No. 2 Squadron RAF

No. II (AC) Squadron
Active	13 May 1912 (RFC)
Role	Reconnaissance
Garrison/HQ	RAF Marham
Motto	"Hereward" (Guardian of the Army)
Equipment	Tornado GR4A
Battle honours	Western Front 1914-1918, Neuve Chappelle, Ypres 1915, Somme 1916, France and Low Countries 1939-1940, Dunkirk, Normandy 1944, Arnhem, Gulf 1991, Iraq 2003
Commanders
Commanding Officer	Wing Commander J Turner
Notable commanders	Jock Stirrup
Insignia
Identification symbol	The RAF roundel (three concentric circles) over all a Wake knot

No. 2 Squadron (otherwise known as No. II (AC) Squadron) of the Royal Air Force is currently one of two RAF squadrons (the other is No. 13 Squadron RAF) operating in the reconnaissance role with the Tornado GR4A and GR4 and is based at RAF Marham, Norfolk.

No. II Squadron holds claim to being "the oldest heavier-than-air flying machine squadron in the world", along with No. 3 Squadron RAF. Its traditional Army Co-Operation role is reflected in its title, its motto Hereward ("Guardian of the Army"), and the Wake knot in its crest. Its unofficial nickname is "Shiny Two".

History

Foundation until Armistice

Formed on 13 May 1912, along with 1 Sqn and 3 Sqn, 2 Sqn was a founder member of the Royal Flying Corps. The squadron's first commander was Major C J Burke. The squadron was the first to fly the English Channel into France.^[1] Starting a role which continues to this day, the squadron spent World War I on reconnaissance duties in France flying, amongst other aircraft, the B.E.2. The squadron was based at Montrose, Angus during the early years of the twentieth century. At Montrose the ghost story of Desmond Arthur spread around the flying corps. Although its principal role was not air to air combat, it still had one flying ace among its ranks in Arthur William Hammond.^[2] It also numbered the first aviation Victoria Cross winners in its ranks, in Second Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse and Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod.^[3]

Between the World Wars

The squadron gained the AC in its title in the inter-war years, flying Army Co-operation (AC) sorties during the troubles around the partition of Ireland in the early 1920s. After time in China during 1927 the squadron re-equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas again on Army Co-operation work.

At the outbreak of World War II the unit was flying Lysanders. In France until the Dunkirk evacuation, the squadron equipped with fighters - the Tomahawk in 1940, the Mustang in 1942 and Spitfire Mk 14s in 1944

In July 1944, assigned to the 2nd Tactical Air Force, II (AC) Sqn returned to France, and the reconnaissance role, with Spitfire PR Mk 11s.

Post World War II

The squadron spent much of the Cold War in Germany as part of the Army of Occupation, flying various fighter types, including latterly Phantoms and then Jaguars. Along with much of the RAF, II (AC) Sqn withdrew from Germany in the early 1990s - moving to RAF Marham with its Tornado GR1As. These were upgraded to the latest GR4 standard, with which the squadron deployed at part of Operation Telic over Iraq in 2003.

Tornado GR4 in special markings for the 95th Anniversary of the squadron in 2007

Aircraft operated

No.2 Sqn Jaguar GR.1s at RAF Wildenrath, Germany, in 1978

• 1912 - Bristol Boxkite
• 1912 - Breguet G.3 biplane
• 1912 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.1
• 1912 - Farman S.7 Longhorn
• 1912 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2
• 1912 - Henry Farman Biplane
• 1912 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2a
• 1914 - Farman S.11 Shorthorn
• 1914 - Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.1
• 1914 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c
• 1914 - Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5
• 1915 - Vickers FB.5
• 1915 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2b
• 1915 - Bristol Scout
• 1916 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2d
• 1917 - Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2e
• 1917 - Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8
• 1920 - Bristol F.2b Fighter
• 1929 - Armstrong Whitworth Atlas
• 1933 - Hawker Audax
• 1937 - Hawker Hector
• 1938 - Westland Lysander I
• 1940 - Westland Lysander II
• 1940 - Westland Lysander III
• 1941 - Curtiss Tomahawk I
• 1941 - Curtiss Tomahawk II
• 1942 - North American Mustang I
• 1944 - North American Mustang IA
• 1944 - North American Mustang II
• 1944 - Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire XIV
• 1945 - Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire XI
• 1946 - Vickers-Supermarine Spitfite PR19
• 1950 - Gloster Meteor FR9
• 1951 - Gloster Meteor PR10
• 1956 - Supermarine Swift FR5
• 1961 - Hawker Hunter FR10
• 1970 - McDonell-Douglas Phantom FGR2
• 1976 - SEPECAT Jaguar GR1
• 1988 - Tornado GR1A
•  ???? - Tornado GR4/4A

Commanders

The following officers have had command of 2 Squadron:^[4]

