| No. V (AC) Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active |
|
| Disbanded | 31 March 2021 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Type | Flying squadron |
| Motto(s) | Frangas non flectas (Latin for 'Thou mayst break, but shall not bend me') |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron roundel |  |
| Squadron codes | QN (Apr 1939 – allocated but possibly not used) OQ (Sep 1939 – Feb 1941, Mar 1946 – Aug 1947) B (Mar 1952 – 1955) A (Aug 1986 – Dec 1987) CA–CZ (Tornado F3) |
Number 5 (Army Co-operation) Squadron also known asNo. V (Army Cooperation) Squadron is a formersquadron of theRoyal Air Force. It most recently operated theRaytheon Sentinel R1 Airborne STand-Off Radar (ASTOR) aircraft fromRAF Waddington,Lincolnshire, between April 2004 until March 2021.
First formed in July 1913, the squadron served throughout theFirst World War, holding the distinction of gaining the first loss and kill for theRoyal Flying Corps. No. 5 Squadron relocated toIndia in 1920 where it remained during theSecond World War. During theCold War,No. 5 (Fighter) Squadron operated in theinterceptor role, flying theEnglish Electric Lightning and later thePanavia Tornado F3.
No. 5 Squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed atFarnborough,Hampshire on 26 July 1913,[1] from members ofNo. 3 Squadron.[2] The squadron moved toNetheravon on 28 May,Fort Grange,Gosport on 6 July, thenSwingate Down on 14 August. Following the outbreak of theFirst World War, No. 5 Squadron deployed to France on 15 August 1914, equipped with a variety of aircraft to carry outreconnaissance for theBritish Expeditionary Force.[3] It flew its first missions on 21 August and on the next day, anAvro 504 of No. 5 Squadron was the first British aircraft to be shot down, its crew of pilotSecond Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall and navigatorLieutenant Charles George Gordon Bayly being killed over Belgium.[3][4][5][6] On 24 August, the squadron became the first unit in the RFC to shoot down an enemy aircraft with gunfire when Lieutenant Wilson and Lieutenant Rabagliati shot down aGermanEtrich Taube nearLe Cateau-Cambrésis in France.[7][8]
From 24 March until 7 April 1917, the squadron was based atLa Gorgue in northern France.[9]
No. 5 Squadron standardised on theRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.2, specialising as observers forartillery, re-equipping with theRoyal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 in May 1917, and working closely with theCanadian Corps, through to the end of the war and into 1919, when it moved into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.[10] Its association with the Canadian Corps led to the incorporation of amaple leaf in the squadron's badge when it was approved in June 1937.[3]
The squadron returned to the UK in September 1919, before disbanding on 20 January 1920.[7] It reformed atQuetta,India (now part ofPakistan) on 1 April 1920, whenNo. 48 Squadron was renumbered.[2] There it continued working in Army Air Cooperation for operations on theNorth West Frontier. Upon reformation, the unit was equipped with theBristol F.2B which were flown up until 1931.[11] In May 1931, No. 5 Squadron began to convert to theWestland Wapiti Mk.IIa.[12]
At the outbreak ofSecond World War in September 1939, No. 5 Squadron were based atFort Sandeman in Pakistan, still equipped with the Westland Wapiti biplane.[13] The squadron became a light bomber unit when it converted to theHawker Hart in June 1940. No. 5 Squadron converted again to theHawker Audax in February 1941,[12] using it as a fighter.[13] In December 1941, the squadron relocated toRAF Dum Dum,Calcutta, and began to receive their first monoplane – the American-builtCurtiss Mohawk Mk.IV.[13] Posted toRAF Dinjan,Assam, in May 1942, No. 5 Squadron were tasked with escortingBristol Blenheim bombers over north westBurma.[11]
