No. 144 Squadron RAF
Encyclopedia
No. 144 Squadron, RAF, was a British aviation and missle squadron during World War I
, World War II
, and the Cold War
.
, Egypt, on 20th March 1918. On 14 August it came under the orders of the Palestine Brigade, Royal Air Force
, and by the end of the month it had been fully equipped as a bombing squadron with DH9s at Junction Station.
On the opening of the final offensive in Palestine, No 144 Squadron was with the 40th (Army) Wing and had 13 DH9s on charge. There was no special air activity before the offensive so that the enemy should not be warned of our intentions, but No. 144 Squadron made two important bombing raids on Der'a station in conjunction with the operations of the Arab Northern Army under Sherif Feisal and Colonel TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in the eastern area on the 16 and 17 September. When the offensive began on the coastal sector on 19 September an initial bombing offensive was directed against the main Turkish telegraphic and telephonic centres whose positions were known from intelligence sources and from air photographs. No 144 Squadron bombed the central telephone exchange at El 'Affule and the headquarters and telephone exchange of the Turkish Seventh Army at Nablus, and (it seems) effectively cut the enemy's telephone communications at a vital time.
By 20 September the enemy was in headlong retreat. In the west the Turkish Eighth Army had been shattered and its remnants, together with the Seventh Army in the centre, were retiring to their doom. On the following day they were trapped in the Wadi el Far'a and completely wiped out by air attack with all RAF squadrons being concentrated in the attack. No 144 Squadron then co-operated in the advance east of the Jordan, which resulted in the capture of the Turkish Fourth Army.
At the end of September a flight of No 144 Squadron was stationed at Haifa to co-operate with the XXI Corps during its advance on Beirut, but elsewhere, with the rapid pursuit of the enemy, the opportunities and facilities for bombing had diminished. In October the squadron moved to Mudros, Greece, but by the end of the year it had returned to England. It was disbanded at Ford Junction on 4 February 1919.
s from RAF Hemswell
, Lincolnshire, at the outbreak of the Second World War but did not get an opportunity to do any operational work, until the war was nearly three weeks old. Then, on 26 September 1939, its chance finally came when it was ordered to despatch 12 Hampdens to search for and attack enemy naval vessels which had been reported in the North Sea. Flying in two formations of six, the Hampdens approached to within about 12 miles of the German coast but the only naval vessels sighted were two submarines-presumably of unknown nationality and the aircraft returned to base with their bomb loads intact.
The squadron's next mission, another armed reconnaissance over the North Sea on 29 September, was a very different story indeed. Eleven Hampdens, split into two sections - a section of five led by Wing Commander JC Cunningham, the CO, and a section of six led by Squadron Leader WJH Lindley - were detailed to search part of the Heligoland Bight to within sight of the German coast. Cunningham's section left Hemswell at 4.50pm and was not heard from again. Lindley's section found two enemy destroyers in the search area steaming east in line astern at 20 knots but, owing to the destroyers' manoeuvres and "flak" umbrella, only three Hampdens were able to attack; the results were not observed. All six Hampdens returned safely to base.
In the ensuing months the squadron "stood to" for shipping searches on several occasions but only once - on 14 December - was it required to operate; the mission was uneventful.
The first occasion on which No, 144 Squadron flew over the German mainland was the night of 24/25 February 1940, when propaganda leaflets or Nickels were dropped on Hamburg. On 6 March, by which time it had Nickelled several other German towns and by which time also it had flown a number of security patrols, the squadron took part in Bomber Command's first attack on a German land objective - the minelaying-seaplane base at Hornum. Just over two months later (by which time minelaying had been added to its duties) No 144 shared in another notable "first" - the first big bombing attack on the German mainland (the exits of München-Gladbach).
The Squadron continued to operate with Bomber Command until 1942, and during this period, in addition to its normal night-bombing attacks and minelaying expeditions, it occasionally undertook certain other tasks such as daylight bombing against German warships at Brest and night-intruder operations against enemy searchlight installations. One night in November 1941, one of the squadron's Hampdens bombed from a very low level and set on fire a 10,000-ton merchantman - the largest of several vessels in an enemy convoy - off the Frisian Islands. It was learned afterwards that Major-General Felix Varda, the commander of the Western anti-aircraft defences, was on board this ship and was among those killed as a result of the Hampden's attack.
On 21 April 1942, the squadron's association with Bomber Command ended when it was transferred to Coastal Command.
. The squadron was equipped with three Thor
Intermediate range ballistic missiles. and based at RAF North Luffenham
in Rutland
.
In October 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis
, the squadron was kept at full readiness, with the missiles aimed at strategic targets in the USSR.
The squadron was disbanded on 23 August 1963, with the termination of the Thor Program in Britain.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
World War I
No. 144 Squadron, RFC, was formed at Port SaidPort Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt, on 20th March 1918. On 14 August it came under the orders of the Palestine Brigade, Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, and by the end of the month it had been fully equipped as a bombing squadron with DH9s at Junction Station.
