| No. 50 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 15 May 1916 – 13 June 1919 3 May 1937 – 31 January 1951 15 August 1952 – 1 October 1959 1 August 1961 – 31 March 1984 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Mottos | Latin:Sic fidem servamus ("Thus we keep faith") Squadron badge shows "From Defence to Attack"[1] |
| Battle honours | Home Defence, 1916–18*: Channel & North Sea, 1939–43*: Norway 1940: Baltic, Invasion Ports, 1940: 1940–43: France & Low Countries, 1940: Biscay Ports, 1940–44: German Ports, 1940–45*: Ruhr, 1940–45*: Berlin, 1940–44*: Fortress Europe, 1940–44*: Normandy, 1944*: France & Germany, 1944–45*: Walcheren: Rhine:Honours marked with an asterisk are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron badge heraldry | A sword in bend severing a mantle palewise.This unit formed at Dover and adopted a mantle being severed by a sword to show its connection with that town, the arms of which include St. Martin and the beggar with whom he divided his cloak. The mantle is also indicative of the protection given to this country by the Royal Air Force. |
| Squadron codes | QX Dec 1938 – Sep 1939 VN Sep 1939 – Jan 1951 |
No. 50 Squadron was a squadron of theRoyal Air Force. It was formed during theFirst World War as ahome defence fighter squadron, and operated as a bomber squadron during theSecond World War and theCold War. It disbanded for the last time in 1984.
No. 50 Squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps founded atDover on 15 May 1916. It was equipped with a mixture of aircraft, includingRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s andRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.12s in the home defence role, having flights based at various airfields aroundKent.[2][3] It flew its first combat mission in August 1916, when its aircraft helped to repel a GermanZeppelin.[4] On 7 July 1917 a 50 SquadronArmstrong Whitworth F.K.8 shot down a GermanGotha bomber off theNorth Foreland of Kent.[5][6] In February 1918, it discarded its miscellany of aircraft to standardise on the more capableSopwith Camel fighter, continuing to defend Kent.[2] By October 1918, it was operating its Camels asnight fighters.[7] It was during this period that the squadron started using the running dogsdevice on squadron aircraft, a tradition that continued until 1984. The device arose from the radiocall signDingo that the squadron was allocated as part of the Home Defence network.[8] It disbanded on 13 June 1919.[2] The lastCO of the squadron before it disbanded wasMajorArthur Harris later to becomeAir Officer Commanding-in-Chief ofRAF Bomber Command during theSecond World War.[9]
No. 50 Squadron reformed atRAF Waddington on 3 May 1937, equipped withHawker Hindbiplane light bombers. It started to convert to theHandley Page Hampdenmonoplane medium bomber in December 1938, discarding its last Hinds in January 1939.[2] It was still equipped with Hampdens when theSecond World War broke out, forming part of5 Group,Bomber Command. It flew its first bombing raid on 19 March 1940 against the seaplane base atHörnum on the island ofSylt.[2][4]
On 12 April 1940, in an attempt to attack German warships offKristiansand returning from theGerman invasion of Norway, 50 Squadron took part in what was the largest British air raid of the war so far, with a total of 83 RAF bombers attempting to attack the German fleet. When 12 Hampdens of 50 and44 Squadron spotted a German warship and attempted to attack, they lost 6 of their number to beam attacks by German fighters,[10][11] with 13 officers and men from 50 Squadron dead or missing.[12] After these losses, daylight attacks with Hampdens were abandoned.[11]
No. 50 Squadron continued operations by night, taking part in the RAF'sstrategic bombing offensive against the Germans through the remainder of 1940 and 1941. It re-equipped withAvro Manchesters from April 1942.[2] The Manchester was disappointing, however, with unreliable engines and had a lower ceiling than the Hampden it replaced.[13] Despite these problems, the squadron continued in operations, contributing 17 Manchesters toOperation Milliennium the "1,000 aircraft" raid againstCologne on 30/31 May 1942. It lost two aircraft that night,[14] one of which piloted byFlying OfficerLeslie Thomas Manser who was posthumously awarded theVictoria Cross for pressing on with the attack after his aircraft was heavily damaged, and when a crash became inevitable, sacrificing his own life by remaining at the controls to allow the rest of his crew to parachute to safety.[15][16]
The squadron soon re-equipped with the four-enginedAvro Lancaster, which it used for the rest of the war against German targets,[2] flying its last mission of the war against an Oil Refinery atVallø in Norway on 25/26 April 1945.[6] The squadron flew 7,135 sorties during the war with a loss of 176 aircraft.[17] It replaced its Lancasters withAvro Lincolns in 1946, disbanding at Waddington on 31 January 1951.[2]
No 50 Squadron re-formed atRAF Binbrook on 15 August 1952, equipped with theEnglish Electric Canberra light jet bomber. It moved toRAF Upwood in January 1956, disbanding on 1 October 1959.[2]
The squadron reformed again at RAF Waddington on 1 August 1962 equipped with theAvro VulcanV bomber, using ex-617 Squadron aircraft made surplus after 617 Squadron re-equipped with Vulcan B.2s.[2][18] It received Vulcan B.2s in December 1966,[2] and was still operating them when theFalklands War broke out in April 1982, with two Vulcan crews from 50 Squadron selected forOperation Black Buck missions.[19]
The Falklands War, and the continuing need to maintain supply flights to the South Atlantic after the end of the war, resulted in a shortage ofair-to-air refuelling tankers, and it was decided to convert six Vulcans to single point tankers, the first conversion flying on 18 June 1982 and entering service on 23 June.[20] No. 50 Squadron was selected as the operator of the tankers, serving as the last unit to operate the Vulcan until disbanding on 31 March 1984.[4][21]
| Dates | Aircraft[2][22] | Variant |
|---|---|---|
| May 1916 – September 1917 | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 | B.E.2c |
| May 1916 – May 1918 | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 | |
| June 1916 – July 1917 | Vickers E.S.1[23] | |
| December 1916 – August 1917 | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 | B.E.12a |
| December 1916 – February 1918 | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 | B.E.2e |
| March 1917 – March 1917 | Bristol M.1 | M.1B |
| May 1917 – June 1917 | Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 | |
| May 1917 – January 1918 | Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 | |
| June 1917 – July 1917 | Sopwith Pup | |
| January 1918 – June 1918 | Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 | B.E.12b |
| May 1918 – July 1918 | Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 | S.E.5a |
| July 1918 – June 1919 | Sopwith Camel | |
| May 1937 – January 1939 | Hawker Hind | |
| December 1938 – April 1942 | Handley Page Hampden | |
| April 1942 – June 1942 | Avro Manchester | |
| May 1942 – October 1946 | Avro Lancaster | I & III |
| July 1946 – January 1951 | Avro Lincoln | B.2 |
| August 1952 – October 1959 | English Electric Canberra | B.2 |
| August 1961 – October 1966 | Avro Vulcan | B.1 |
| January 1966 – March 1984 | Avro Vulcan | B.2 |
| June 1982 – March 1984 | Avro Vulcan | K.2 |
