No. 29 Squadron RAF

No. 29 Squadron RAF
Official Squadron Badge of No. 29 Squadron RAF
Active	7 November 1915 - 1919 1923 - 1974 1975 - 1998 2003 - present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Operational Conversion Unit (air defense)
Base	RAF Coningsby
Motto	Latin: Impiger et Acer ("Energetic and keen")
Colors
Equipment	Eurofighter Typhoon
Battle honours	Western Front, 1916-1918*; Somme, 1916*; Arras; Ypres, 1917*; Somme, 1918*; Lys; Channel & North Sea, 1939-1940*; Battle of Britain, 1940*; Home Defence, 1940-1945*; Fortress Europe, 1943-1945: Normandy, 1944: France & Germany, 1944-1945* Arnhem. Honours marked with an asterisk* are emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
Insignia
Squadron Badge	An eagle in flight preying on a buzzard The squadron badge symbolises air combat[1]
Squadron Codes	YB (Dec 1938 - Sep 1939) RO (Sep 1939 - Apr 1951) B (Carried on Tornados)

No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for the RAF's newest fighter.

History

Service in World War I

This unit was first raised as a reserve squadron, initially equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, in November 1915. In early 1916 however No. 29 became the fourth squadron to receive the Airco DH.2 "pusher" fighter, and was posted to France in March 1916 - helping to end the Fokker Scourge and establish Allied air superiority in time for the Battle of the Somme.

By late 1916 the DH.2 was outclassed by new German fighters, but No. 29 kept its pushers until March 1917, when it was re-equipped with Nieuport 17s. These were replaced with later Nieuport types, such as the Nieuport 24bis, as these became available. Due to a shortage of the Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a the squadron retained its Nieuports until April 1918, becoming possibly the last operational unit to operate “vee strut” Nieuport fighters. At this time the squadron finally received the S.E.5a, which it retained for the rest of the war.

The award of a Victoria Cross — the highest award for valour "in the face of the enemy" in the British Empire — to Captain James McCudden of 29 Sqn was gazetted on 2 April, 1918, for McCudden's "conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance and a high devotion to duty", between August 1917 and March 1918. By the time of his death a few months later, McCudden had 57 official victories in air combat.

October 1918 was a bitter month for the squadron; four of its more notable members died within a fortnight. Claude Melnot Wilson was the first to fall, on 14 October.^[2][3][4] Roderic MacLean collided with Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath on the 26th, with MacLean dying that day and Rath lingering until the next.^[5][6] Even as Rath was succumbing to his injuries, Guy Wareing was shot down on the 27th.^[7]

After a short period with the army of occupation in Germany, the Squadron returned to the UK in August 1919 and was disbanded on 31 December 1919.

The squadron ended the war having claimed 385 victories. Apart from those already mentioned, the 26 aces who served with the squadron included:

• Edgar O. Amm
• Norman Brearley (12 victories) an Australian who later became a pioneering airline proprietor
• Sydney Brown
• Edgar G. Davies
• Francis James Davies
• Thomas Sinclair Harrison
• D'Arcy Fowlis Hilton
• Ernest Charles Hoy
• Arthur G. Jones-Williams
• Camille Lagesse
• William Molesworth
• James Dennis Payne
• Arthur Reed
• Charles G. Ross
• Reginald H. Rusby
• Alfred Shepherd
• Christoffel Venter, a South African and future Major General of the South African Air Force
• Walter Bertram Wood

"Inter-war" years (1923-1939)

The squadron was reformed on 1 April 1923, initially equipped with Sopwith Snipes. These were replaced with Gloster Grebes in January 1925, In turn, these were replaced by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III A in March 1928 and Bristol Bulldogs in June 1932.

In March 1935, nearly twenty years after it was first raised as a single seat fighter squadron, the squadron received two seater Hawker Demons, which it operated until 1938. This included service in Egypt from October 1935 to 1936, during the Abyssinian crisis. The squadron also operated a few old Fairey Gordons for night patrols in Egypt.

As part of the Royal Air Force’s modernisation and expansion in the late 1930s, No. 29 received Bristol Blenheim F.1 heavy fighters in December 1938.

Second World War

A Beaufighter Mk IF (B-RO) of No. 29 Squadron.

No 29 began the Second World War with its Blenheims, which at the period operated as day fighters – especially on convoy protection patrols. From June 1940 it became a night fighter squadron, receiving some of the first Beaufighters in November, though it was February 1941 before the squadron was fully equipped with the new fighter. Various marks of the de Havilland Mosquito were flown by the squadron from May 1943 culminating in the Mosquito NF30. From the middle of 1944 most of the squadron’s missions took it over the continent.

1945 to 1998

During the immediate post-war years the squadron remained a night/all weather fighter unit. The Mosquitoes continued to serve until replaced by Gloster Meteor NF11s in August 1951. In November 1957 these were superseded by Gloster Javelins.

