| No. 111 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 August 1917 – 1 April 1918 (RFC) 1 April 1918 – 1 February 1920 (RAF) 1 October 1923 – 12 May 1947 2 December 1953 – 30 September 1974 1 October 1974 – 22 March 2011 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Nicknames | 'Treble One' 'Tremblers' |
| Mottos | Latin:Adstantes ("Standing by")[1] |
| Battle honours | Palestine 1917–1918*,Megiddo, Home Defence 1940–1942*, France and Low Countries 1940, Dunkirk*,Battle of Britain 1940*, Fortress Europe 1941–1942*, Dieppe, North Africa 1942–1943*, Sicily 1943, Italy 1943–1945*, Salerno, Anzio and Nettuno,Gustav Line, France and Germany 1944*.Honours marked with an asterisk are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | In front of two swords in saltire a cross potent quadrat charged with three seaxes fesswise in pale[2] |
| Squadron Roundel |  |
| Squadron Codes | TM (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939) JU (Sep 1939 – May 1947) B (Carried on Phantoms) H (Carried on Tornados) |
Number 111 (Fighter) Squadron, also known asNo. CXI (F) Squadron and nicknamedTreble One, was a squadron of theRoyal Air Force. It was formed in 1917 in the Middle East as No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during the reorganisation of theEgyptian Expeditionary Force afterGeneralEdmund Allenby took command during theSinai and Palestine Campaign. The squadron remained in the Middle East after the end of the First World War until 1920 when it was renumbered as No. 14 Squadron.
The squadron was reformed in 1923. InWorld War II in 1940, it fought in theBattle of Britain. In late 1941 it moved to the Mediterranean, where it was involved in theNorth African Campaign and then theAllied invasion of Sicily and theAllied invasion of Italy. Disbanded in the years after the war, the squadron reformed in 1953 with jets.
Operating theHawker Hunter, No. 111 Squadron provided an aerobatic display team – theBlack Arrows. It also performed aerobatics when it re-equipped with the Lightning interceptor. The Squadron moved toScotland in 1975, shortly after changing to flyingPhantoms. In 1990 the squadron began flying the air defence variant of thePanavia Tornado. It operated thePanavia Tornado F3 in air defence fromRAF Leuchars, Scotland until March 2011, when the squadron was disbanded, ending Tornado F3 service in the RAF.[3]
No. 111 Squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps was formed atDeir el-Balah,Palestine, on 1 August 1917, under the command of Major Shekleton, with a mixed bag of single seat fighters as the first dedicated fighter squadron in the region.[4] Its mission was to restrict enemy reconnaissance flights and challenge the German fighter presence overSuez. It was reinforced byBristol F.2 Fighters in September, one of these claiming the first aerial victory for No. 111 Squadron on 8 October.[5] The squadron began to receive theRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a in October 1917. The same month also saw a change of command with Major Shekleton was replaced by Major Strent, after Shekleton became Commander of the40th (Army) Wing.[4] By December, No. 111 Squadron was based atJulis.[4]
The squadron handed over its Bristol Fighters toNo. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps in February 1918, becoming completely equipped with single seat fighters.[6] In Spring 1918, while based atRamleh, Major Strent was replaced in command by MajorHereward de Havilland, younger brother of aircraft designerGeoffrey de Havilland.[4] In September 1918,Treble One participated in theBattle of Megiddo, tasked with attacking the German airfield atJenin.[4] By the time theArmistice with Turkey ended the war in the Middle East in October, No. 111 Squadron had claimed 44 enemy aircraft destroyed and a further 13 forced down for the loss of two pilots killed in combat, one prisoner and three wounded.[7] The squadron had produced fouraces:Austin Lloyd Fleming, futureAir MarshalPeter Roy Maxwell Drummond,Charles Davidson, andArthur Peck.[8][better source needed]
Treble One moved toEgypt after the War ended and then toRamla in Palestine on 6 February 1919, re-equipping with the Bristol Fighter. On 1 February 1920, the squadron renumbered toNo. 14 Squadron.[7] On 1 October 1923, No. 111 Squadron reformed atRAF Duxford, equipped with a single flight of sixGloster Grebe fighters, the first Grebes to enter service with the RAF.[7][9] These were supplemented by a second flight of First World War-vintageSopwith Snipes in April 1924, and by a third flight ofArmstrong Whitworth Siskins in June 1924, completely equipping itself with Siskins in January 1925.[10] The squadron, tasked with defendingLondon, replaced its Siskins withBristol Bulldogs in January–February 1931, with its Siskins being passed on toNo. 19 Squadron.[11] The squadron moved toRAF Northolt in July 1934[12] and re-equipped withGloster Gauntlets in May–June 1936. The squadron became the firstHawker Hurricane squadron in January 1938.[11]
Still based at RAF Northolt at the outbreak of war, No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron relocated toRAF Acklington,Northumberland, in October 1939.[13] The squadron scored its first victory on 29 November, when Sqn. Ldr. Broadhurst shot down aHeinkel He 111.[4]Treble One moved even further north toRAF Drem,East Lothian, in December 1939 in order to provide cover for the Royal Navy atScapa Flow.[13] By May 1940, No. 111 (F) Squadron had returned south to RAF Northolt due to theGerman invasion of France.[4] On 16 May, a flight from No. 111 (F) Squadron joined a flight fromNo. 253 Squadron to form a joint unit, with one half deploying to France and the other remaining in Britain.[13]Treble One flew defensive flights during theDunkirk evacuation.[14]
No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron played a role in theBattle of Britain while based atRAF Croydon, pioneering dangerous head-on attacks against the Luftwaffe bomber streams. However, after suffering heavy losses in August 1940, the unit was rotated north in September to RAF Drem.[13] Claims included 47 aircraft shot down for 18 Hurricanes lost.