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The Mohawks were replaced by theHawker Hurricane Mk.IIc and Mk.IId in June 1943 while the squadron was based atRAF Kharagpur.[13] In September 1944, No. 5 Squadron converted to theRepublic Thunderbolt Mk.I and Mk.II.[12] In May 1945, the squadron was withdrawn from the front line in preparation for the liberation ofMalaya fromJapanese occupation, however this was never carried out due to theJapanese Empire surrendering on 15 August 1945.[13]
Remaining in India, No. 5 Squadron converted toHawker Tempest F.2 in February 1946, but disbanded on 1 August 1947 due to thePartition of India.[14] On 11 February 1949, the squadron reformed atRAF Pembrey in Wales fortarget-towing duties whenNo. 595 Squadron was renumbered, however the squadron was shortly disbanded on 25 September 1951.[7] The squadron was reformed atRAF Wunstorf,West Germany, on 1 March 1952, and were equipped with thede Havilland Vampire F.5.[2] No. 5 Squadron converted over to thede Havilland Venom FB.1 in December 1952.[15] The1957 Defence White Paper saw the disbandment of the squadron on 12 October 1957 while operating the Venom FB.5.[11]
On 20 January 1959, the squadron was reformed as anight fighter unit atRAF Laarbruch, West Germany, flying theGloster Meteor NF.11.[7] No. 5 Squadron began converting to the delta wingedGloster Javelin FAW.5 in January 1960.[15] WhenNo. 33 Squadron was disbanded on 17 December 1962, No. V Squadron was allocated the former unit's Javelin FAW.9, along with crew members.[2][16] No. 5 Squadron itself was disbanded on 7 October 1965 atRAF Geilenkirchen.[2]
The squadron reformed atRAF Binbrook,Lincolnshire, on 8 October 1965 with theEnglish Electric Lightning interceptor.[14] However, upon reformation the unit did not initially operate a Lightning, with the squadron first flyingHawker Hunter T.7AWV318 fitted with Lightning instruments.[17] The squadron's first Lightning (a twin seat T.5) was delivered to RAF Binbrook on 19 November.[18] The squadron's first single seat Lightnings arrived on 10 December 1965, when two Lightning F.3 were delivered.[19] The first production Lightning F.6 was received on 3 January 1967.[20] Between 6 and 25 October 1967, the squadron deployed toRAF Luqa,Malta, with nine Lightning F.6 and a single Lighting T.5 for an Air Defence Exercise againstAvro Vulcan B.2 ofNo. 50 Squadron. The squadron deployed to RAF Luqa once again between 1 and 8 August 1968 for Exercise Nimble.[21]
Over Christmas 1969, No. 5 Squadron deployed on reinforcement Exercise Ultimacy toRAF Tengah, Singapore usingin flight refuelling and stopping only once en route atRAF Masirah in Oman. Long-distance route proving with the new over-wing tanks had taken place previously in 1968 with a limited non stop deployment toRAF Muharraq in Bahrain.[22]
In 1970, the squadron received a pair of Lightning F.1A,[23] which were used as targets for the Lightning F.6 due to them being lighter and more nimble (these were later replaced with the Lightning F.3).[17] On 8 September 1970, the squadron lost Lightning F.6XS894 when it crashed nearFlamborough Head,Yorkshire, killing the pilotWilliam Schaffner, aCaptain in theUS Air Force.[24] The squadron deployed a pair of Lighting F.3, seven Lightning F.6 and a single two-seat T.5 to RAF Luqa between 18 November and 13 December 1974, to take part in Exercise Sunfinder, alongsideAvro Shackleton AEW.2 ofNo. 8 Squadron andEnglish Electric Canberra B.2 ofNo. 85 Squadron. Between 5 April and 7 May 1976, the squadron deployed to RAF Luqa with ten Lightning F.6 for an Armament Practice Camp(APC). No. 5 Squadron's last APC deployment to Luqa was between 31 March and 5 May 1977.[21]
In November 1987, the squadron put up a nine-ship of Lightning F.6 to mark the type's impending withdrawal after 22 years of service.[17] The last Lightnings were withdrawn by December 1987,[15] with the squadron relocating toRAF Coningsby in preparation for converting to thePanavia Tornado F3,[7]with the squadron received its first aircraft in January 1988.[25]