29 Squadron Typhoon F2

29 Squadron Typhoon "three ship" waiting to take on fuel

In January 1957 the squadron moved north, first to Northumberland and then in July 1958 to Scotland, conversion to Javelins taking having taken place in November 1957. In February 1963 No 29 moved to Cyprus and in December 1965 went to Zambia for nine months on detachment during the Rhodesian crisis.

From 1967 the squadron operated the English Electric Lightning F3 at RAF Wattisham until 1974 when they equipped with the F-4 Phantom and moved to RAF Coningsby. A detachment was provided for the defence of the Falklands in August 1982, after the Falklands War, and following repairs to the airfield at Stanley. In 1987, 29 Squadron was one of the first units to receive the Tornado F3; deploying to Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and participating in Operation Desert Storm. No. 29 flew the Tornado until disbanding in 1998, as part of the Strategic Defence Review.

The current squadron

The squadron was reformed in 2003, this time as the Typhoon operational conversion unit (OCU). This is its current role.

Squadron markings and the "Misspelled Roman numeral" tradition

Since the late 1920s, the squadron marking has been three (red) Xs (XXX). Since this closely resembles the Roman numeral for "29" (XXIX) there is a "traditional" belief among current squadron personnel that this originated as a "misspelling" of the Roman numeral.

A line-up of 29 Squadron Siskins, in the late 1920s.

Although various versions of the tradition are put forward, the most common explanation is that a mis-understood instruction to ground crew to paint "2 X's in front of the roundel and IX behind it" meaning "X,X,(roundel), and 'IX' or 'one-X')" resulted in "XX(roundel)'one times' X".

In fact, the marking was always applied as "XXX(roundel)XXX" (as illustrated at the head of this article) - or as "XXX(roundel)" on smaller types, such as Siskins - unfortunately, neither lends much support to the "tradition".

It seems probable that the original adoption of "XXX" for the 1930s squadron marking was nothing to do with Roman numerals, but was a reference to the brewers mark for "extra strong", frequently applied to kegs of beer, and that it is only a coincidence that this resembles the numeral for "29" (XXIX).^[8] It should be noted that the use of Roman numerals for numbering RAF units is a relatively modern development - in any case it was certainly not the practice in the RAF in the 1920s. Nor, so far as it is known, has 29 squadron ever been officially referred to as "XXX squadron" - or as "XXIX squadron" for that matter.

Summary of aircraft operated

• Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c 1915-1916
• Airco DH.2 1916-1917
• Nieuport 17/24bis 1917-1918
• Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a 1918-1919
• Sopwith Snipe 1923-1925
• Gloster Grebe 1925-1928
• Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III a 1928-1932
• Bristol Bulldog 1932-1935
• Hawker Demon 1935-1938
• Bristol Blenheim 1939-1940
• Bristol Beaufighter 1940-1943
• De Havilland Mosquito XXX 1943-1951
• Gloster Meteor NF11 1951-1958
• Gloster Javelin 1957-1967
• English Electric Lightning F3 1967-1974
• McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2 1974-1987
• Panavia Tornado F3 1987-1998
• Eurofighter Typhoon F2 2003-

