No. 100 Squadron RAF
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Number 100 Squadron is a former Royal Air Force squadron. It last operated the British Aerospace Hawk T1, providing 'aggressor' aircraft for air combat training from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, UK.


History


First World War

No. 100 was established on 23 February 1917 at Hingham in Norfolk as the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
' first squadron formed specifically as a night bombing unit and comprised elements of the Home Defence Wing. The unit was mobilised and crossed from Portsmouth on 21 March 1917 to France and was first based at St Andre-aux-Bois, where it received twelve
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 (Farman Experimental 2) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and n ...
Bs aircraft on complement. These aircraft had been withdrawn from other units where they had operated in daylight, so modifications were required to adapt them for 100 Squadron's operational role.Stamford, Lincs., U.K.: FlyPast, Key Publishing Ltd '' 'The Boneyard' '', April 2007 No. 309 Pages 15-18 On 1 April 1917, the unit moved to Izel-le-Hameau and took a further four aircraft on complement, in the form of
BE2 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 establis ...
es. The squadron began operations on the night of 5/6 April 1917, when eleven FE2b aircraft attacked La Brayelle Airfield, Douai, where Manfred von Richthofen's 'Flying Circus' was based; Richthofen referred to this raid in his book, 'Der Rote Kampfflieger'. One hundred and twenty-eight 20 lb (9 kg) and four 40 lb (18 kg) bombs were dropped; four aircraft hangars were reported as having been set on fire and one of the attacking aircraft was lost. On 17 November 1918, 100 Squadron moved to
RAF Saint Inglevert 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 ...
. On 4 March 1918, the squadron was sent to Ochey, near Nancy, to form the nucleus of the Independent Air Force under Major General Hugh Trenchard. In August of that year, the unit converted to
Handley Page 0/400 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Handl ...
heavy bombers and therefore longer range
sorties A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...
over industrial sites in Germany became possible. The squadron conducted these raids throughout the rest of the war; an aircraft from the unit was the last in war-time to return to base (on the night before the Armistice) from a raid.


Inter war period

After the end of the war, the squadron remained on the continent until September 1919 as a
cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...
before transferring to RAF Baldonnel, near Dublin and re-forming to full strength, re-equipping with
Bristol F.2 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"'' ...
s for army co-operation.
Close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
operations were flown during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
. Following the end of hostilities the squadron was moved to Spitalgate, Lincolnshire in February 1922, and converted to bombing, this time with Vickers Vimys and DH9As.Stamford, Lincs., U.K.: FlyPast, Key Publishing Ltd '' 'The Boneyard' '' April 2007 No. 309 Page 18 In May 1924, the unit was re-equipped with the
Fairey Fawn The Fairey Fawn was a British single-engine light bomber of the 1920s. It was designed as a replacement for the Airco DH.9A and served with the Royal Air Force between 1924 and 1929. Development The Fairey Fawn was designed by F Duncanson ...
. With these aircraft, the squadron performed air-mail carrying services breaking the
General Strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
of 1926. In September of that year, the squadron took
Hawker Horsley The Hawker Horsley was a British single-engined biplane bomber of the 1920s. It was the last all-wooden aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft, and served as a medium day bomber and torpedo bomber with Britain's Royal Air Force between 1926 and 1935 ...
aircraft on complement and in November 1930 moved to Donibristle,
Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, converting to torpedo-bombing. Its revised official designation as 'No. 100 (Torpedo-Bomber) Squadron' came later, in 1933. A further re-equipment came in November 1932, when the Vickers Vildebeest came on complement and with this aircraft the squadron was deployed as part of the operation to defend Singapore, arriving at Seletar in January 1934.


