No. 54 Squadron RAF

Serny, France, November 1918. A score board recording the claims for enemy aircraft destroyed by No. 80 Wing RAF from July–November 1918, including 54 Squadron

No. 54 Squadron was formed at Castle Bromwich on 5 May 1916. Like many others formed at the same time, was tasked with Home Defence duties flying BE2Cs and Avro 504s. Four months later, however, it re-equipped with Sopwith Pups, being the first Royal Flying Corps Squadron to operate the Pup. It moved to France as a day fighter squadron in December 1916. It was initially used as for bomber escort, claiming its first kill, an Albatros D.III, in April 1917, but specialised in attacking enemy observation balloons during the Battle of Arras.[3][4]

The Pup soon became outclassed in air combat, however, and No. 54 concentrated on ground attack missions until it could re-equip with Sopwith Camels in December 1917, allowing to return to fighter duties, providing protection for Army co-operation squadrons. The German spring offensive saw a return to low level attack missions, carrying out both ground attack and fighter missions until the end of the War. In February 1919, the Squadron returned to RAF Yatesbury, reduced to cadre status and was disbanded on 25 October 1919.[4][5]

The Squadron was reformed at RAF Hornchurch on 15 January 1930 as a fighter squadron equipped initially with dual-control Siskin Trainers until Bristol Bulldog fighters were received in April that year.[6] The squadron had a brief stay at RAF Upavon in 1931, prior to returning to RAF Hornchurch.[7] The Bulldogs were replaced by Gloster Gauntlets, in September 1936 and Gladiators in April 1937,[8] before the Squadron's first monoplane, the Supermarine Spitfire, arrived in March 1939.[9]

Pilots of 54 Squadron, May 1941 gathered round a Supermarine Spitfire Mark IIA Rochford, Essex. On the wing sits their commanding officer, Squadron Leader, R F Boyd, with the squadron mascot "Crash". Boyd had at this time destroyed 14 enemy aircraft. At the end of July 1941, he was promoted wing leader of the Kenley Wing, and by the end of his tour in the summer of 1942 had increased his score to at least 22.5.

The early days of World War II were spent patrolling the Kent coast until, in May 1940, the unit provided air cover for the evacuation of Dunkirk, claiming 31 aircraft shot down for the loss of 4 pilots and seven Spitfires.[9]

From July, the Squadron was heavily engaged in the Battle of Britain, often using RAF Manston as a forward operating base. The fighting was intense, and losses were heavy, with the Squadron being withdrawn to RAF Catterick on 2 September 1940.[10][11] One notable pilot during the first year of the year was "Al" Deere, who claimed 11 German aircraft shot down,[12] while himself being shot down 7 times.[13]

No. 54 Squadron returned to Hornchurch in February 1941,[14] flying fighter sweeps and bomber escort missions over Northern France until November 1941, when it moved north to RAF Castletown, Caithness, undertaking coastal patrols over the Pentland Firth. In June 1942, the squadron was moved to RAF Wellingore, to prepare for moving to Australia.[15]

In mid-1942, the squadron joined No. 1 Wing (Spitfire Wing) of the Royal Australian Air Force, a Spitfire unit responsible for air defence duties against Japanese aircraft in the Darwin area. No. 54 Squadron arrived at RAAF Station Darwin on 17 January. Initially, the wing as a whole suffered from the inexperience of its pilots and mechanical problems caused during the shipment of Spitfires. Although contact with the Japanese was generally brief, 54 Squadron pilots scored a number of kills. Following the end of the war, the squadron disbanded in Melbourne on 31 October 1945.[16]

On 15 November 1945 No. 183 Squadron RAF, a Hawker Tempest ground-attack unit based at RAF Chilbolton near Oxford, was renumbered to No. 54 Squadron and spent a year training pilots destined for overseas service before receiving Vampires and moving to RAF Odiham on 22 November 1947.[17]

Vampire fighters

In 1948, six Vampires from the Squadron made history when they completed the first crossing of the Atlantic by jet aircraft. Flying in 3 legs with over 8 hours in the air and accompanied by ground crew in Avro Yorks[18] Following a three-year stint with Meteors, which arrived in April 1952, Hunters arrived in March 1955, and the Squadron took up fighter duties with Hunter Mk 4s in September 1955. Reequipped with Mk 6s as part of No 38 Group, frequently deploying to trouble spots around the world as part of the Group's Offensive Strike Wing. The Squadron was the first jet RAF formation team to trail smoke with a team of six Vampires.[19]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9 ground attack aircraft of 54 Squadron in 1968 wearing the unit's blue rampant lion marking on its nose

