- No. IV Squadron RAF
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=No. IV Squadron
role=Offensive Support
branch=Royal Air Force
equipment=Harrier GR7
command_structure=RAF Air Command
garrison=RAF Cottesmore
motto="In futurum videre" (Latin: "To see into the future")
dates=September 1912 (RFC)
identification_symbol="A sun in splendour divided per bend by a flash of lightning"
battle_honours=Western Front 1914-1918, Mons, Ypres 1917 Somme 1918, France and Low Countries 1939-1940, France and Germany 1944-1945, Normandy 1944, Arnhem, Iraq 2003No. IV Squadron of the
Royal Air Force operates the Harrier GR7 fromRAF Cottesmore .History
4 Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the
Royal Flying Corps and was sent toFrance on the outbreak of theFirst World War in August 1914. After flying a variety of different aircraft before and during the war, they had standardised onto theRoyal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 by the time they returned to theUnited Kingdom in 1919.Not for the last time, 4 Sqn deployed on
Royal Navy aircraft carriers when they sailed toTurkey on HMS "Ark Royal" and "Argus" during theChanak crisis in 1922. Several more aircraft types and a move from Farnborough toRAF Odiham preceded theSecond World War . The squadron moved to France as part of theBritish Expeditionary Force in 1939 with theWestland Lysander , with which it continued in the coastal patrol and air-sea rescue role after returning to the UK.Changing to a reconnaissance role in 1942, firstly with the Mustang, subsequently with both the Mosquito and Spitfire aircraft, which the squadron kept until converting to jets with the Vampire in 1950. After several years operating the Vampire, Sabre and Hunter, the squadron moved to
RAF Wildenrath inGermany with the Harrier. The squadron has operated the Harrier ever since, receiving numerous upgrades and new versions over the years.Previous aircraft operated
*BE2C
*RE8
*Argus
*FE2B
*Armstrong-Whitworth Atlas
*Audax
*Lysander
*Mustang
*Mosquito
*Spitfire
*de Havilland Vampire
*Sabre
*Hunter
*Harrier GR1 GR3 GR7 GR7A GR9The squadron is presently based at RAF Cottesmore with the GR9 version of the Harrier.
See also
*
List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
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