History

No. 53 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 was formed at Catterick

RAF Catterick

RAF Catterick is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Catterick, North Yorkshire in England.-History:Catterick airfield first opened in 1914 as a Royal Flying Corps aerodrome with the role of training pilots and to assist in the defence of the North East of England...

 on 15 May 1916. Originally intended to be a training squadron, it was sent to France to operate reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 in December that year. The squadron was equipped with BE2Es

Be2

The online matchmaking company be2 is one of the leading matchmakers worldwide. Internationally, be2 is represented in 37 countries..-History:...

—swapped for the RE8

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed by John Kenworthy. Intended as a replacement for the vulnerable B.E.2, the R.E.8 was more difficult to fly, and was regarded with great suspicion at first in the Royal...

 in April 1917. It returned the UK in March 1919 to Old Sarum

Old Sarum

Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...

 where it was disbanded on 25 October 1919.

The squadron reformed on 28 June 1937 at RAF Farnborough with the Hawker Hector

Hawker Hector

-See also:-Bibliography:* Air Transport Auxiliary Ferry Pilots Notes . Elvington, York, UK: Yorkshire Air Museum, 1996. ISBN 0-9512379-8-5....

 for Army Cooperation; specialising in night reconnaissance.
The squadron was given the 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...

 light bomber in January 1939 and moved to France in September. Following the German attack on France in May 1940, the squadron returned to the UK. From here it undertook bombing and reconnaissance missions.

In 1940 it was transferred from RAF Fighter Command

RAF Fighter Command

RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...

 to RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...

, thereafter alternating between No. 16 Group RAF and No. 19 Group RAF. It moved to RAF St Eval

RAF St Eval

RAF St Eval was a strategic airbase for the RAF Coastal Command in the Second World War . St Eval's primary role was to provided anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south west coast of England...

, Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 for anti-submarine and anti-shipping operations. In July 1941 the Blenheims were replaced by the Lockheed Hudson

Lockheed Hudson

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...

. In July 1942 the squadron was transferred to the Eastern Seaboard

Eastern seaboard

An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...

 of the USA, from there it moved to Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

. It returned to Cornwall, RAF Davidstow Moor

RAF Davidstow Moor

RAF Davidstow Moor was an airbase at Davidstow near Camelford in Cornwall, United Kingdom from late 1942 until 1945. Despite a few periods of intense activity it was one of Coastal Command's less-used airfields.-History:...

 and was given Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War...

s in early 1943. It moved on to stations in Norfolk but by May was operating the Consolidated Liberators at RAF Thorney Island

Thorney Island (West Sussex)

Thorney Island is an island that juts into Chichester Harbour in West Sussex. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel called the Great Deep. The village of West Thorney lies on the east coast of the island and has been incorporated into the military base...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.

In September 1944 it was transferred to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 where it stayed until the end of the war in Europe. It came back to the UK to RAF St Davids, joining Transport Command to carry troops to India. The squadron was disbanded at RAF Gransden Lodge on 15 June 1946.

It was reformed on 1 November 1946 with Dakotas

Douglas DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...

 which it used throughout the Berlin Airlift and was then disbanded again on 31 July 1949.

The squadron reformed the next day at RAF Topcliffe

RAF Topcliffe

RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire. It is a satellite station of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.Topcliffe opened in September 1940 as a bomber station in RAF Bomber Command and was home to 77 and 102 Squadrons flying the Whitley heavy bomber. There was a decoy site at Raskelf...

 with Handley Page Hastings

Handley Page Hastings

The Handley Page H.P.67 Hastings was a British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and built by Handley Page Aircraft Company for the Royal Air Force...

 transports. 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 replaced the Hasting in 1957. It was disbanded at Abingdon on 28 June 1963.

On 1 November 1965 at RAF Fairford

RAF Fairford

RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England. It is a standby airfield, not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in...

 it reformed as the RAF's first and only squadron with the Short Belfast

Short Belfast

The Short Belfast is a heavy lift turboprop freighter built by Short Brothers at Belfast. Only 10 were built for the British Royal Air Force with the designation Short Belfast C.1. When they were retired by the RAF, five went into civilian service with the cargo airline HeavyLift Cargo Airlines...

. It moved to RAF Brize Norton

RAF Brize Norton

RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....

in 1967, and remained there until disbanding on 14 September 1976.

External links

• Coastal Commands
• rafweb.org Accessed 24 May 2007