Air Force Index

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No . 1 Squadron Royal Air Force    No 1 Squadron of the RAF was the former No 1 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, but traces its foundation back to 1878 and the establishment of the No.1 Balloon Company of the Royal Engineers at Chatham. During the first world war the Squadron was initially a reconnaissance unit in France, but in 1917 it became the first dedicated bomber squadron. After the war the Squadron spent periods of time in the North West Frontier (now Parkistan) and in Baghdad. On return to Britain in 1928 the Squadron was based at RAF Tangmere in Sussex as a Home Defence Fighter Squadron. At the start of the second world war the Squadron had recently been equipped with the Hurricane Mk1 and was almost immediately deployed to the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force in France and based at Berry-au-Bac north-west of Paris. Air bases at which No.1 Squadron was based during WW2: 17 August 1928-29 September 1939: Tangmere 9-29 September 1939: Octeville (France) 29 September-9 October 1939: Norrent Fontes 9 October 1939-11 April 1940: Vassincourt 11-19 April 1940: Berry-au-Bac 19 April-10 May 1940: Vassincourt 10-17 May 1940: Barry-ac-Bac 17-18 May 1940: Conde-Vraux 18 May-3 June 1940: Anglure 3-14 June 1940: Chateaudun 14-17 June 1940: Rouen-Boos 17-18 June 1940: St. Nazaire 18-23 June 1940: Northholt (U.K.) 23 June-1 August 1940: Tangmere 1 August-9 September 1940: Northolt 9 September-15 December 1940: Wittering 15 December 1940-5 June 1941: Northolt 5 January-7 April 1941: Kenley 7 April-1 May 1941: Croydon 1 May-1 June 1941: Redhill 1-14 June 1941: Kenley 14 June-1 July 1941: Redhill 1 July 1941-8 July 1942: Tangmere 8 July 1942-9 February 1943: Acklington 9 February-15 March 1943: Biggin Hill 15 March 1943-15 February 1944: Lympne 15 February-3 April 1944: Martlesham Heath 3 April 144-22 April 1944: North Weald (Re-equipped with Spitfires) 22-29 April 1944: Ayr 29 April-20 June 1944: Predannack 20-22 June 1944: Harrowbeer 22 June-11 July 1944: Detling 11 July-10 August 1944: Lympne 10 August-18 December 1944: Detling 18 December 1944-8 April 1945: Manston 8 April-14 May 1945: Coltishall 14 May-23 July 1945: Ludham   30th Aug 1939 Orders 4th Sep 1939 Ground Party 5th Sep 1939 Dispersal 6th Sep 1939 Grounded 7th Sep 1939 Advance Party 8th Sep 1939 On the Move 9th Sep 1939 Demonstration 10th Sep 1939 Patrols 11th Sep 1939 Move 12th Sep 1939 Move 13th Sep 1939 Trenches 14th Sep 1939 Trenches 15th Sep 1939 Guns Tested 16th Sep 1939 Poor Weather 17th Sep 1939 Poor Weather 18th Sep 1939 Training 19th Sep 1939 Recconaissance 20th Sep 1939 Training 21st Sep 1939 Training 22nd Sep 1939 Quiet 23rd Sep 1939 Transport 24th Sep 1939 Aircraft 25th Sep 1939 Recconaissance 26th Sep 1939 Advance Party 27th Sep 1939 Preparations 28th Sep 1939 On the Move 29th Sep 1939 On the Move 30th Sep 1939 On the Move 30th Oct 1939 Aircraft Shot Down 2nd March 1940 Hurricane lost 12th May 1940 Losses on Bombing missions 12th May 1940 Maastricht bridges 13th May 1940 Three aircraft lost 14th May 1940 Three aircraft lost 15th May 1940 Pilots safe 17th May 1940 Airfield bombed 18th May 1940 Aircraft lost 19th May 1940 Two aircraft lost 19th May 1940 Bombers brought down 25th May 1940 Anti-aircraft fire 26th May 1940 Hurricane lost 5th June 1940 Two Hurricanes destroyed 14th June 1940 Air-cover for evacuating troops 17th June 1940 Enemy Attack 18th June 1940 Evacuated from France  With the enemy vanguard almost within striking distance, No.1 Squadron was evacuated on the 18th June, the last RAF unit to leave France. After a few days at Northolt, it returned to RAF Tangmere. 18th June 1940 Evacuated from France 1st August 1940 Relocated 11th August 1940  Ports and ships attacked 15th Aug 1940 Eagle Day 15th August 1940  Airfields attacked 16th August 1940 Aftermath of Eagle Day 1st Sept 1940 Air battle over Kent 3rd September 1940 Aircraft missing 6th September 1940 Battle of Briatin 7th Sept 1940 Battle of Britain 9th Sept 1940 Moved for respite 15th Dec 1940 Back to the front line 30th June 1941 Circus 27 1st January 1942 Little operational work 3rd January 1942 Commission granted 4th January 1942 Return from training 7th January 1942 Commission granted 10th January 1942 Crash landing at Tangmere 11th January 1942 Posting out as non effective sick 13th January 1942 Engineer Duties Posting 21st January 1942 Aircraft scrambled but no enemy activity 22nd January 1942 Scrambled but recalled 24th January 1942 Hurricane crash after caught in slipstream 30th January 1942 2 enemy aircraft attacked as well as a Goods train 2nd March 1942 Crash on night patrol 1st May 1942 Night Intruder attacks on trains 2nd May 1942 Train attacks 3rd May 1942 Motor boat and trains attacked 4th May 1942 Enemy aircraft and searchlights destroyed 5th May 1942 Tanker lorry and trains attacked 6th May 1942 Intruder missions with no activity 7th May 1942 No activity on Night Intruder mission 8th May 1942 Searchlights were seen but no flak 9th May 1942 Bad weather and poor visibility 21st May 1942 2 Aircraft on Intruder mission 24th May 1942 Havoc Co-op patrol 29th May 1942 Trains and signal box attacked 30th May 1942 Enemy aircraft and trains attacked 31st May 1942 4 Trains attacked on night intruder mission 1st June 1942 Enemy aircraft and Goods Trains attacked 2nd June 1942 DO217 shot down and a JU88 damaged 3rd June 1942 2 x DO 217`s destroyed and 2 DO 217`s damaged 4th June 1942  1 x He 111 Destroyed and 1 x DO 217 Destroyed and 1 x DO 217 claimed as damaged 5th June 1942 Heartiest congratulations on your squadrons last night’s success. 6th June 1942 Searchlight co-operation 7th June 1942 Formation flying 8th June 1942 Intruder missions by 6 Hurricane IIc 9th June 1942 Anew battery of 6 search lights noticed 10th June1942 Cannon tests by Hurricanes 11th June 1942 Havoc co-operation and cine gun practice 12th June 1942 2 Hurricanes IIb aircraft arrived 13th June 1942 ZZ Practice and formation flying 14th June1942 Intruder operations with no activity 15th June 1942 Attempted interception with Havoc`s 16th June 1942 Air firing and squadron formation flying 17th June 1942 No activity whilst on Intruder operations 18th June 1942 Search light co-operation, squadron formation and aerodrome attacks 19th June 1942 Practice aerodrome attacks 20th June 1942 Training taking place 21st June 1942 Searchlight and practice attacks 22nd June 1942 1 x unidentified twin engine aircraft claimed as damaged 23rd June 1942 Practice attacks with Army co-operation 24th June 1942 Intruder attacks on goods trains 25th June 1942 Two aircraft carried out Turbinlite interceptions 26th June 1942 1 Hurricane 11c W/O G Scott Canadian lost 27th June 1942 The AOC in C has been graciously please to award a Bar to the DFC to F/LT Kuttelwascher of No 1 Squadron 28th June 1942 Two pilots carried out operational Turbinlite interceptions< 29th June 1942 E Boat`s attacked 30th June 1942 5 Goods trains disabled 8th July 1942 Re-equipped for new role 30th June 1943 Pilot seriouslty injured by flak 22nd April 1944 Cover 7th January 1944 Noball attack cancelled 4th February 1944 Difficult day with nothing achieved 6th March 1944 Bomber escort duties 22nd June 1944 Defence of London 18th December 1944 In action over France 14th May 1945 Channel Islands 15th September 1945 Flypast If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Logbooks Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession? If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you. View Logbook entries Those known to have served with No . 1 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Bolster C L. P/O (d.29th Mar 1943) Campbell J J R. F/O Kratkoruky B. P/O. (d.15th Mar 1940) Lowes John Heron. Mundell Victor. Lt. Palmer DFC. Cyril Dampier. Sqn.Ldr. (d.27th Oct 1942) Sweeting E. S.G.. Flt.Sgt. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of No . 1 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 16th Jan 2025 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 265273 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQs The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about No . 1 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2151 items tagged No . 1 Squadron Royal Air Force available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. Sqn.Ldr. Cyril Dampier Palmer DFC. No.1 Squadron (d.27th Oct 1942) Cyril Palmer was born to British parents in March 1918 in Cleveland OH, USA. He participated in: the Battle of France with No 1 Squadron with 2 confirmed kills, 2 shared and 1 probable. On 23rd of November 1939 a D017, on 15th of May 1940 a Me109E, on 17th of May 1940 an Me110 and 19th of May 1940 a share in a He111. He was shot down 3 times in France, on 23rd of November 1939, 2nd of April 1940 and 17th of May 1940. On 28th of May 1940 he was posted to No.6 OTU at Sutton Bridge as an instructor. On 6th of October 1942 he was posted to 234 Squadron at Portreath, his rank is given as Squadron Leader. Cyril went missing in action on 27th of October 1942, the squadron flying Spitfire VBs, was on a sweep off the French coast when they were bounced by Folke Wolf 190s over the Ile de Batz. Cyril was seen bailing out of his stricken aircraft but he was never seen thereafter. He was 24 years old.. Jerome Levans Add to this record. John Heron Lowes 5001 Squadron John Heron met his second wife Christy Sarah Morrison, who was from the Isle of Harris and was managing the NAAFI, while serving at RAF Dyce, they were later together at RAF Acklington (I don't know if that was by design or coincidence, but expect it was the former). They married in late 1947 and were happily married for 29 years when John passed away in early 1977. An Airfield Construction Squadron consisted of every known trade or profession involved in the building and construction industry. There would also be certain R.A.F. trades attached to a Flight or Squadron, e.g. cooks, clerks, medical, etc. This was essential under wartime conditions, when a flight or squadron arrived on a station to carry out a project or to repair bomb damage. The A.C. Squadrons with the Plant Squadrons and the Mechanical & Electrical Squadrons served in many locations in the period 1941 to 1946. Andy Stuart Add to this record. F/O J J R Campbell 1 Squadron J Campbell served with 1 Squadron Add to this record. P/O C L Bolster 1 Squadron (d.29th Mar 1943) C Bolster served with 1 Squadron Add to this record. Flt.Sgt. E. S.G. Sweeting No. 1 Squadron Flt.Sgt. E.S.G. Sweeting was a pilot who flew Hurricanes and was based at RAF Tangmere. Add to this record. P/O. B Kratkoruky 1 Squadron (d.15th Mar 1940) B Kratkoruky  served with  1 Squadron Add to this record. Lt. Victor Mundell 1 Squadron My father-in-law, Victor Mundell, was a Spitfire pilot and was shot down in Tripolitania on the 16th of April 1943. Landing in a cactus field where he was captured by local Arabs, who later sold him to the Germans for a bag of flour. He was taken to Stalag Luft 3 and was a penguin during the building of the tunnels for the Great Escape, but did not make the list for escape. We don't know which compound he was in or what happened in the last months of the war but he arrived in England on the 9/5/1945. We would be interested to hear from anyone else who had relatives in the SAAF in Stalag Luft 3 Chris Mundell Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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