• 13 May 1912 Captain H R M Brooke-Popham^[5]
• 20 May 1912 Major C J Burke
• 10 November 1914 Major G W P Dawes
• 8 March 1915 Major T I Webb-Bowen^[6]
• 2 June 1915 Major J H W Becke
• 3 November 1915 Major C F de S.Murphy
• 9 April 1916 Major R A Cooper
• 16 August 1917 Major W R Snow
• 28 August 1918 Major P G Ross-Hume
• 12 November 1919 Squadron Leader B F More
• 18 June 1920 Squadron Leader F W Stent
• 16 August 1920 Squadron Leader A J Butler MC
• 15 May 1922 Squadron Leader L F Forbes
• 2 March 1925 Squadron Leader R E Saul^[7]
• 9 January 1927 Squadron Leader W Sowrey DFC MC
• 1 April 1928 Squadron Leader H M Probyn
• 29 September 1930 Squadron Leader S E Toomer DFC MC
• 12 January 1933 Squadron Leader P F Fullard DSO MC AFC
• 1 December 1933 Squadron Leader J H Green
• 20 July 1935 Squadron Leader N L Despoer
• 21 April 1938 Squadron Leader W A Opie
• 29 April 1939 Squadron Leader A J W Geddes (Wing Commander from 1 March 1940)
• 24 December 1941 Wing Commander P J A Riddell
• 8 February 1943 Wing Commander P W Stansfeld
• 29 June 1943 Squadron Leader B O C Egan-Wyer
• 25 August 1943 Squadron Leader M J Gray DFC
• 7 September 1944 Squadron Leader C A Maitland DFC
• 25 March 1945 Squadron Leader R J F Mitchell DFC
• 24 April 1946 Squadron Leader D W Barlow DFC
• 15 December 1946 Squadron Leader G Collinson
• 28 October 1948 Squadron Leader W A Newenham DFC
• 6 February 1950 Squadron Leader L H Bartlett DSO
• 1 November 1950 Squadron Leader R M Pugh AFC
• 29 May 1953 Squadron Leader R H G Weighill DFC
• 31 August 1955 Flight Lieutenant M C Newman
• 15 November 1955 Squadron Leader R S Mortley AFC
• 12 May 1958 Squadron Leader C A Wade
• 16 September 1960 Squadron Leader C S MacDonald
• 15 February 1962 Squadron Leader D L F Thornton
• 13 December 1964 Squadron Leader N J R Walpole
• 16 June 1967 Squadron Leader T Barrett
• 11 November 1969 Squadron Leader R J M David
• 7 December 1971 Wing Commander B A Stead
• 2 December 1972 Wing Commander D H Warren
• 8 May 1975 Wing Commander D C Ferguson
• 1 April 1976 Wing Commander R A F Wilson
• 6 January 1978 Wing Commander R Fowler AFC
• 4 May 1980 Wing Commander T G Thorn AFC
• 18 January 1983 Wing Commander F J Hoare AFC
• 31 May 1985 Wing Commander G E Stirrup
• 13 March 1987 Wing Commander P O Sturley
• 1 January 1989 Wing Commander A Threadgould
• 1 July 1991 Wing Commander B C Holding
• 21 July 1993 Wing Commander R J Hounslow
• 6 December 1993 Wing Commander C M Nickols
• 26 April 1996 Wing Commander R F Garwood DFC
• 27 November 1998 Wing Commander Steve J Hillier DFC
• 15 September 2000 Wing Commander R M Poole
• 2 May 2003 Wing Commander S Cockram
• 25 September 2005 Wing Commander A Hine
• 19 May 2008 Wing Commander J Turner DFC

Accolades

• 2nd Lt William Rhodes-Moorhouse, of 2 Sqn, was the first British airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross, during a raid on Kortrijk, Belgium on 26 April 1915.
• No 2 Sqn became the first RFC squadron to cross the Channel to France, at the outbreak of World War I

See also

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

1. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/gbritain/rfc/2.php Retrieved 7 February 2010
2. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/hammond1.php Retrieved 7 February 2010
3. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/gbritain/rfc/2.php Retrieved 7 February 2010
4. ^ www.twosqnassoc.co.uk
5. ^ www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Brooke-Popham
6. ^ www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Webb-Bowen
7. ^ www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Saul

Bibliography

• Butcher, Percy Edwin. Skill and Devotion: A Personal Reminiscence of the Famous No. 2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Hampton Hill, Middlesex, UK: Radio Modeller Book Division, 1971.
• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Onderwater, Hans. Second to None: the History of No. II (Army Co-operation) Squadron RAF, 1912-2002. second edition, Airlife Publishing, UK. ISBN 1-84037-408-X. A third, centennial edition is now researched and written by the author for publishing in May 2012.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0187-5.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.

• Onderwater, J.G. Hans, Second to None; the History of No.II (AC) Squadron, Shrewsbury, Air Life Publishers, first edition 1992, second edition 2002 ISBN 1-84027-408-X. Third edition to be published in 2012 by the same author.

External links

• II(AC) Squadron Association