No. 115 Squadron RAF
Squadron badge
Active	1 December 1917 – 1 April 1918 (RFC) 1 April 1918 – 18 October 1919 (RAF) 15 June 1937 – 1 March 1950 13 June 1950 – 1 June 1957 21 August 1958 – 1 October 1993 1 October 2008 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Flying training squadron
Role	Qualified flying instructor training
Part of	No. 6 Flying Training School
Home station	RAF Wittering
Motto	Despite the elements[1]
Aircraft	Grob Tutor T1
Battle honours	Independent Force & Germany (1918)* Channel & North Sea (1939–1943)* Norway (1940)* France & Low Countries German Ports (1940–1945)* Ruhr (1940–1945)* Fortress Europe (1940–1945)* Invasion Ports (1940) Berlin (1940–1945)* Biscay Ports 1940–1943 Baltic (1943) Normandy (1944)* France & Germany (1944–1945) Rhine *Honours marked with an asterisk may be emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
Insignia
Squadron badge heraldry	Adexter handerased at the wrist holding atiller. The squadron laid great stress on the importance of navigation and the hand on the tiller is symbolic of this. Approved byKing George VI in February 1938.[2]
Squadron codes	BK (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939) KO (Sep 1939 – Mar 1950, Jun 1950 – Apr 1951) A4 Nov 1943 – Oct 1944 (only used by 'C' Flt) IL Nov 1944 – Aug 1945

Number 115 Squadron is aRoyal Air Force squadron operating theGrob Tutor T1, trainingQFIs for the RAF's Elementary Flying Training (EFT) squadrons and theUniversity Air Squadrons, as well as undertaking evaluation and standardisation duties.

No. 115 Squadron was formed during theFirst World War. It was then equipped withHandley PageO/400 heavy bombers. DuringWorld War II the squadron served as a bomber squadron and after the war it flew in a similar role till 1958, when it was engaged as a radio calibration unit. The squadron disbanded for the last time as an operational unit in 1993, but reformed in 2008 atRAF Cranwell as No. 115(Reserve) Squadron, part ofNo. 22 Group, operating the Grob Tutor T.1 before moving to their present base atRAF Wittering.

No. 115 Squadron,RFC, was formed atCatterick,Yorkshire, on 1 December 1917 from a nucleus provided byNo. 52 Training Squadron.^[3] At the end of August 1918, after having been equipped withHandley PageO/400 twin-engined bombers, it joined theIndependent Air Force in France. Its first raid was made in the night of 16/17 September when nearly 4 tons of bombs were dropped on Metz-Sablon. For this raid the squadron was congratulated byMajor-General Sir Hugh Trenchard and the OC 83rd Wing who described the raid as "the finest piece of work which has ever been done by a new squadron". Its most successful raid was made against Morhange airfield when five O/400s, making double trips, dropped6+1⁄2 tons of bombs on their objective. During its service in France, No. 115 made fifteen raids, the longest being toBaden and dropped 26 tons of bombs.^[4] From November 1918, 115 Squadron was based atSaint-Inglevert Aerodrome.^[5] The squadron returned to England on 4 March 1919 and disbanded on 18 October 1919 atRAF Ford Junction.^[4]

The squadron was reformed from "B" Flight ofNo. 38 Squadron at RAF Marham, as No. 115 (Bomber) Squadron on 15 June 1937.^[6] It was now one of only two units to operate -temporarily- theFairey Hendon monoplane bomber, but these were soon replaced by their intended equipment, theHandley Page Harrow. As these proved unsuited in the bomber role they were replaced from March 1939 withWellingtons.^[7]

In the Second World War, the squadron took part in scores of raids and also played an active part inGardening (minelaying) for victory. In April 1940, while flying Wellingtons (and while on temporary loan toRAF Coastal Command) it gained the distinction of making the RAF's first bombing raid of the war on a mainland target - the enemy-held Norwegian airfield ofStavanger Airport, Sola. Sixteen months later, in August 1941, under the command ofTrevor Freeman, it undertook the initial Service trials ofGee, the first of the great radar navigational and bombing aids. As a result of its subsequent report on these trials Gee was put into large-scale production forRAF Bomber Command.^[8]

