No. 1435 Flight RAF
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No. 1435 Flight is a Typhoon FGR. 4 unit of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Mount Pleasant, providing air defence for the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
,
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...
. Permanently based in the islands, the aircrew and groundcrew from the UK are cycled through No. 1435 Flight, providing a 365-day, 24-hour alert. During the Second World War, No. 1435 Flight was a night fighter unit on Malta, subsequently raised to squadron status, becoming the only RAF flying squadron to be given a four digit number.


History


Early years

The Malta Night Fighter Unit (MNFU) was formed in late July 1941 at
RAF Ta Kali Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in functio ...
on Malta, equipped with 12
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 ...
II fighters. The unit's Hurricanes usually operated in pairs in conjunction with searchlights. It claimed its first successes on the night of 5/6 August, when two Fiat BR 20Ms were shot down. No. 1435 (Night Fighter) Flight was first formed at
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 ...
as a night fighter unit on 4 December 1941, by re-designating the Malta Night Fighter Unit. The unit remained equipped with Hawker Hurricane II fighters, but now found that the Hurricane had difficulty in intercepting fast Junkers Ju 88s over Malta, and instead began to operate night intruder missions over
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
to catch the enemy aircraft over their own airfields, fitting its Hurricanes with external fuel tanks to increase the aircraft's endurance. They were also used to drop supplies (and in particular money) to a British agent operating in Sicily. On 7 March the Flight was strengthened by the addition of four
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
-equipped
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 Beaufort ...
night fighters. The flight was reformed in July 1942 at
RAF Luqa Royal Air Force Luqa was a Royal Air Force station located on the island of Malta, now developed into the Malta International Airport. It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the Second World War. Particularly during ...
, Malta, as a day fighter unit equipped with
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 ...
, and manned by personnel from several squadrons, including Nos. 185,
249 __NOTOC__ Year 249 ( CCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gavius and Aquilinus (or, less frequently, year 1002 ''Ab ...
and 603 Squadrons. After a brief period as No. 1435 (Fighter) Flight, at
RAF Luqa Royal Air Force Luqa was a Royal Air Force station located on the island of Malta, now developed into the Malta International Airport. It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the Second World War. Particularly during ...
, due to its size it was raised to No. 1435 Squadron on 2 August 1942 at RAF Luqa, Malta. It converted to fighter-bomber activities in January 1943 and operated over
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
and in Italy. It was assigned to the Balkan Air Force, carrying out operations over
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
and
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
until the end of the war. It disbanded on 29 April 1945 at Falconara, Italy.


Falkland Islands

Following the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
, the Flight provided an air defence unit at Stanley airfield. As this was badly damaged during the fighting the Flight reformed with Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 aircraft in late 1983 and disbanding again in May 1985. In November 1988, when No. 23(F) Squadron converted to the
Panavia Tornado F3 The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1986 ...
, No. 1435 Flight was revived, equipped with four McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2s. After No. 23(F) Squadron's disbandment at RAF Mount Pleasant, the mission and equipment were transferred to No. 1435 Flight. The Phantoms were replaced in July 1992 when four Tornado F3s arrived in the Falklands. No. 1435 Flight re-equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 in September 2009, when ''ZJ944'', ''ZJ949'', ''ZJ950'' and ''ZK301'' arrived from
RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and hom ...
.


Flight home stations

*
RAF Ta Kali Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in functio ...
*
RAF Luqa Royal Air Force Luqa was a Royal Air Force station located on the island of Malta, now developed into the Malta International Airport. It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the Second World War. Particularly during ...
(1942) * RAF Stanley (1983 – 1985) * RAF Mount Pleasant (1988 – present)


Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by No. 1435 Flight. * Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb / Mk.IIc (December 1941 – June 1942) * Bristol Beaufighter Mk.I (August 1942 – April 1945) * Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 (1983 – 1985) * McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 (November 1988 – 1992) *
Panavia Tornado F3 The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1986 ...
(1992 – September 2009) * Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 (September 2009 – present)


Heritage and traditions


Motto

The Flight goes by the motto of "Protect the Right" while the motto of the Falkland Islands is "Desire the Right".


Maltese heritage

The Flight has maintained its Maltese connections, with its aircraft sporting the
Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...
. The practice of naming the four-aircraft presence on the islands has also been maintained: they are called ''Faith'', ''Hope'' and ''Charity'', after the legendary three
Gloster Sea Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...
s that once defended Malta, and ''Desperation''. ''Desperation'' was added to the three traditional names when Phantoms entered service in the Falklands and the flight was revived in 1988. ''Faith'', ''Hope'' and ''Charity'' fly operationally, with ''Desperation'' appropriately in reserve. On their retirement in 1992, one of the Phantoms was placed as the
gate guardian A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main ...
at Mount Pleasant. The Phantoms were replaced by four Tornado F.3s. The four Tornados remained in active service until they were replaced in their turn by four Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4s in September 2009. Although the unit's new aircraft do not have the traditional names applied, the four aircraft have tailcodes that match (F, H, C, D).


See also

* No. 1312 Flight RAF - Falklands transport aircraft *
List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Squadron (aviation), Squadrons are the main form of flying unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF). These include Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) squadrons incorporated into the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918, dur ...
*
List of Royal Air Force independent flights This is a list of Royal Air Force independent Flights. An independent Flight is a military administrative structure which is used to command flying units where the number of aircraft is not large enough to warrant a fully fledged squadron. RAF C ...
*
Military of the Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the pro ...


References

;Notes ; Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * *


External links


Page of Images of 1435 Flight's Tornado F.3s
*, uploaded 18 January 2007. {{Royal Air Force 1435 Flight 1435 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War II