No. 24 Squadron, also known as No. XXIV Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which is the Air Mobility Operational Conversion Unit. Based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the squadron is responsible for aircrew training on the Airbus A400M Atlas and Boeing C-17A Globemaster III. The squadron also provides engineer training for these aircraft.

History

First World War (1915–1919)

No. 24 Squadron was formed as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps on at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome in Greater London. It arrived in France equipped with the Airco D.H.2 biplane fighter in February 1916.

By early 1917 the DH.2 was outclassed and they were replaced by the Airco DH.5. The DH.5 did not prove suitable as a fighter but the squadron used it in a ground-attack role. The squadron was involved in the Battle of Messines in Belgium, and later the Battle of Cambrai in France. The DH.5 was phased out of operations and the squadron were given the Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a in December 1917. After a few months in the ground-attack role the squadron returned to air combat operations. By October 1918 the squadron had destroyed two-hundred enemy aircraft. Following the armistice the squadron returned to England and was disbanded in February 1919. In June 1943 a second squadron, No. 512 Squadron, equipped with the Douglas Dakota was split off from No. 24 Squadron.

In January 2011, No. 24 Squadron started its transition from a front-line Hercules squadron to become the Air Mobility Operational Conversion Unit. As a Central Flying School accredited training establishment, No. 24 Squadron is the professional training body for the Air Mobility Force, delivering flying and engineering training. The squadron also oversees Aircrew Instructor Development delivering initial aircrew instructor courses.

The squadron's motto is .

Battle honours

thumb|A No. 24 Squadron [[Handley Page Hastings|Handley Page Hastings C.2 at RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire in 1952]]

No. 24 Squadron has received the following battle honours. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may be emblazoned on the squadron standard.

  • Western Front (1916–1918)*
  • Somme (1916)*
  • Somme (1918)
  • Amiens (1918)*
  • Hindenburg Line (1918)*
  • France and Low Countries (1939–1940)*
  • Malta (1942)*
  • North Africa (1942–1943)*
  • Italy (1943–1944)
  • Burma (1944–1945)*
  • Gulf (1991)
  • Afghanistan (2001–2014)
  • Iraq (2003–2011)*

See also

  • List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), Orbis Publishing.
  • Jefford, G. G. RAF Squadrons, second edition 2001, Airlife Publishing, UK, .
  • Rawlings, J. D. R. "History of No. 24 Squadron". Air Pictorial, April 1972, Vol.34 No.4. pp. 144–147.
  • 24 Squadron Association