No. 79 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF
Active	1 August 1917 (RFC) – 15 July 1919 22 March 1937 – 30 December 1945 15 Nov 1951 – 1 January 1961 2 Jan 1967 – 31 August 1992
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Training
Nickname(s)	Madras Presidency
Motto(s)	Latin:Nil nobis obstare potest ("Nothing can stand against us")[1]
Commanders
Notable commanders	CC McMullen (1939–40) Arthur Clowes (1940–41)
Insignia
Squadron Badge	Asalamander salient. The salamander is always ready to face any danger.
Squadron Codes	AL (Nov 1938 – September 1939) NV (September 1939 – March 1942, 1943 – December 1945) T (November 1951 – 1956)
Squadron Roundel

No. 79 Squadron was asquadron of theRoyal Air Force.

It was first formed atGosport on 1 August 1917 as a squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps. It was equipped withSopwith Dolphin fighter aircraft in December that year, moving to France in February 1918. It specialised in low-level ground-attack operations, mainly in support of the BritishSecond Army. Despite its lack of emphasis on air-to-air combat, by the time of theArmistice, the squadron had claimed 64 enemy aircraft and ninekite balloons.^[2] Five aces had served in it:Francis W. Gillet, futureAir CommodoreRonald Bannerman,Frederic Ives Lord,John McNeaney, and Edgar Taylor.^[3]

After the end of the war, it formed part of theBritish Army of Occupation, before being disbanded atBickendorf on 15 July 1919.^[2]

It was reformed on 22 March 1937 by splitting off "B" Flight ofNo. 32 Squadron atRAF Biggin Hill, equipped withGloster Gauntletbiplane fighters.^[4] It received more modernHawker Hurricane fighters in November 1938, retaining these aircraft when theSecond World War began. It claimed its first success on 21 November 1939, when it shot down aDornier Do 17 over theEnglish Channel. As theBattle of France intensified, it was deployed toMerville, operating over France for ten days, claiming 25 German aircraft.^[2] During theBattle of Britain the squadron operated from Biggin Hill andRAF Hawkinge in July, being moved toRAF Acklington inNorthumberland for a rest before returning to Biggin in August.^[2]

In 1942, it was sent to theFar East, arriving in India in May, where the squadron flew primarily ground attack missions, initially with later mark cannon armed Hurricanes. In June 1944 the squadron re-equipped withP-47 Thunderbolt IIs underSEAC command. It disbanded atMeiktila inBurma on 30 December 1945.^[4]

The squadron was reformed again on 15 November 1951 as a fighter-reconnaissance squadron, flyingGloster Meteor FR.9s, based atRAF Wunstorf in West Germany. It was re-equipped withSwift FR.5s in June 1956, being transferred toRAF Gutersloh (approx Sept 1956) due to the proximity of the Russian Zone toRAF Wunstorf. It was renumbered as4 Squadron on 1 January 1961.^[4]

No. 79 Squadron was reformed as part of No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit atRAF Chivenor in North Devon on 2 January 1967, tasked with training pilots to fly theHawker Hunter until disbanded on 2 September 1974, when it was reformed as one of the component squadrons of No.1 Tactical Weapons Unit, flying first Hunters and then theHawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 andBAC Jet Provost T4 until finally disbanded atRAF Brawdy on 31 August 1992.^[5]

• Jimmy Davies was anace who was killed whilst flying Hurricanes with No. 79 Squadron, becoming the first American-born airman to be killed in combat in World War II.
• Supermarine Swift serial WK281 is on display atTangmere Military Aviation Museum in the markings of 79 Squadron.^[6]

• Rawlings, J. D. R. (December 1960). "Squadron Histories:79 Squadron".Air Pictorial. Vol. 22, no. 12. pp. 425–426.
• Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1990).Above The Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London: Grub Street.ISBN 0-948817-19-4.
• Royal Air Force website: History of No. 79 Squadron
• Air of Authority: No 76 – 80 Squadron Histories

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• Military units and formations established in 1917
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