In 1955, No 54 Squadron flew a formation of four Hawker Hunter F1 aircraft. The following year the Squadron team adopted the name The Black Knights – the pilots wore black flying suits. They re-equipped to Mk9s gradually as the squadron relocated from RAF Odiham [20] to RAF Stradishall in July 1959 with Hunter Mk9s and to RAF West Raynham, Norfolk, in 1963.[21]

The squadron was briefly disbanded on 1 September 1969, however was reformed the same day after being re-equipped with McDonnell-Douglas Phantoms at RAF Coningsby in 1969.[22]

SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1A of No. 54 Squadron in 1990 wearing the unit's 'Rampant Lion' symbol on its below fuselage equipment

By 1974 when twelve SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft were delivered the squadron had re-located to RAF Coltishall. From 1975[23] until at least 1994[24] (the last year for which data is available) the squadron's wartime role was as an operational squadron in the front line assigned to SACEUR with twelve Jaguar aircraft, eight WE.177 tactical nuclear bombs, and a variety of conventional weapons. In a high-intensity European war the unit's role was to support land forces on the Continent resisting an assault by the Red Army on Western Europe, first with conventional weapons and secondly with tactical nuclear weapons, should a conflict escalate to that stage, by striking beyond the forward edge of the battlefield into enemy-held areas. The apparent mismatch between aircraft numbers and nuclear bombs was a consequence of RAF staff planners concluding that with some aircraft held back from the conventional phase as a reserve, there would be one-third attrition of aircraft, leaving the remaining survivors numerically strong enough to deliver the squadron's entire stockpile of eight nuclear bombs.[25]

Three 54 Sqn Jaguar GR1As over northern Iraq in 2002.

The squadron moved to RAF Coltishall in 1974 and, following the retirement of the WE.177 nuclear weapon in the late 1990s, took on a more expeditionary footing with a number of operational deployments including flights over Northern Iraq from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and flights over the Balkans from Gioia del Colle Air Base in Italy. With the decision taken to run the Jaguar fleet down in anticipation of the arrival of its replacement, the Typhoon, No 54 Squadron was disbanded at RAF Coltishall on 11 March 2005.[22]

Reformed as No. 54 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Waddington on 1 September 2005 it re-roled as the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) OCU, responsible for training all mission crews for the E-3D Sentry AEW1, the Nimrod R1, Sentinel R.1, Shadow R1 and later the MQ-9A Reaper.[26]

From 2010, 54(R) Squadron became the home of the ISR Warfare School who are responsible for the delivery of the Qualified Weapons Instructor Course for ISR (QWI ISR).[2]

Since 2013, 54 Sqn has also trained crews for the newly acquired RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft.[2]

The squadron was formally titled No. 54 (Reserve) Squadron up until 2018, when the (Reserve) nameplate was removed from all training squadrons.[27]

On 31 October 2019, crew from No. 54 Squadron ferried the first RAF Boeing Poseidon MRA.1 ZP801 from the Boeing Renton Factory, Seattle, to NAS Jacksonville, Florida.[28][29] Since October 2020, the squadron operates a detachment at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, in order to act as the OCU for the Poseidon MRA.1.[30]

In June 2021 Defence Secretary Ben Wallace established a new Advanced Air ISTAR Academy run by 54 Squadron as 'a national and international centre of excellence for remotely piloted air systems and for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance'.[31] In this capacity 54 Squadron continues to deliver OCU training for the RAF ISTAR Force as a Central Flying School (CFS) Approved Training Organisation (ATO).[32]

In May 2023, 54 Squadron began training crew for the Protector RG1 in cooperation with the manufacturer, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, at Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota.[33]

• II(AC) Sqn
• 6 Sqn
• 14 Sqn
• 16(R) Sqn – OCU
• 17 Sqn
• 20 Sqn
• 31 Sqn
• 41 Sqn
• No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF
• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons