hawker Hunter F.1 (February 1955 – September 1955) *
Hawker Hunter F.4 The following is a list of variants of the Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft: Prototypes ;Hawker P.1067 :Prototype, first flight 20 July 1951, three built with the first later modified as a Hunter Mk 3 for the successful World Speed Record attem ...
(September 1955 – January 1957) *
Hawker Hunter F.6 The following is a list of variants of the Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft: Prototypes ;Hawker P.1067 :Prototype, first flight 20 July 1951, three built with the first later modified as a Hunter Mk 3 for the successful World Speed Record attem ...
(January 1957 – March 1960) * Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (March 1960 – September 1969) * McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 (September 1969 – April 1974) * SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 (April 1974 – 1999) * SEPECAT Jaguar GR.3 (June 1999 – March 2005) * Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW.1 (September 2005 – September 2021) * Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R.1 (September 2005 – June 2011) * Raytheon Sentinel R.1 (2008 – February 2021) * Beechcraft Shadow R.1 (2009 – present) * Boeing RC-135W Airseeker R.1 (2011 – present) * Boeing Poseidon MRA.1 (October 2019 – present)


See also


Former RAF Jaguar units

* II(AC) Sqn * 6 Sqn * 14 Sqn * 16(R) Sqn – OCU *
17 Sqn Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...
*No. 20 Squadron RAF, 20 Sqn *No. 31 Squadron RAF, 31 Sqn *No. 41 Squadron RAF, 41 Sqn *No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF *List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Halley, James J. ''Famous Fighter Squadrons of the RAF: Volume 1''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Hylton Lacey Publishers Ltd., 1971. . * 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''. Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). . * Rawlings, John. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1969 (second edition 1976). . * Rawlings, John. "History of No. 54 Squadron". ''Air Pictorial'', August 1971, Vol 33 No 8. pp. 294–297.


External links


RAF Official 54(R) Sqn Website





Autobiography of Bill Wood
{{Royal Air Force
Military units and formations established in 1916 Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons, 054 Squadron Royal Flying Corps squadrons, 054 Squadron 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom