No. 33 Squadron Royal Flying Corps

   No. 33 Squadron formed at Filton on the 12th January 1916 from personnel who had not proceeded to France with No. 12 Squadron. 33 Squadron moved to Yorkshire flying BE2Cs in Home Defence duties mainly countering enemy airship raids on towns and cities.

   No. 33 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps was formed from a nucleus from 12 Sqn at Filton on 12th of January 1916 and was deployed as a home defence squadron. It was redesignated No. 33 Squadron, Royal Air Force in April 1918.

1st Jan 1916 Squadron Formed

29th Jan 1916 Raid

18th Mar 1916 Aerodrome opens at Bramham Moor  The aerodrome at Bramham Moor, Headley Bar, Yorkshire opened on the 18th March 1916. Initially home to B and C flights, 33 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, with A flight being detached to York Racecourse.

29th Mar 1916

2nd May 1916 Airfield at York Racecourse bombed  On 2 May 1916 Zeppelin airships raided York, bombing the airfield at York racecourse. As a result the Aerodrome was closed and A Flight, 33 Squadron moved thier BE 2c and BE 2d aircraft to RFC Bramham Moor to join B & C Flights, flying from there in the air defence of Leeds, Sheffield and York.

8th June 1916   No 57 Squadron formed on the 8th of June 1916 at Copmanthorpe York from a nucleus from No 33 Squadron, taking on 33 Squadron's part-time training role to allow 33 Squadron to concentrate on the Home Defence role. B & C Flights were soon established at Bramham Moor, and the Squadron HQ and A Flt joined them at Bramham Moor on the 20th August.
In October however No. 57 Squadron began to prepare for its planned role undertaking high altitude reconnaissance, receiving Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2d two-seat pusher biplanes for this task. More info.

16th July 1916

20th Sept 1916

24th Dec 1916

5th Sept 1917

June 1918

Aug 1918 New aircraft

5th August 1918   By the beginning of 1917 the German High Command was losing faith in the extremely costly air ships campaign, which overall had wreaked only limited structural damage on Great Britain. From May 1917 most bombing raids were carried out by the Gotha bombers although, with a more limited range, these operations were largely limited to London and the South East. There were only seven airship-raids in 1917 and four in 1918. The final airship raid on Great Britain took place on the 5th August 1918. The command airship was shot down over the North Sea by the gunner of a British DH4 twin-seater aircraft flying from South Denes aerodrome, Great Yarmouth. The German Leader of Airships, Peter Strasser, and his 23 crew were all killed. The remaining four airships hurriedly and mistakenly dropped their bombs into the English Channel and turned for home.
The total number of airship attacks on Britain between 1915 and 1918 probably numbered only a total of 12 raids on London and 40 more over the rest of the country, but the Zeppelin was very effective in drawing RFC and RNAS resources away from the battle front. By December 1916 at the height of the Zeppelin threat 17,340 officers and men were in the AA service together with 12 RFC squadrons comprised of 200 officers, 2,000 other ranks and 110 aircraft for home defence duties. By 1918, facing the raids by Gotha bombers, there were 55 Home Defence Squadrons. The threat of bombing certainly reduced the numbers of effective squadrons and trained pilots at the front and thus reduced the pressure on the German front line.
The First Air Raid on Lancashire: The Zeppelin Menace By Scott Carter-Clavell

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No. 33 Squadron Royal Flying Corps
during the Great War 1914-1918.