In August 1990, No. 5 Squadron was the first RAF squadron (accompanied byNo. 29 (F) Squadron) to be deployed as part the UK's contribution to theGulf War, with the first six Tornado F3 arriving on 11 August atDhahran Airfield,Saudi Arabia.[26] Between 1993 and 1995, the squadron participatedOperation Deny Flight, enforcing theno-fly zone overBosnia and Herzegovina.[7] The squadron disbanded on 30 September 2002, with personnel being reassigned to other units.[27]
The squadron reformed on 1 April 2004 as No. 5 (Army Co-operation) Squadron atRAF Waddington to operate theRaytheon Sentinel R1, which made its maiden flight on 26 May 2004. The radar-equipped aircraft provided battlefield and ground surveillance for theBritish Army in a similar role to the AmericanNorthrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS aircraft.[28] The Sentinel officially entered service with the No. 5 (AC) Squadron on 1 December 2008.[29] The fifth and last aircraft was delivered to the squadron in February 2009.[30]Full operating capability was achieved at the end of 2010.[31] In 2011, Sentinels from the squadron participated inOperation Ellamy over Libya,[32] which were later described as pivotal by RAFAir Chief MarshalSir Stephen Dalton.[33]
Between 2009 and 2011, No. 5 Squadron also briefly operated fourHawker Beechcraft Shadow R1, an intelligence gathering aircraft based on the Beechcraft King Air 350.[34] The first Shadow R1 was delivered to the squadron in May 2009.[35] These were transferred over to the newly reformedNo. 14 Squadron in October 2011.[36][37]
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On 25 January 2013, a Sentinel R1 deployed toDakar-Ouakam Air Base,Senegal, to assist with France'sOperation Serval inMali.[38] Over the course of a four-month long detachment, Sentinels flew a total of 697 hours across 66 sorties.[39] On 18 May 2014, the squadron deployed a Sentinel toKotoka International Airport,Ghana, in order to assist with searching for223 schoolgirls who had been kidnapped byBoko Haram inNigeria.[40] In September 2014, the squadron temporarily relocated toRAF Cranwell along with No. 14 Squadron due to the resurfacing of RAF Waddington's runway which took over a year to complete.[41] The squadron sent a single Sentinel R1 toExercise Red Flag 15–1 atNellis AFB,Nevada,[42] between 26 January and 13 February 2015.[43] On 26 March 2015, two Sentinel R1 were deployed toRAF Akrotiri,Cyprus, in support ofOperation Shader, the British military intervention in Iraq and Syria.[44]
In July 2017, one Sentinel R1 was withdrawn from use, whilst the remaining four continued operating until their out-of-service date of March 2021.[45][46] On 25 February 2021,ZJ694 carried out No. 5 Squadron's last Sentinel operational sortie.[47] Across the Sentinel's 14 years of service, the squadron flew 32,000 hours across 4,870 sorties.[48] The squadron was subsequently disbanded on 31 March 2021, with the Sentinel's role being provided other aircraft, such as thePoseidon MRA1 andProtector RG1.[49]
Aircraft operated by No. 5 Squadron include:[7][12][15][17][50]
The squadron'sbadge features themaple leaf, thenational symbol of Canada. It commemorates the squadron's close links with theCanadian Corps during the First World War and was approved byKing George VI in June 1937. An earlier unauthorised version includedRoman numeral 'V' in the centre of the leaf.[51]
The squadron's motto isFrangas non flectas (Latin for 'Thou mayst break, but shall not bend me').[52]
No. 5 Squadron has received the followingbattle honours. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may be emblazoned on thesquadron standard.[53]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromFactsheets : E-8C Joint Stars.United States Air Force. Retrieved29 August 2014. August 2013.
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