Second World War

The squadron was put at readiness shortly after war was declared but, for the period to December 1941, there was little involvement operationally whilst still based at Seletar. In November and December 1941 detachments were sent to Fisherman's Bend, in Victoria,
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 ...
. Intended replacement aircraft ( Bristol Beauforts) for the remaining squadron were not forthcoming and, as part of operations against advancing
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 ...
ese forces, the unit's obsolete Vildebeest aircraft were used in strikes against enemy shipping. Because of this, during January 1942, the squadron lost most of its aircraft in engagements with Japanese fighters. Despite several attempts to remain operational as a combined unit along with
No. 36 Squadron RAF No 36 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) was formed at Cramlington in 1916 and was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History First World War No 36 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was first formed on 18 March 1916 at C ...
, as Japan made advances in the Far East theatre, most personnel eventually became
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...
. On 15 December 1942, No. 100 Squadron RAF proper was re-formed in the UK, at RAF Grimsby, near Waltham, as a night-time heavy bomber squadron and was part of
No. 1 Group RAF No. 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in RAF Air Command. Today, the group is referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK, as well as RAF Sup ...
, RAF Bomber Command. In January 1943, the squadron received the first of its new complement of
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
s; the first operation of the squadron was on 4 March 1943 against a U-boat base at
St Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...
. A few days later the squadron was involved in a raid against Nuremberg in Germany and from then on, as part of Bomber Command's strategic role against Germany, took part in every major raid.Stamford, Lincs., U.K.: FlyPast, Key Publishing Ltd '' 'The Boneyard' '', April 2007 No. 309 Pages 20-21 At the end of 1943, the squadron had completed the second largest number of successful operations of units within No. 1 Group Bomber Command and had the lowest 'loss' rate. On the night of 16/17 December 1943, the squadron received orders to attack Berlin. The raid became known as 'Black Thursday' as Bomber Command lost 25 aircraft on the raid and 28 in crashes at fog-shrouded airfields. That night, 100 Squadron lost their commanding officer,
David Holford David Anthony Jerome Holford (16 April 1940 – 30 May 2022) was a West Indian cricketer who played in 24 Test matches between 1966 and 1977. Career Holford was born on 16 April 1940 at Upper Collymore Rock, Saint Michael, Barbados, and was ...
, who crashed landed approaching RAF Grimsby. On the night of 5 June 1944, the squadron bombed heavy gun batteries in support of the
D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. For the last month of the war, the squadron moved to Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire. In the latter stages of the war and post-war, the squadron was involved in the humanitarian Operations Manna and
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
. At the end of December 1945 the squadron moved to RAF Scampton, being the last squadron on that station to operate the
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
The squadron then departed for
RAF Lindholme Royal Air Force Station Lindholme or more simply RAF Lindholme is a former Royal Air Force station in South Yorkshire, England. It was located south of Thorne and north east of Doncaster and was initially called RAF Hatfield Woodhouse. Ea ...
in May, 1946.


Cold War

Between 1946 and 1950 the squadron was based at RAF Hemswell operating Avro Lancasters and later
Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and ...
s. The squadron left Hemswell in 1950, relocating to Malaysia where it was involved with Operations Firedog and Musgrave. In January 1954, the unit deployed to Eastleigh in Kenya during the
Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...
. Returning two months later, the squadron was re-equipped with English Electric Canberras, moving to Wittering in Cambridgeshire. It was disbanded on 1 September 1959 but re-formed at Wittering on 1 May 1962, equipped with Handley Page Victor B.2s, which, from early 1964, carried the
Blue Steel missile The Avro Blue Steel was a British air-launched, rocket-propelled nuclear armed standoff missile, built to arm the V bomber force. It allowed the bomber to launch the missile against its target while still outside the range of surface-to-air ...
nuclear weapon.


Target Facilities role

Disbanded again on 30 September 1968, the squadron was re-formed as a target facilities unit in 1972, utilising Canberra aircraft at
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 ...
, in Norfolk. 100 Sqn combined with 85 and 98 Squadrons and operated 26 Canberra aircraft from
RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...
before moving in 1982 to RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. In 1991, the squadron converted to the Hawker Siddeley Hawk T1, which are now used for training and front-line support roles. On 31 August 1994, the squadron moved to RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire. After the news that RAF Finningley would be shut, 100 Squadron moved without its ground crew to RAF Leeming.


Flying training

In January 2019, it was announced that, as No. 100 Squadron has a degree of spare capacity in terms of its operations, it would take on an additional role of fast jet flying training. This was undertaken owing to limited capacity in the RAF's existing operation using the Hawk T2 aircraft, and came three years after fast jet training using the Hawk T1 was officially ended with the disbanding of No. 208 Squadron in 2016. The aircraft's role was to be replaced by the
Air Support to Defence Operational Training The Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT), was a proposed programme whereby training in defence for aircrew in the armed forces of the United Kingdom would be provided by a civilian contractor. It was to include all air training un ...
(ASDOT) programme, which was intended to provide aggressor training to all three British armed services. However, in March 2019, the ASDOT programme was cancelled. The squadron was expected to retire its Hawk T1 aircraft in 2027, however, an announcement in July 2021 confirmed that apart from the
Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...
, all other Hawk T1 aircraft in the British military would be retired by 31 March 2022. As a result, the squadron disbanded on 31 March 2022.


