Number 8 Squadron (sometimes written as No. VIII Squadron) 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 ...

last operated the Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1 ( AWACS) from

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 Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. As of 2020, the RAF AWACS fleet was made up of three Sentry AEW1s, down from seven originally ordered in the late 1980s. Pursuant to the 2021 defence review, the E-3D Sentry aircraft made its final flight in U.K. service in August 2021. It was announced in July 2019 that from the early 2020s the squadron will be the first to operate the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail AEW1, the planned replacement for the RAF's E-3D Sentry fleet. The squadron will then reform at RAF Lossiemouth.

History

First World War

As No. 8 Squadron of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(RFC) it was formed at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

on 1 January 1915, equipped with the

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. The squadron moved to Gosport later in January for further training, and crossed to France on 15 April 1915.Rawlings 1982, p. 19. While its main equipment was the B.E.2c, it also operated a fighter flight between May 1915 and early 1916 equipped with a mixture of aircraft, including the

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 was a British two-seat single-engined general purpose biplane of the First World War, designed by John Kenworthy at the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1913.Hare 1990, p. 171. Small numbers were used by the Royal Fly ...

and the Bristol Scout, while it also evaluated the prototype

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 was a British experimental reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. Design The intention of the designers was to combine the high performance of tractor configuration aircraft with a good field of fire for the o ...

, a modified B.E.2 that carried the observer/gunner in a nacelle ahead of the aircraft's propeller.Bruce 1982, pp. 379, 382, 384. Operating from airfields near Saint-Omer, the squadron was initially used for bombing and long-range reconnaissance, carrying out flights of up to behind the front lines.Ashworth 1989, p. 43. In February 1916 it moved to Bellevue and specialised in the Corps Reconnaissance role, carrying out contact patrols and artillery spotting in close co-operation with the army.Halley 1980, p. 29. The squadron flew in support of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in the summer of 1916 and the Battle of Arras in April–May 1917. It received the improved B.E.2e from February 1917, but despite this, losses were heavy as all marks of B.E.2 were outclassed. Armstrong Whitworth FK.8s replaced the B.E.2s in August 1917.Halley 1980, p. 30. In June 1918, No 8 Squadron, part of the

since 1 April 1918 and commanded by Major T. Leigh-Mallory, was allocated to the

Tank Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...

, flying contact patrols in support of the Tank Corps attacks during the Battle of Amiens, and becoming expert in spotting and destroying German anti-tank guns. The FK.8s and some tanks were equipped with

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

sets, although wireless communications between tanks and aeroplanes remained at a very basic stage for the rest of the war.Fuller 1920, pp. 242–4, 248. On 12 August 1918, Captain Ferdinand West of 8 Squadron was flying a F.K.8 on a contact patrol when he was attacked by seven German fighters. Despite a severe leg wound, West managed to manoeuvre his aircraft so that his observer could drive off the attacking fighters, before making a forced landing behind Allied lines and insisting in reporting the results of the flight. He was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for this action.Fuller 1920, pp. 246–7. In December 1918, a few weeks after the Armistice with Germany that ended the First World War, the Squadron re-equipped with

Sunbeam Arab The Sunbeam Arab was a British First World War era aero engine. Design and development By 1916 the demand for aero-engines was placing huge demands on manufacturing. To help ease the pressure the War Office standardised on engines of about ; ...

-engined

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. It served briefly in Germany as part of the

British Army of Occupation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, before moving back to the United Kingdom in July 1919 and disbanding on 20 January 1920."8 Squadron"
. ''Royal Air Force''. Retrieved 16 September 2012.

Reformation

8 Squadron reformed at

Helwan Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...

