| No. 36 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
| Active | 18 March 1916 (RFC), 1 April 1918 (RAF) to 13 June 1919 1 October 1928 – 8 March 1942 22 October 1942 – 4 June 1945 1 October 1946 – 15 October 1947 1 July 1953 – 28 February 1957 1 September 1958 – 3 November 1975 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Mottos | Malay:Rajawali raja langit ("Eagle King of the Sky")[1] |
No. 36 Squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps (later theRoyal Air Force) was formed in 1916 atCramlington Aerodrome, just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in order to defend a section of theNorth East coast from German Zeppelin attacks at night. Disbanded shortly after the end ofWWI, it was reformed as a torpedo bomber unit and served in Singapore andBurma (now Myanmar) in the 1930s, seeing action in 1941–42 whenJapan entered the war. After re-equipping withVickers Wellingtons, it served the remainder of the war as an anti-submarine unit, in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and later in UK home waters. After WWII the squadron operated intermittently in various roles, includingmaritime reconnaissance, and later as a transport unit flyingC-130 Hercules until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.
No. 36 SquadronRoyal Flying Corps was first formed on 18 March 1916 at Cramlington Aerodrome,Northumberland as a Home Defence squadron, defending the coastline betweenNewcastle upon Tyne andWhitby against GermanZeppelin attacks.[2] On 27 November 1916,Second Lieutenant Ian Vernon Pyott, flying aRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, destroyedZeppelin L.34 over Hartlepool,[3][4] for which he was awarded theDistinguished Service Order.[5] Once Zeppelin attacks on the North of England stopped, the Squadron switched to training duties, becoming part of theRoyal Air Force on 1 April 1918, disbanding on 13 June 1919.[2][6]
On 1 October 1928, No. 36 Squadron was reformed by redesignating the Coast Defence Torpedo Flight, based atDonibristle in Scotland and flyingHawker Horsleys.[2] It was sent toSingapore to strengthen its defences against naval attack, with its aircraft reaching its destination on 17 December 1930.[7] As well as practicing torpedo attacks and working with theRoyal Navy, 36 Squadron was deployed toRangoon in response to a rebellion inBurma, carrying out bombing raids against the insurgents.[8][9] The squadron was re-equipped withVickers Vildebeests in July 1935, continuing as a torpedo bomber squadron operating from Singapore.[2] The squadron's badge, awarded in February 1938, reflected its role on torpedoes, showing an "eagle wings elevated perched on a torpedo".[10][11]
No. 36 Squadron, along withNo. 100 Squadron RAF retained the obsoletebiplanes whenJapan invaded Malaya, and flew an unsuccessful attack against theJapanese cruiserSendai during theBattle of Kota Bharu on 8 December 1941.[12] It continued operating against the Japanese, its Vildebeests being supplemented by five ex-Fleet Air ArmFairey Albacores.[13] Where possible it operated by night, bombing Japanese-held airfields and troops.[14]
On 26 January 1942, Japanese forces landed atEndau, on the east coast of Malaya, 150 miles from Singapore. To oppose this landing, nine Vildebeests of No. 100 Squadron and three of 36 Squadron, together with nine AustralianLockheed Hudsons, set off at 1:00 pm (having flown against land targets the night before), and despite a fighter escort five Vildebeests were shot down. No. 36 and 100 Squadrons repeated the attack two hours later with nine Vildebeests (with two from 100 Squadron[15]) and three Albacores. This time the fighter escort was late, only finding the bomber force once it had been engaged by JapaneseNakajima Ki-27 fighters, with a further five Vildebeests and two Albacores shot down, and a further two more damaged so badly that they were written off.[16][17][18][19] These losses—which included the commanding officers of both Squadrons—could not be sustained, and the remnants of the two squadrons were evacuated toJava on 31 January, being merged into a single unit. On 28 February, nine Vildebeests attacked a Japanese convoy offRembang in Northern Java, claiming eight ships sunk but losing another commanding officer. It ceased to exist on 7 March 1942 after its last two Vildebeests ditched offSumatra while attempting to evacuate toCeylon.[2][16][20][21]
No. 36 Squadron reformed atThanjavur inIndia on 22 October 1942, although it did not receive any aircraft until December that year when it was equipped withVickers Wellington bombers for anti-submarine patrols offMadras. It flew its first convoy escort mission on 13 January 1943.[2][22]
It moved toAlgeria in June 1943. One tactic used against German U-boats in the Mediterranean was known as "Swamp", the area around a sighting would be saturated with aircraft, keeping the submarine submerged and stopping it from charging its batteries. On 12 December 1943, the destroyerHMS Tynedale was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarineU-593 while escorting the convoy KMS 34 off Algeria. In response, the area was saturated by ships and aircraft. During the hunt,U-593 sank another destroyer,HMS Holcombe, before a Wellington of 36 Squadron detected the submarine on radar on the night of 12/13 December. While its attack was unsuccessful, its sighting report directed the destroyersUSS Wainwright andHMS Calpe to the vicinity, where they sankU-593 by depth charging, the first submarine sunk by the "Swamp" tactic.[23] On the night of 7/8 January 1943, a 36 Squadron Wellington sightedU-343 off the coast of southern Spain, but was shot down when it attempted to attack the submarine. A second 36 Squadron Wellington responded to the sighting report and attackedU-343, but was damaged by return fire from the submarine although it did manage to safely return to base. On the next night a third 36 Squadron aircraft foundU-343 and directed two Wellingtons from179 Squadron to attack, one of was shot down by the submarine, which after yet further attacks by aCatalina flying boat of202 Squadron finally managed to escape and reach its base atToulon.[24] Another example of the "swamp" tactic took place on 14–17 May 1944, whenLeigh Light equipped Wellingtons of 36 Squadron made several attacks onU-616, which culminated in it being sunk by US Navy destroyers, while on 18 May a Wellington of No. 36 Squadron sighted and attackedU-960 before directing the destroyersUSSLudlow andNiblack, which sank the U-boat.[25] It returned toRAF Chivenor in September 1944, continuing in the anti-submarine role. It disbanded atRAF Benbecula on 4 June 1945.[2][6]
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The squadron next operated twice forRAF Coastal Command firstly between 1946 and 1947, and then between 1953 and 1957.[26] On 1 October 1946, the squadron was reformed atThorney Island by renumberingNo. 248 Squadron, flyingde Havilland Mosquitos, being disbanded again on 15 October 1947. The squadron was again reformed on 1 July 1953 as a maritime reconnaissance unit atRAF Topcliffe, flyingLockheed P-2 Neptunes until 28 February 1957. The following year, on 1 September, the squadron re-emerged atRAF Colerne as a transport squadron, flying theHandley Page Hastings previously operated byNo. 511 Squadron RAF, and concentrating on tactical transport operations.[27] In August 1967 the squadron relocated toRAF Lyneham and the Hastings were replaced byLockheed C-130 Hercules. It was disbanded again on 3 November 1975.[2][6]
Source –The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force[28] unless stated