On the opening of the final offensive in Palestine, No 144 Squadron was with the 40th (Army) Wing and had 13 DH9s on charge. There was no special air activity before the offensive so that the enemy should not be warned of our intentions, but No. 144 Squadron made two important bombing raids on Der'a station in conjunction with the operations of the Arab Northern Army under Sherif Feisal and Colonel TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in the eastern area on the 16 and 17 September. When the offensive began on the coastal sector on 19 September an initial bombing offensive was directed against the main Turkish telegraphic and telephonic centres whose positions were known from intelligence sources and from air photographs. No 144 Squadron bombed the central telephone exchange at El 'Affule and the headquarters and telephone exchange of the Turkish Seventh Army at Nablus, and (it seems) effectively cut the enemy's telephone communications at a vital time.
By 20 September the enemy was in headlong retreat. In the west the Turkish Eighth Army had been shattered and its remnants, together with the Seventh Army in the centre, were retiring to their doom. On the following day they were trapped in the Wadi el Far'a and completely wiped out by air attack with all RAF squadrons being concentrated in the attack. No 144 Squadron then co-operated in the advance east of the Jordan, which resulted in the capture of the Turkish Fourth Army.
At the end of September a flight of No 144 Squadron was stationed at Haifa to co-operate with the XXI Corps during its advance on Beirut, but elsewhere, with the rapid pursuit of the enemy, the opportunities and facilities for bombing had diminished. In October the squadron moved to Mudros, Greece, but by the end of the year it had returned to England. It was disbanded at Ford Junction on 4 February 1919.
World War II
On 11 January 1937, No 144 was re-formed at Bicester as a bomber unit and was equipped, at first, with four Boulton-Paul Overstrand aircraft (loaned by its "foster-parent", No 101 Squadron.) No. 144 was flying Handley Page HampdenHandley Page Hampden
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...
s from RAF Hemswell
RAF Hemswell
RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967...
, Lincolnshire, at the outbreak of the Second World War but did not get an opportunity to do any operational work, until the war was nearly three weeks old. Then, on 26 September 1939, its chance finally came when it was ordered to despatch 12 Hampdens to search for and attack enemy naval vessels which had been reported in the North Sea. Flying in two formations of six, the Hampdens approached to within about 12 miles of the German coast but the only naval vessels sighted were two submarines-presumably of unknown nationality and the aircraft returned to base with their bomb loads intact.
The squadron's next mission, another armed reconnaissance over the North Sea on 29 September, was a very different story indeed. Eleven Hampdens, split into two sections - a section of five led by Wing Commander JC Cunningham, the CO, and a section of six led by Squadron Leader WJH Lindley - were detailed to search part of the Heligoland Bight to within sight of the German coast. Cunningham's section left Hemswell at 4.50pm and was not heard from again. Lindley's section found two enemy destroyers in the search area steaming east in line astern at 20 knots but, owing to the destroyers' manoeuvres and "flak" umbrella, only three Hampdens were able to attack; the results were not observed. All six Hampdens returned safely to base.
In the ensuing months the squadron "stood to" for shipping searches on several occasions but only once - on 14 December - was it required to operate; the mission was uneventful.
The first occasion on which No, 144 Squadron flew over the German mainland was the night of 24/25 February 1940, when propaganda leaflets or Nickels were dropped on Hamburg. On 6 March, by which time it had Nickelled several other German towns and by which time also it had flown a number of security patrols, the squadron took part in Bomber Command's first attack on a German land objective - the minelaying-seaplane base at Hornum. Just over two months later (by which time minelaying had been added to its duties) No 144 shared in another notable "first" - the first big bombing attack on the German mainland (the exits of München-Gladbach).
The Squadron continued to operate with Bomber Command until 1942, and during this period, in addition to its normal night-bombing attacks and minelaying expeditions, it occasionally undertook certain other tasks such as daylight bombing against German warships at Brest and night-intruder operations against enemy searchlight installations. One night in November 1941, one of the squadron's Hampdens bombed from a very low level and set on fire a 10,000-ton merchantman - the largest of several vessels in an enemy convoy - off the Frisian Islands. It was learned afterwards that Major-General Felix Varda, the commander of the Western anti-aircraft defences, was on board this ship and was among those killed as a result of the Hampden's attack.
On 21 April 1942, the squadron's association with Bomber Command ended when it was transferred to Coastal Command.
Strategic missile force
The squadron was reformed - as 144(SM) Sqn. - on 12 January 1959 as one of 20 Strategic Missile (SM) squadrons associated with Project EmilyProject Emily
Project Emily was the deployment of American-built PGM-17 Thor Intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the United Kingdom between 1959 and 1963....
. The squadron was equipped with three Thor
PGM-17 Thor
Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was...
Intermediate range ballistic missiles. and based at RAF North Luffenham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF North Luffenham was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, 1940 - 1998. It is near to the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham....
in Rutland
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....
.
In October 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, the squadron was kept at full readiness, with the missiles aimed at strategic targets in the USSR.
The squadron was disbanded on 23 August 1963, with the termination of the Thor Program in Britain.