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No. 3 Squadron RAF
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No. 3 Squadron RAF
Number 3 Squadron, also known as No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2006. It was first formed on 13 May 1912 as one of the first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps – being the first to fly heavier than air aircraft.
No. 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed at Larkhill on 13 May 1912 by the renaming of No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company of the Air Battalion Royal Engineers, under the command of Major Robert Brooke-Popham. Being already equipped with aeroplanes and manned by pilots and air mechanics, No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company was thus the first British, Empire or Commonwealth independent military unit to operate heavier-than-air flying machines, hence the squadron motto Tertius primus erit (Latin for 'The third shall be the first'). On 5 July 1912, two members of the squadron, Captain Eustace Loraine and Staff Sergeant Wilson were killed in an aircraft crash, making them the first RFC fatalities. In 1913, the squadron deployed to Halton in Buckinghamshire to support the land manoeuvres of the Household Division. A temporary airfield was set up on what later became RAF Halton's Maitland Parade Square. During the exercise, the squadron flew a number of reconnaissance sorties and staged the first confrontation between an airship and an aeroplane.
As well as training and reconnaissance duties, No. 3 Squadron spent much of its time carrying out experimental work and working out tactics, including how to direct artillery fire from the air. In late 1913, the squadron carried out trials in the use of machine guns from aircraft, which eventually resulted in the selection of the Lewis gun for use by the RFC and from early in 1914 carried out trials in airborne photography, helping to develop the cameras that would be used by the RFC in the First World War. Other trials included the first night flights carried by the RFC.
The squadron was sent to France on the outbreak of the First World War, arriving at Amiens on 13 August 1914, carrying out its first reconnaissance mission, piloted by Captain Philip Joubert de la Ferté on 19 August. The squadron initially operated primarily in the reconnaissance role using a variety of aircraft types. In December 1914, the squadron started to receive Morane-Saulnier L parasol-wing aircraft, and was almost solely equipped with the Morane Parasol by April 1915. It started to replace its Morane-Saulnier L with the improved Morane-Saulnier LA, which had ailerons instead of the wing warping of the earlier aircraft, in September 1915, and all its Parasols were Type LAs by December 1915. In 1916 it supplemented its Parasols with a flight of four Morane-Saulnier BB biplanes, and from the middle of 1916 replaced its Morane-Saulnier LAs with Morane-Saulnier P parasols.
The English ace James McCudden served as a mechanic and occasional observer with 3 Squadron in the early part of the war, leaving the squadron in January 1916 for flying training. Cecil Lewis, author of Sagittarius Rising joined the squadron in May 1915 and flew Morane Parasols with the squadron during the Somme offensive. Later in October 1917, with the introduction of Sopwith Camels, a fighter/scout role was taken on, with 59 enemy aircraft being claimed by the end of the war. The squadron disbanded on 27 October 1919.
There were nine flying aces among its ranks, including Douglas John Bell, George R. Riley, Will Hubbard, Adrian Franklyn, Hazel LeRoy Wallace, Lloyd Hamilton, David Hughes, Neil Smuts and William H Maxted.
No. 3 Squadron reformed in India on 1 April 1920 as a fighter squadron equipped with Sopwith Snipes, being disbanded again 30 September 1921. It was immediately reformed the next day at RAF Leuchars, Scotland, as a naval observation squadron equipped with the Airco DH.9A, receiving the Westland Walrus and Avro Bison. The squadron moved to RAF Gosport on 8 November 1922, before being disbanded to form three independent flights on 1 April 1923.
It reformed as a fighter squadron with Snipes a year later on 1 April 1924, operating a succession of different types, based in the UK, including the Gloster Gladiator. The only highlight of these years was the 1935 deployment to the Sudan during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.
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No. 3 Squadron RAF
Number 3 Squadron, also known as No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2006. It was first formed on 13 May 1912 as one of the first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps – being the first to fly heavier than air aircraft.
No. 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed at Larkhill on 13 May 1912 by the renaming of No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company of the Air Battalion Royal Engineers, under the command of Major Robert Brooke-Popham. Being already equipped with aeroplanes and manned by pilots and air mechanics, No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company was thus the first British, Empire or Commonwealth independent military unit to operate heavier-than-air flying machines, hence the squadron motto Tertius primus erit (Latin for 'The third shall be the first'). On 5 July 1912, two members of the squadron, Captain Eustace Loraine and Staff Sergeant Wilson were killed in an aircraft crash, making them the first RFC fatalities. In 1913, the squadron deployed to Halton in Buckinghamshire to support the land manoeuvres of the Household Division. A temporary airfield was set up on what later became RAF Halton's Maitland Parade Square. During the exercise, the squadron flew a number of reconnaissance sorties and staged the first confrontation between an airship and an aeroplane.
As well as training and reconnaissance duties, No. 3 Squadron spent much of its time carrying out experimental work and working out tactics, including how to direct artillery fire from the air. In late 1913, the squadron carried out trials in the use of machine guns from aircraft, which eventually resulted in the selection of the Lewis gun for use by the RFC and from early in 1914 carried out trials in airborne photography, helping to develop the cameras that would be used by the RFC in the First World War. Other trials included the first night flights carried by the RFC.
The squadron was sent to France on the outbreak of the First World War, arriving at Amiens on 13 August 1914, carrying out its first reconnaissance mission, piloted by Captain Philip Joubert de la Ferté on 19 August. The squadron initially operated primarily in the reconnaissance role using a variety of aircraft types. In December 1914, the squadron started to receive Morane-Saulnier L parasol-wing aircraft, and was almost solely equipped with the Morane Parasol by April 1915. It started to replace its Morane-Saulnier L with the improved Morane-Saulnier LA, which had ailerons instead of the wing warping of the earlier aircraft, in September 1915, and all its Parasols were Type LAs by December 1915. In 1916 it supplemented its Parasols with a flight of four Morane-Saulnier BB biplanes, and from the middle of 1916 replaced its Morane-Saulnier LAs with Morane-Saulnier P parasols.
The English ace James McCudden served as a mechanic and occasional observer with 3 Squadron in the early part of the war, leaving the squadron in January 1916 for flying training. Cecil Lewis, author of Sagittarius Rising joined the squadron in May 1915 and flew Morane Parasols with the squadron during the Somme offensive. Later in October 1917, with the introduction of Sopwith Camels, a fighter/scout role was taken on, with 59 enemy aircraft being claimed by the end of the war. The squadron disbanded on 27 October 1919.
There were nine flying aces among its ranks, including Douglas John Bell, George R. Riley, Will Hubbard, Adrian Franklyn, Hazel LeRoy Wallace, Lloyd Hamilton, David Hughes, Neil Smuts and William H Maxted.
No. 3 Squadron reformed in India on 1 April 1920 as a fighter squadron equipped with Sopwith Snipes, being disbanded again 30 September 1921. It was immediately reformed the next day at RAF Leuchars, Scotland, as a naval observation squadron equipped with the Airco DH.9A, receiving the Westland Walrus and Avro Bison. The squadron moved to RAF Gosport on 8 November 1922, before being disbanded to form three independent flights on 1 April 1923.
It reformed as a fighter squadron with Snipes a year later on 1 April 1924, operating a succession of different types, based in the UK, including the Gloster Gladiator. The only highlight of these years was the 1935 deployment to the Sudan during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.
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