, near

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, as a day-bomber squadron equipped with the Airco DH.9A on 18 October 1920. It moved to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in the Air Policing role, with the security of Iraq the responsibility of the RAF, in February 1921.Ashworth 1989, pp. 43–44. The squadron was deployed to

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

in July 1922, where it operated against a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

rebellion and Turkish infiltration, and helping to evacuate forces allied to the British from the city of Sulaymaniyah in September 1922.""Exile" - Between The Wars - 1920-1939: No 8 Squadron is Posted Overseas"
''8 Squadron Royal Air Force''. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2012. In November–December 1923 the squadron was deployed against

Marsh Arabs The Marsh Arabs ( ar, عرب الأهوار ''ʻArab al-Ahwār'' "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as the Maʻdān ( ar, معدان "dweller in the plains") or Shroog (Iraqi ar, شروق, "those from the east")—the latter two often ...

in the

Mesopotamian Marshes The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and in southwestern Iran. The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra, ...

. In February 1927, in response to unrest in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

, 8 Squadron was deployed to

RAF Khormaksar Royal Air Force Khormaksar or more simply RAF Khormaksar was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Aden, Yemen. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station a ...

, where it continued in the air policing role. The squadron replaced its elderly DH.9As with new

Fairey III 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 ...

F light bombers from January 1928. It flew operations against Zaidi in February 1928 and against the Subaihi tribe, who were refusing to pay taxes and revolting, from January to March 1929. Operations against the Subaihi involved destroying crops with incendiary bombs and bombing villages after giving warning so they could be evacuated. This pressure eventually forced the Subaihi to sue for peace, with the rebel chiefs paying fines. More peaceful operation carried out by the squadron included survey flights, casualty evacuation and carrying mail, while the squadron carried out a long-distance return trip from Aden to Cairo and back in 1932."8 Squadron Moves to Aden"
. ''8 Squadron Royal Air Force''. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2012.Thetford ''Aeroplane Monthly'' May 1994, pp. 34–35. In April 1935, it re-equipped again with Vickers Vincents, a general purpose aircraft based on the Vickers Vildebeest biplane torpedo bomber replacing the Fairey IIIFs. The squadron started to receive Bristol Blenheim twin-engined

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

bombers in April 1939, but it retained a flight of Vincents for operations over the rough interior of the Aden Protectorate.Ashworth 1989, p. 44.

Second World War

On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. No 8 Squadron flew its first combat missions of the war on 12 June, when nine Blenheims bombed an airfield at

Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches an ...

in Italian-occupied

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, across the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

from Aden, with 5 Vincents attacking the same airfield that night.Shores 1996, p. 18–19. On 5 August 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland, and 8 Squadron's Blenheims flew missions against advancing Italian troop columns. The Italians heavily outnumbered the British and Commonwealth defences, and the port of

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

was occupied by the Italians on 19 August."The Ethiopian Campaign - 1940-1941"
. ''8 Squadron Royal Air Force'', 4 September 2006. Retrieved 19 September 2012.Shores 1996, pp. 45–54. The squadron's long association with the Middle East gave rise to the adoption of the Arabian Khunjah as the unit's badge. The unit continued to be based at

in Aden equipped with Bristol Blenheims. Vickers Wellington XIIIs were flown from December 1943 until May 1945.Halley, 1988, p. 35

Post-War (1945–1971)

On 15 May 1945 No. 8 Squadron was reformed by renumbering No. 200 Squadron at RAF

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

in India. Consolidated Liberator VIs were flown. The squadron again disbanded on 15 November 1945. The unit was reformed at Khormaksar on 1 September 1946 by renumbering No. 114 Squadron and the role of fighter bomber was adopted, initially with Mosquito FB.6 aircraft. These were replaced by the Hawker Tempest, and the Bristol Brigand. Jet equipment was received in 1953 with the De Havilland Vampire FB.9. Continued updating of equipment brought the De Havilland Venom FB.1 and FB.4 and the

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 ...

, flown from 1960 until 1967. The squadron disbanded on 21 December 1971.

Shackletons and Sentries (1972–2021)

The squadron reformed at RAF Kinloss on 1 January 1972 in the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) role using Avro Shackleton AEW.2s. It moved to RAF Lossiemouth on 14 August 1973, where it stayed until 1991 when it moved to

near Lincoln and re-equipped with

Boeing E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-wea ...