The squadron replaced its Hurricanes withSupermarine Spitfires in April 1941. In November,Treble One again relocated toRAF Gibraltar for support ofOperation Torch, the invasion ofNorth Africa. Under the command of Squadron LeaderGeorge Hill it moved toMalta in June 1943 to supportOperation Husky, the invasion ofSicily. No. 111 (F) Squadron moved through Italy with the advancing Allied ground forces and remained there until the end of the war, after which it moved to Austria. The squadron disbanded on 12 May 1947.[15] 269 aircraft were claimed shot down, making the squadron one of the top RAF scorers for the war.
The squadron was reactivated on 2 December 1953 atRAF North Weald with Squadron Leader Harry Pears in command.[15] Conversion to theGloster Meteor F.8s began and was completed in 3 months.[15] In 1955 the Meteors were replaced with theHawker Hunter F4 which in turn were replaced by the Hunter F6 by the end of 1956.[15] On 19 February 1958Treble One moved toRAF North Luffenham followed in quick succession toRAF Wattisham,Suffolk in June 1958.[16] They achieved international acclaim with their 'Black Arrows' aerobatic display team using theHawker Hunter, under the command of Squadron Leader Roger Topp.[17]
The squadron received its first two all-weatherEnglish Electric Lightning on 13 April 1961.[15] Within two months a further seven had been delivered and by September the squadron was declared fully operational.[15] The initial F1A aircraft were replaced by early 1965 with Lightning F3's.[18] Under Squadron Leader George Black (later AVM) the squadron was chosen to provide a combined display with the Red Arrows for the Paris Air Show in June of that year. During the 2 to 3 months workup of the Diamond Nine formation plus a solo aerobatics Lightning, the squadron fielded 10 aircraft per day, a remarkable achievement for what was a somewhat difficult aircraft to service. In 1974, the squadron moved fromRAF Wattisham after almost 18 years and re-equipped with theMcDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 atRAF Coningsby, before moving north toRAF Leuchars on 3 November 1975.
The squadron began to re-equip with the Tornado F.3 in 1990.[14] Throughout its time at Leuchars the No. 111 (F) Squadron was tasked with the maintenance ofQuick Reaction Alert, which involves keeping aircraft at a high state of readiness to intercept, identify and, should it be necessary, destroy hostile aircraft approaching UK airspace. The squadron was involved inOperation Deny Flight andOperation Deliberate Force overBosnia, OperationsBolton and Resinate in the Middle East and regularly participated in major Air Defence exercises, both in the UK and abroad.
Led by Wing Commander Rob Birch, No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron was involved inOperation Telic where it formed the major part of the Tornado F3 Wing atPrince Sultan Air Base inSaudi Arabia.
Following the disbandment ofNo. 43 Squadron in July 2009,Treble One was the sole RAF Tornado F3 unit.[19][20] The squadron disbanded at RAF Leuchars on 22 March 2011.[3]
Aircraft operated include:[21][22][23]
| Formations and units |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branches and components | |||||||
| Reserve forces | |||||||
| Equipment | |||||||
| Personnel | |||||||
| Appointments | |||||||
| Symbols and uniform | |||||||
| Associated civil organisations | |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
