No. 34 Squadron RAF
Encyclopedia
No. 34 Squadron RAF was a squadron
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...

 of the 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...

. During the First World War it operated as a reconnaissance and bomber squadron, and in the 1930s operated light bombers. It was re-equipped with fighter-bombers in the later half of the Second World War,and in the post-war period was reformed four times; first as a photo-reconnaissance unit, then anti-aircraft co-operation, then as a jet fighter squadron through the 1950s. It was last active in the 1960s, as a Blackburn Beverley
Blackburn Beverley
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.-Design and development:...

 transport squadron.

First World War

No. 34 Squadron RAF was formed at Castle Hooskow on 7 January 1916 from elements of No. 19 Squadron RAF. It went to France in July 1916 as a reconnaissance unit equipped with BE.2s It got RE.8s in January 1917. It transferred to the Italian front flying reconnaissance and bomber missions until the end of the war, returning to the UK and disbanding on 25 September 1919.

Second World War

It reformed at Bircham Newton
Bircham Newton
Bircham Newton is the smallest of the three villages that make up the civil parish of Bircham, in the west of the English county of Norfolk. The village is located about 1 km north of the larger village of Great Bircham, 20 km north-east of the town of King's Lynn, and 60 km...

 on 3 December 1935 from a detachment from No. 18 Squadron RAF
No. 18 Squadron RAF
No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:...

. Initially it flew Hawker Hind
Hawker Hind
-See also:-Bibliography:* Crawford, Alex. Hawker Hart Family. Redbourn, Hertfordshire, UK: Mushroom Model Publications Ltd., 2008. ISBN 83-89450-62-3....

s before receiving Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...

s in July 1938. No. 34 was sent to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 before the start of the war until Japan entered the war. After two months action it was beyond operations and what remained left for India. It reformed at the start of April 1942, with Blenheim IVs. These carried out bombing raids on Japanese bases in Burma until April 1943. The Squadron converted to Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

s and then began fighter-bomber
Fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...

 operations from November. It switched to P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

s in March 1945 ground attack until the end of the war. The Squadron disbanded on 15 October 1945.

Post-war

On 1 August 1946 No. 681 Squadron RAF
No. 681 Squadron RAF
No. 681 Squadron RAF was a photo-reconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:It was first formed out of No. 3 PRU, at Dum Dum in India on 2 January 1943, as part of RAF Far East Air Force...

 was renumbered as No. 34 Squadron, flying photo-reconnaissance Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...

s until disbanding on 31 July 1947. No. 695 Squadron RAF
No. 695 Squadron RAF
No. 695 Squadron RAF was an anti-aircraft co-operation squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1949.-History:The squadron was formed at RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk on 1 December 1943, from 1611, 1612 and 1626 Flights for anti-aircraft co-operation duties, and operated a variety of aircraft in...

 was then renumbered to No. 34 Squadron on 11 February 1949 at Horsham St. Faith
RAF Horsham St Faith
RAF Horsham St Faith was a Royal Air Force station near Norwich, Norfolk, England from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as Norwich International Airport.-RAF Bomber Command use:...

, near Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

. They operated in anti-aircraft co-operation using Bristol Beaufighter
Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...

s and Spitfires until it too disbanded on 24 June 1952.

No. 34 was reformed at Tangmere
Tangmere
Tangmere is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Located three miles north east of Chichester it is twinned with Hermanville-sur-Mer in Lower Normandy, France....

 with Gloster Meteor
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. It first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force...

 jets as a fighter squadron in August 1954. In October 1955 Hawker Hunter
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...

s replaced the Meteors until disbandment on 10 January 1958. No. 34 was then reformed yet again on 1 October 1960 at RAF Seletar, Singapore, in the transport role with Blackburn Beverley
Blackburn Beverley
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.-Design and development:...

s until the end of 1967 when it was disbanded again.

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