The memoirs of Sydney Percival Smith, aRoyal Canadian Air Force Wellington pilot, contain detailed personal descriptions of 115 Squadron missions in late 1942 from its base inRAF East Wretham. These were directed at targets in Germany (including Bremen, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich) and Italy (Turin), as well as mine laying in French ports (Le Havre, Brest, St. Nazaire, and Lorient) and the Bay of Biscay.^[9]

Hercules-enginedAvro Lancaster B.IIs replaced the Wellingtons in March 1943 and these were replaced byMerlin-engined Lancaster B.Is and B.IIIs in March 1944.^[10] The squadron relocated fromRAF Little Snoring toRAF Witchford from 26 November 1943, moving toRAF Graveley on 10 September 1945.^[10]

The squadron was retained as part of the post-war RAF and receivedAvro Lincolns in September 1949. The squadron was linked toNo. 218 Squadron from 1 February 1949 until 1 March 1950, when the squadron was disbanded atRAF Mildenhall.^[11]

The squadron was reformed on 13 June 1950, it became aBoeing Washington unit atRAF Marham, again having No. 218 Squadron linked to it.English Electric Canberras replaced the Washingtons in February 1954 and continued in use until disbanding on 1 June 1957.^[11]

The squadron came back on 21 August 1958, whenNo. 116 Squadron atRAF Tangmere was renumbered. It was now a Radar Calibration unit operatingVickers Varsitys,Valettas and briefly theHandley Page Hastings.Armstrong Whitworth Argosies began arriving in February 1968 and when the last Varsity was retired in August 1970, the unit was solely equipped with this type. No. 115 Squadron moved toRAF Cottesmore in 1968 (or possibly earlier). The squadron moved toRAF Brize Norton in 1976.Hawker Siddeley Andovers were added to the strength there in November 1976 and the last Argosy left in January 1978. In 1982, No. 115 Squadron was moved toRAF Benson,^[12] the Andovers continuing until disbanding there on 1 October 1993.^[13]

The squadron was reformed on 1 October 2008 atRAF Cranwell as part of the reorganisation of the RAF's elementary flying training units, including the withdrawal of RAF students from theDefence Elementary Flying Training School at nearby RAF Barkston Heath.^[3] While three other dormant squadrons,Nos. 16,57 and85 Squadrons, were reinstated to carry outab initio elementary flying training, No. 115(Reserve) Squadron was given the task of theCentral Flying School (Elementary) Squadron of conducting the flying stages of the training of newQualified Flying Instructors (QFIs). There are two courses run at the Squadron; for new instructors, the 'Main Course' includes 3 weeks of ground school and 80 flying hours, taking approximately 6 months in all. The 'Refresher Course', for previously qualified instructors of any background who have either spent time away from instructional duties or are changing the type of aircraft they instruct on, is 2 months long with 40 flying hours. The majority of graduates of the CFS courses will then work on one of the RAF EFT Squadrons, theUniversity Air Squadrons or with the Army and Navy EFT Squadrons (674 Squadron Army Air Corps and703 Naval Air Squadron respectively) atRAF Barkston Heath.^[14]

Members of the squadron have received the following orders, decorations, and medals.^[18]

• 142DFC and 2Bars to DFC
• 68DFM
• 6BEM
• 4DSO
• 4MBE
• 3AFC
• 2AFM and 1Bar to AFM plus 1CGM.

• Nicholas Alkemade who survived a freefall of 18,000 feet (5,490 m) without a parachute after abandoning his out-of-control, burning Lancaster over Germany.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 115 Squadron RAF.

• No. 115 Squadron history on RAF website
• History of No.'s 111–115 Squadrons at RAF Web
• C-Cameron: Memoirs of World War II in Bomber Command by former RAF 115 Squadron pilot Donald Cameron

• Royal Flying Corps squadrons
• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Military units and formations established in 1917
• 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
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