No. 203 Squadron RAF

No. 203 Squadron RAF
Active	1 September 1914 - 21 January 1920 1929 - 31 December 1977 October 1996 - present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto	Latin: Occidens oriensque "West and east"

No. 203 Squadron RAF was originally formed as No. 3 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service. It was renumbered No. 203 when the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918.

First World War

The squadron was formed as No. 3 Squadron RNAS on 1 September 1914 at Saint Pol, and became No. 3 Wing RNAS on 21 June 1915 after it was shipped to the Dardanelles.

A new 3 Squadron was formed at Saint Pol on 5 November 1916 from elements of No. 1 Wing RNAS. It then served as a fighter squadron on the Western Front. Among the numerous types of aircraft it was equipped with were the Nieuport 17, Nieuport 21, and Sopwith Pup, followed later by the Sopwith Camel.^[1]

Among its notable Officers Commanding were Canada's first ace, Redford Mulock; Lloyd S. Breadner, future Air Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force; Raymond Collishaw, sixth scoring ace of the war; and Tom F. Hazell, the Royal Air Force's tenth scoring ace of the war.^[2] The squadron produced a number of other notable aces, including Leonard Rochford; Arthur Whealy; James Alpheus Glen; Edwin Hayne; William Sidebottom; Frederick C. Armstrong; Joseph Stewart Temple Fall; Harold F. Beamish; future Air Marshal Aubrey Ellwood; John Joseph Malone; John Denis Breakey; Frederick Britnell; Francis Casey; Australia's highest scoring ace, Robert A. Little; Harold Spencer Kerby; Alfred Williams Carter; and Herbert Travers.^[3]

Eleven of the squadron's 23 aces were Canadian. The squadron claimed about 250 aerial victories during World War I.^[4]

Between the World Wars

On 21 January 1920, the squadron disbanded. In 1929 the squadron reformed as a reconnaissance squadron operating Supermarine Southampton flying boats.

Second World War

Shortly before the start of the war the squadron was re-equipped with Short Singapore IIIs^[5] and in 1940 with Bristol Blenheims. The squadron flew patrols over the Red Sea and Mediterranean from Basra, and in 1942 the squadron re-equipped with Martin Baltimore aircraft. In 1943 the squadron was posted to India and was re-equipped with Vickers Wellingtons to fly coastal patrols. The squadron converted to Consolidated Liberator aircraft in November 1944 and began anti-shipping patrols over the Bay of Bengal.

Post war

The squadron returned to the UK in 1947 and re-equipped with Avro Lancasters. In July 1954, the squadron was flying Neptune MR.2s from RAF Topcliffe, along with No.s No. 36 and No. 210 Squadrons as part of No. 19 Group, RAF Coastal Command.^[6] The squadron remained a Maritime Reconnaissance squadron for the remainder of its existence operating Avro Shackletons and then Nimrods. The squadron disbanded on 31 December 1977 at RAF Luqa in Malta, by which time it was part of No. 18 Group within RAF Strike Command.^[7]

The Squadron was reformed in October 1996, when the Sea King Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall was redesignated 203(R) Squadron as a reserve unit. In 2008, 203(R) Squadron relocated to RAF Valley in Anglesey, maintaining its role as the Sea King OCU and operating the Sea King HAR Mk 3.

References

• Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911 to 1919. Ray Sturtivant, Gordon Page, Dick Cronin. Air-Britain (Historians), 1992. ISBN 0851301916, 9780851301914.
• History of the Royal Air Force. John Dunstan Richard Rawlings. Crescent Books, 1984. ISBN 0517462494, 9780517462492.

Notes

1. ^ Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911 to 1919. p. 433. 
2. ^ Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911 to 1919. p. 433. 
3. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/gbritain/raf/203.php Retrieved 5 March 2010.
4. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/gbritain/raf/203.php Retrieved 5 March 2010.
5. ^ WWII aircraft of No. 203 Squadron RAF
6. ^ Rawlings et al, 1984, p.219
7. ^ John D. Rawlings, 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, 1984, p.206-207