No. 155 Squadron RAF is a former
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) an ...
squadron.
History
First World War
No.155 Squadron was formed at
RAF Chingford on 14 September 1918 as a bomber unit with
Airco DH.9A
The Airco DH.9A was a British single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, crucially, repla ...
s after an earlier decision to form at
RAF Feltham was abandoned. The war ended a few weeks later and the Squadron disbanded on 7 December 1918 as it had not yet become operational.
Second World War
On 1 April 1942, No.155 reformed at
RAF Peshawar as a squadron but did not receive its first
Curtiss Mohawk IVs until mid-August owing to the necessity to modify these aircraft for operational use. Air defense and convoy patrols began in September off
Madras and in October the squadron moved to
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and detachments began operating over
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 ...
. Reconnaissance, ground attack and bomber escort missions occupied the squadron until January 1944, when it finally replaced its Mohawks with
Supermarine Spitfires. Initially these were used for air defense duties until the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...
in Burma ceased to be a threat. Ground attack missions and escort for transport missions then became its main tasks, the Spitfires carrying 500-lb bombs during the last months of the campaign. In mid-September 1945, the squadron flew to
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, bor ...
soon after the Japanese surrender and in February 1946, moved to
Sumatra to provide tactical 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 ...
units there until disbanded on 31 August 1946.
Post War
In September 1954, No.155 reformed at
RAF Kuala Lumpur
Royal Air Force Kuala Lumpur or more simply RAF Kuala Lumpur is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station in the Federation of Malaya and saw extensive use during the Malayan Emergency.
It was built and opened by the RAF in 1931.
Military
The a ...
with
Westland Whirlwind helicopters and provided transport and casualty evacuation support for the Army and police in Malaya during their flight against Communist guerrillas in the jungle. On 3 June 1959, it merged with
No. 194 Squadron RAF to form
No. 110 Squadron RAF.
Aircraft operated
The squadron used a number of different aircraft types:
*
Airco DH.9A
*
Curtiss Mohawk IV
*
Supermarine Spitfire VIII & XIV
*
Westland Whirlwind HAR.4
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
No 155 Squadron on the RAF Website
{{RAF squadrons
155 Squadron
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