List of Commanding Officers

Rank	Name	Date Assumed Command	Notes
Major	Dawes, L	7 Nov 1915
Major	Conran, E L	25 May 1916	MC
Major	Gratton-Bellew, W A	5 Sep 1916	MC
Major	Champion de Crespigny, H V	22 Mar 1917	MC
Major	Chapman, C M B	21 Jul 1917	MC
Major	Champion de Crespigny, H V	04 Oct 1917	MC
Major	Dixon, C H	20 Nov 1917	MC
Major	White, H G	1 Apr 1923
Sqn Ldr	Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, The Hon L J E[9]	12 Aug 1923	[10][11]
Sqn Ldr	Neville, R H G	12 Aug 1924	MC
Sqn Ldr	Taylor, M L	10 Aug 1927	AFC
Sqn Ldr	Scott P E	06 Dec 1929
Sqn Ldr	Routh, E J D	09 Jun 1930
Sqn Ldr	O'Neill, H D	14 Apr 1931
Sqn Ldr	Butler, J H	18 Aug 1933
Sqn Ldr	Chapman, C	20 Aug 1934	DSC
Sqn Ldr	Mackay, E P	10 Dec 1935
Sqn Ldr	Fleming, D M	14 Apr 1936
Sqn Ldr	Lynch, J B	19 Aug 1937
Sqn Ldr	Jonas, R C	17 Dec 1937
Sqn Ldr	Robinson, M W S	02 Dec 1938
Sqn Ldr	Gomez, P S	13 Feb 1939
Sqn Ldr	Bitmead, E R	08 Jul 1940
Sqn Ldr	Widdows, S C	16 Jul 1940	DFC
Wg Cdr	Colbeck-Welch, E L	13 Jun 1941	DFC
Wg Cdr	Cleland, R	10 Jul 1942
Wg Cdr	Wight-Boycott, C M	10 Sep 1942	DSO
Wg Cdr	Miller, C M	20 Jan 1943
Wg Cdr	Mack, R E X	12 Jun 1943	DFC
Sqn Ldr	Arbon, P W	23 Feb 1944
Wg Cdr	Powell-Shedden, G F	29 Apr 1944	DSO DFC
Wg Cdr	Allan, J W	18 Dec 1944	DSO DFC
Wg Cdr	Wood, T C	31 Dec 1945	DFC
Sqn Ldr	Hawkins, D	1 Nov 1946	DFC
Sqn Ldr	Young, M J B	10 Mar 1949	DFC
Sqn Ldr	Shaw, M	7 Jul 1949	DSO
Sqn Ldr	Bodien, H E	15 Aug 1951	DSO DFC
Sqn Ldr	Horsley, B P T	30 Jun 1952	AFC
Sqn Ldr	Sismore, E B	11 May 1953	DSO DFC
Wg Cdr	Aiken, J A C	2 Jan 1956
Wg Cdr	Harbison, W	2 Jan 1958	AFC
Wg Cdr	Gordon-Cumming, A R	15 Jul 1959
Wg Cdr	Gardiner, R E	3 Jul 1961	DFC
Wg Cdr	Jeffery, E G P	18 Apr 1962
Wg Cdr	Burge, K	1 Jan 1965
Wg Cdr	Neil, R	23 Nov 1966
Sqn Ldr	Boyer, L A	10 May 1967
Wg Cdr	Phipps, L W	18 Sep 1967	AFC
Wg Cdr	Carrol, B	20 Jan 1969
Wg Cdr	Carter, P	31 Jul 1971
Wg Cdr	Hawtin, J D C	7 Jul 1973
Wg Cdr	Lavender, B W	31 Dec 1974	AFC
Wg Cdr	Oakden, D I	4 Jul 1975
Wg Cdr	Elworthy, T C	23 May 1977
Wg Cdr	Macfadyen, I D	1 Feb 1980
Wg Cdr	Smith, G C	17 Dec 1982	AFC
Wg Cdr	Macfadyen, I D	1 Jun 1983
Wg Cdr	Alcock, A J H	2 Aug 1983	MBE
Wg Cdr	Sudborough, N J	13 Nov 1985
Wg Cdr	Doble, L A	01 Apr 1987
Wg Cdr	Trotter, R W D	10 Nov 1989
Wg Cdr	Hodgson, P	24 Jul 1992
Wg Cdr	Routledge, M J	20 Jan 1995
Wg Cdr	Randle, N	18 Jul 1997|
Wg Cdr	Hitchcock, J J	1 Dec 2003
Sqn Ldr	Hargreaves, I J	5 Nov 2004
Wg Cdr	Mackay, A J	1 Apr 2005
Wg Cdr	Gregory, A J	6 Jun 2007
Wg Cdr	Stringer, J J	7 Sep 2007
Wg Cdr	Seymour, A J	Nov 2009

See also

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

1. ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 80.
2. ^ http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem/Detail&casualty=163472 Retrieved 23 February 2010.
3. ^ http://wwii.ca/memorial/world-war-i/104967/lieutenant-claude-melnot-wilson/ Retrieved 23 February 2010.
4. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/wilson2.php Retrieved 23 February 2010.
5. ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://medaillesdutournaisis.skynetblogs.be/post/5200349/ce-11-novembre-si-nous-passons-par-la-&ei=5ayES9yJH4PSsQOX1fGeDw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CAwQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Guy%2BWilbraham%2BWareing%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den Retrieved 23 February 2010.
6. ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://medaillesdutournaisis.skynetblogs.be/post/5200349/ce-11-novembre-si-nous-passons-par-la-&ei=5ayES9yJH4PSsQOX1fGeDw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CAwQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Guy%2BWilbraham%2BWareing%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den Retrieved 23 February 2010.
7. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/wareing.php Retrieved 23 February 2010.
8. ^ Robertson 1957, p. 68.
9. ^ Lawrence John Evelyn Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes
10. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/1999/7469-maj-hon-l-j-e-twisleton-wykeham-fiennes.html
11. ^ http://thepeerage.com/p33655.htm#i336544

Bibliography

• Halley, James J. Famous Fighter Squadrons of the RAF: Volume 1. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Hylton Lacey Publishers Ltd., 1971. ISBN 0-85064-100-4.
• 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, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
• Rawlings, John. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1969 (second edition 1976). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Robertson, Bruce. Aircraft Camouflage and Markings, 1907-1954. Letchworth, Harleyford Publications, 1957.

External links

• RAF Squadron page
• Official Eurofighter site