Notable personnel

* Wing Commander R V McIntyre,
Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of the squadron from April to November 1943. Awarded the DFC after completing a successful bomb-drop over
Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...
on 13 May 1943, despite the aircraft having lost two engines to flak hits over Cologne. On return, McIntyre brought the aircraft in to RAF Coltishall, Norfolk for a successful crash landing. *
Peter J. M. Squires Air Vice-Marshal Peter James Murray Squires, is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who currently serves as the Commander of British Forces Cyprus. From August 2016 to October 2019 he served as Commandant of RAF College Cranwell. He was formerly a ...
, Officer Commanding from April 2009 to April 2011 * Rory Underwood, former England Rugby Union player


Squadron flag

The squadron flag which depicts a skull and crossbones was apparently stolen from a French
brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
in 1918. It was later embellished with the squadron name and the motto ''Blood and Bones''. The original flag disintegrated while being looked after by a Flight Lieutenant Trillwood during his time as a Japanese prisoner of war. The flag was originally dark maroon in colour but was replaced by a black flag after the war. Following the 90th anniversary of the squadron, a replica of the original flag was presented to the squadron by Arthur White, a navigator with the squadron during the Second World War, in 2008.


Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated included: *
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 (February 1917 – January 1918) *
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 (Farman Experimental 2) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and n ...
b (March 1917 – August 1918) * Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2e (April 1917 – August 1917) * Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2c (January 1918 – August 1918) *
Handley Page 0/400 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Handl ...
(August 1918 – September 1919) * Bristol F.2 Fighter, Bristol F.2b Fighter (February 1920 – March 1922) * Airco DH.9, Airco DH.9A (February 1920 – June 1921) * Avro 504K (February 1922 – May 1924) * Vickers Vimy (February 1922 – June 1923) * Fairey Fawn, Fairey Fawn Mk.II/Mk.III (May 1924 – December 1926) * Hawker Horsley, Hawker Horsley Mk.I/Mk.II (August 1926 – April 1933) * Vickers Vildebeest, Vickers Vildebeest Mk.I (November 1932 – September 1933) * Vickers Vildebeest Mk.II (August 1933 – January 1941) * Vickers Vildebeest Mk.III (December 1937 – February 1942) * Bristol Beaufort, Bristol Beaufort Mk.I (December 1941 – January 1942) * Avro Lancaster, Avro Lancaster Mk.I/Mk.III (December 1942 – May 1946) * Avro Lincoln, Avro Lincoln B.2 (May 1946 – April 1954) * English Electric Canberra, English Electric Canberra B.2 (April 1954 – September 1959; February 1972 – September 1991) * English Electric Canberra B.6 (August 1956 – September 1959) * English Electric Canberra PR.7 (August 1956 – June 1957; June 1982 – December 1991) * English Electric Canberra B(I).8 (August 1956 – September 1959) * Handley Page Victor, Handley Page Victor B.2 (June 1962 – June 1964) * Handley Page Victor B.2R (March 1963 – September 1968) * English Electric Canberra T.19 (February 1972 – July 1980) * English Electric Canberra E.15 (February 1976 – September 1991) * English Electric Canberra TT.18 (January 1982 – December 1991) * BAE Systems Hawk, British Aerospace Hawk T.1/T.1A (September 1991 – March 2022)


Battle honours

No. 100 Squadron has received the following RAF battle honours, battle honours. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may be emblazoned on the Standard (flag), squadron standard. *Western Front (World War I), Western Front (1917–1918) *Battle of Passchendaele, Ypres (1917)* *Second Battle of the Somme (1918), Somme (1918)* *Independent Air Force, Independent Force and Germany (1918)* *Malaya (1941–1942)* *Fortress Europe (1943–1944)* *Biscay Ports (1943–1945) *Battle of the Ruhr, Ruhr (1943–1945) * Berlin (1943–1945)* *German Ports (1943–1945) *Baltic Sea campaigns (1939–45), Baltic (1943–1945) *France and Germany (1944–1945) *Normandy landings, Normandy (1944)* *Battle of Walcheren Causeway, Walcheren


See also

*List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons


References

;Citations ;Bibliography
No. 100 Squadron
. ''Flight International, Flight'', 28 October 1955, pp. 673–676, 678. * Bowman, Martin. ''Flying Into the Flames of Hell: Dramatic First Hand Accounts of British and Commonwealth Airmen in Bomber Command in WW2''. Pen & Sword, 2006. * White, Arthur. ''Hornets' Nest: History of 100 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1917-94''. Worcester, Worcestershire, UK: Square One Publications, 1994.


External links


100 Squadron Association
{{RAF squadrons Military units and formations established in 1917 Royal Flying Corps squadrons, 100 squadron Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons, 100 squadron 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in British Malaya in World War II