. The squadron was deployed over the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

in the early 1990s; it also saw action over

in 2009 and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 2010 and was then involved in

Operation Ellamy Operation Ellamy was the codename for the United Kingdom participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The operation was part of an international coalition aimed at enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone in accordance with the United Nation ...

in 2011 during the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

. In early 2015, No. 8 Squadron deployed with two Sentries to

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, to participate in Operation Shader. Two Sentries (''ZH101'' and ''ZH103'') deployed to RAF Akrotiri in late May/early June 2021 to support Carrier Strike Group 21 as it passed through the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The E-3D's final operational sortie was carried out on 30 July, with ''ZH103'' returning to Waddington on 2 August followed by ''ZH101'' on 4 August. The Sentry AEW1s were officially retired by the RAF on 28 September 2021.

Future

It was announced in July 2019 that from the mid-2020s the squadron will be the first to operate the

Boeing E-7 Wedgetail The Boeing 737 AEW&C is a twin-engine airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design. It is lighter than the 707-based Boeing E-3 Sentry, and has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar ...

, the planned replacement for the RAF's E-3D Sentry fleet.

Aircraft operated

RAF - E-3D Sentry - Waddington Airshow 2012 (7495847112)

Aircraft operated include: *

Royal Aircraft Factory BE.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 ...

(1915–1917) *

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 ...

(1917–1918) * Bristol Fighter (1918–1920) * Airco DH.9A (1920–1927) *

F (1927–1935) * Vickers Vincent (1935–1942) * Bristol Blenheim (1939–1943) * Lockheed Hudson (1943) *

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

(1944–1945) *

Consolidated Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

(1945) *

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

(1946–194) * Hawker Tempest (1947–1949) * Bristol Brigand (1949–1952) * de Havilland Vampire FB.9 (1952–1955) * de Havilland Venom FB.1/FB.4 (1955–1960) * Gloster Meteor FR.9 (1958–1961) *

(1960–1971) * Avro Shackleton AEW.2 (1973–1991) * Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1 (1991–2021)

''Magic Roundabout'' and the RAF

Avro 696 Shack WL795 8 Sq GC 310776 edited-2

8 Squadron's Avro Shackleton airborne early warning aircraft were named after characters from '' The Magic Roundabout'' and '' The Herbs'':"Airborne Early Warning: The Shackleton Years 1972–1991 – The Importance of Airborne Early Warning"
Retrieved 23 August 2013. * WL741: PC Knapweed * WL745: Sage * WL754: Paul * WL756: Mr Rusty * WL757: Brian * WL790: Mr McHenry (later renamed Zebedee) (now in Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona, USA) * WL793: Ermintrude * WL795: Rosalie * WR960: Dougal (now in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in the UK) * WR963: Parsley (later Ermintrude II) * WR965: Dill (later Rosalie II) (sometimes referred to as Dylan) – crashed on Isle of Harris on 30 April 1990, killing all ten on board.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Ashworth, Chris. ''Encyclopedia of Modern Royal Air Force Squadrons''. Wellingborough, UK:PSL, 1989. . * Bruce, J. M. ''The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing)''. London: Putnam, 1982. . * Fuller, J. F. C
''Tanks in the Great War: 1914-1918''
New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1920. * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians), 1980. . * Halley, James, J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918-1988''. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1988. Tonbridge, Kent. . * Lewis, Peter. ''Squadron Histories: R.F.C, R.N.A.S and R.A.F., 1912–59''. London: Putnam, 1959. * Rawlings, John D. R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1982. . * Shores, Christopher. ''Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940–42''. London: Grub Street, 1996. . * Thetford, Owen. "By Day and By Night: Fairey IIIF and Gordon in Service". '' Aeroplane Monthly'', Vol 22 No 5, May 1994. pp. 32–38. ISSN 0143-7240.

External links

Royal Air Force website – 8 Squadron

8 Squadron Association
{{Royal Air Force Military units and formations established in 1915 008 Squadron 008 Squadron 1915 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in Aden in World War II R