No. 35 Squadron (also known as No. XXXV (Madras Presidency) Squadron) was 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, ...

of the

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) and ...

History

World War I

No. 35 Squadron was formed on 1 February 1916 at

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

, training as a Corps reconnaissance squadron. In January 1917 the squadron moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, equipped with the

Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 was a British two-seat general-purpose biplane built by Armstrong Whitworth during the First World War. The type served alongside the better known R.E.8 until the end of the war, at which point 694 F.K.8s remained ...

, beginning operations during the Battle of Arras, working alongside the Cavalry Corps, throughout 1917 (which later resulted in the Pegasus winged horses head in the Squadrons' badge). From 19 August to 5 October 1917, the squadron was based at

La Gorgue La Gorgue is a town in northern France. It is a commune in the Nord department. The population of La Gorgue in 2019 was 5,639.Bristol Fighters supplemented its F.K.8s between February and July 1918. The squadron was deployed in support of the Fifth Army during the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, making many attacks against German troops on the first day of the offensive, 21 March, dropping 116 25-lb bombs that day. It continued to carry out low level attack operations against German troops in addition to its normal reconnaissance duties throughout the German attacks, also being employed on night bombing attacks. The squadron operated in support of

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

during the Battle of Amiens in August 1918, and during the attack on the Hindenburg Line in September 1918. The squadron started to re-equip with Bristol Fighters again in October 1918, but this process was not complete by the end of the war in November that year. It returned to

RAF Netheravon 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 ...

in March 1919 and disbanded on 26 June 1919.

Between the Wars

On 1 March 1929 the squadron reformed at

Bircham Newton Bircham Newton is the smallest of the three villages that make up the civil parish of Bircham, in the west of the English county of Norfolk. The village is located about 1 km north of the larger village of Great Bircham, 20 km north- ...

, and was initially equipped 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, repl ...

s, re-equipping with the

Fairey IIIF The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in us ...

in November that year. In 1932, its IIIFs were replaced by an improved development, the

Fairey Gordon The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber (2-seat day bomber) and utility aircraft of the 1930s. The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine. A ...

. As a response to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the squadron was posted to the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in late 1935, returning to

RAF Worthy Down RAF Worthy Down was a Royal Air Force station built in 1918, north of Winchester, Hampshire, England. After it was transferred to Royal Navy control in 1939 as RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), the airfield remained in use throughout the Second Wo ...

in August 1936, and re-equipping with the

Vickers Wellesley The Vickers Wellesley was a medium bomber that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey. It was one of two aircraft to be named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of We ...

. On 12 April 1938 the squadron converted to the

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...

World War II

Halifaxes over Brest Dec 1941 IWM C 4109

On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, No. 35 Squadron was designated a training unit, supplementing its Battles with

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

s and

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 ...

s late in 1939. The squadron disbanded after being absorbed into No. 17 OTU along with No. 90 Squadron at

RAF Upwood Royal Air Force Upwood or more simply RAF Upwood is a former Royal Air Force station adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire, England, in the United Kingdom. It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United Sta ...

, on 8 April 1940. The squadron reformed on 5 November 1940 as part of 4 Group at

RAF Boscombe Down MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

as the first

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

squadron. It received its first Halifaxes on 13 November, before moving to

RAF Leeming Royal Air Force Leeming or RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

on 20 November, and to

RAF Linton-on-Ouse RAF Linton-on-Ouse was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield (British Army). The station opened in 1937. With the ...

, also in Yorkshire, on 5 December that year. In August 1942 it was one of the five squadrons selected to create the

Pathfinder Force The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in RAF Bomber Command during World War II. They located and marked targets with flares, which a main bomber force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were norma ...

. The squadron was based at

RAF Graveley RAF Graveley is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Huntingdon. The station was originally intended to operate under No. 3 Group RAF, alongside RAF Tempsford and RAF Gransden Lodge. Station history Work on the site started in 1 ...

. When the Pathfinder Force was enlarged 35 Squadron was a part of the newly designated No. 8 Group. In March 1944 the squadron converted to 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 ...

, which it used till the end of the war. Sqd Ldr Alec Panton Cranswick DSO, DFC, was in 35 Sqd at the time of his death when his Lancaster was shot down on a raid to Villeneuve St George near Paris on the night of 4 July 1944, it was his 107th mission and he flew more bombing operations than any other RAF pilot in WW2, he was on his 4th operational tour. Although Wg CDR Guy Gibson VC, DSO & BAR, DFC & BAR had a higher ops tally a percentage of them were fighter ops making his bomber ops total less than Sqd Ldr Cranswick.

Postwar

In 1946, in addition to participating in the Victory flypast over London the squadron participated in a goodwill tour of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, later returning to

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Part of th ...

, due to Graveley's closure. The Lancasters were replaced by

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 in September 1949, and the squadron later disbanded on 23 February 1950. On 1 September 1951 the squadron reformed at

Marham Marham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximate away from King's Lynn. An RAF station, RAF Marham, is situated nearby at Upper Marham.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 - King's Lynn, Downham M ...

equipped with the

Boeing Washington The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

. In April 1954 the squadron re-equipped with its first jet powered aircraft type, the English Electric Canberra, Canberra B.2

twin engined light bomber. The squadron again disbanded on 11 September 1961. Avro Vulcan B

No. 35 Squadron reformed for the last time on 1 December 1962 at

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 ...

as part of

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

's V-bomber force, equipped with eight Vulcan B2 aircraft and Yellow Sun free-falling bombs in a high-altitude strategic bombing role, moving to

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

on 7 November 1964. When the WE.177B strategic bomb became available from mid-1966, eight were issued to No. 35 Squadron at Cottesmore. These laydown bombs were specifically designed for the low-level penetration role, did not require a pre-release 'pop-up' manoeuvre, and improved the survivability of the squadron's Vulcans. Following the transfer of responsibility for the nuclear deterrent to the Royal Navy the squadron joined the Near East Strike Force at

RAF Akrotiri RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compr ...

, Cyprus, still equipped with eight Vulcan B2s and eight WE.177 nuclear weapons and a variety of conventional weapons. The squadron remained at Akrotiri with 9 Squadron's similarly equipped Vulcans assigned as part of the UK contribution to

CENTO The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...

the Central Treaty Organisation, for use in the low-level penetration role until the end of 1974, returning to

RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First ...

in January 1975 where the squadron disbanded for the last time on 1 March 1982.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Air of AuthoritySquadron history page on official RAF website
* ttp://nuclear-weapons.info/images/1973-74.PNG RAF nuclear front line Order-of-Battle 1973–74br>RAF nuclear front line Order-of-Battle 1966–6735 Squadron
at the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. {{RAF squadrons 035 Squadron 035 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1916 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom