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Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

No 208 (Reserve) Squadron was a reserve unit of the Royal Air Force, most recently based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. It operated the BAe Hawk aircraft, as a part of No. 4 Flying Training School. Due to obsolescence of its Hawk T.1 aircraft compared to the new build Hawk T.2 aircraft of its sister unit, 4(R) Sqn, the squadron was disbanded in April 2016, in its 100th year of operations.

The squadron was established as part of the Royal Naval Air Service on 25 October 1916 at Dunkirk as No. 8 (Naval) Squadron. In its early days, the unit flew Sopwith Pups, 1½ Strutters and Nieuport Scouts. Later in World War I it re equipped with Sopwith Camels and was assigned to artillery spotting. The squadron returned to the UK briefly before being sent back to France to face the German offensive. While in France a significant number of Camels belonging to the squadron were destroyed by the RAF to prevent the Germans capturing them during their advance. When the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918, the unit was renumbered to No. 208 Squadron RAF. After the war ended, 208 Squadron remained with the occupying forces until August 1919, when it again returned to the UK for disbandment on 7 November 1919 at Netheravon. For some time the squadron was based at the aerodrome at the Beaupré sur la Lys Abbey in La Gorgue in northern France. During the war, the squadron claimed 298 victories. Twenty five aces had served in the squadron. Notable among them were
Anthony Arnold, Charles Dawson Booker, Robert J. O. Compston, Harold Day, Stanley Goble,
Edward Grahame Johnstone, William Lancelot Jordan, Robert A. Little, William E. G. Mann, Richard Munday, Guy William Price, George Simpson, Reginald Soar, Ronald Thornley, and James White.

The squadron re formed at RAF Ismailia in Egypt on 1 February 1920 by the renumbering of No. 113 Squadron RAF. It was at first equipped with RE8s and from November 1920 till May 1930 with Bristol Fighters. In September 1922 the squadron was sent to Turkey for a year during the Chanak crisis, being stationed at San Stefano, a part of the Bakırköy district of Istanbul.

No. 208 Squadron was still stationed in Egypt at the outbreak of World War II. It joined the war effort in mid 1940, flying Westland Lysander reconnaissance aircraft and Hawker Hurricane fighters on army co operation duties in the North African Campaign and the Greek Campaign of 1941. During the war it included a significant number of Royal Australian Air Force and South African Air Force personnel, along with other nationalities. Amongst the members of the squadron at this time was Robert Leith Macgregor, shot down on more than one occasion, once ending up taxiing through a minefield, but managing not to trigger any mines. The unit was later stationed in Palestine, before returning to North Africa. It briefly converted to Curtiss Tomahawks, but received Supermarine Spitfires in late 1943 and flew them for the remainder of the war. From 1944, it took part in the Italian Campaign.

Shortly after the war, 208 Squadron moved back to Palestine where it was involved in operations against the Egyptian Air Force. In 1948, the squadron moved to the Egyptian Canal Zone. It saw action in the 1948 Arab Israeli War, losing four Spitfires in combat with Israeli Air Force aircraft (which also included Spitfires). The last officially recorded "Air to Air fighter pilot kill" (bullets only, without guidance systems) occurred on 22 May 1948. At 09:30 two Egyptian Spitfire LF.9s staged a third attack on Ramat David. This time Fg Off Tim McElhaw and Fg Off Hully of 208 Squadron had taken over the standing patrol. Fg Off McElhaw, flying Spitfire FR.18 TZ228, intercepted and shot down both LF.9s. In 1951, the squadron relocated to RAF Fayid where its Spitfires were replaced with Gloster Meteor jets. From there it moved to RAF Abu Sueir, relocating to RAF Takali, Malta, in August 1956, with interim spells earlier in the year at RAF Hal Far, Malta, and RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. It disbanded at Takhali in January 1958, but re formed the same month in the UK at RAF Tangmere from a nucleus of No. 34 Squadron RAF. In March 1958, re equipped with Hunter FMk 6's, it returned to the Middle East, based at RAF Nicosia, with detachments to RAF Akrotiri and Aman, Jordan. The squadron disbanded at RAF Nicosia on 31 March 1959. The next day, 1 April 1959, it re formed at RAF Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya, by the re numbering of No. 142 Squadron RAF under Squadron Leader R. Ramirez. It operated from Eastleigh from April 1959 to March 1960, being redeployed home to RAF Stradishall from March to June 1960, but returning to Eastleigh in June, sending detachments to Kuwait and Bahrain during the period. It was moved to RAF Khormaksar in Aden in November 1961, under Air Forces Arabian Peninsula, which became Air Forces Middle East the same year. In June 1964 it moved to Muharraq in Bahrain. The squadron remained in the Middle East until September 1971 when it was disbanded as a consequence of British drawdown of armed forces from East of Suez.

208 Squadron re formed at RAF Honington in 1974 with Blackburn Buccaneer S2s, assigned to SACEUR in a low level strike role. The squadron's twelve Buccaneers were declared operational to SACEUR from 1975 armed with 24 WE.177 nuclear weapons. The squadron was tasked with supporting land forces resisting an advance by the Warsaw Pact into western Europe, by striking at enemy forces, logistics and infrastructure beyond the forward edge of the battlefield, initially with conventional munitions, and with nuclear weapons in the event of escalation. The allocation of the British owned WE.177 weapon freed the squadron from the time consuming burden, at a critical time, of using US owned nuclear weapons held in US custody at a central location. The squadron continued in this role, based at RAF Honington, until late 1983, when it moved base to RAF Lossiemouth and was reassigned to SACLANT for maritime strike duties. At Lossiemouth it flew alongside No. 12 Squadron RAF with the same role. The squadron's allocation of WE.177 nuclear weapons was reduced to twelve, one per aircraft, although the Buccaneer was able to carry two in its internal bomb bay. The squadron continued in this role until late 1993 when it relinquished its nuclear weapons. The unit was one of the last squadrons to operate the Buccaneer before it went out of service in 1994, and after the type's retirement the squadron again disbanded on 31 March 1994.

Despite conducting parallel training alongside the advanced Hawk TMk2 aircraft of 4(R) Squadron for several years, once 4(R) Squadron reached full output capacity, in January 2016 the Royal Air Force took a decision to disband 208(R) Squadron. The Squadron celebrated its centenary on 1 April 2016 with the final student course graduation, a families' day and a formal dinner. Shortly afterwards the Squadron disbanded, making its last flight on 13 April 2016 where three aircraft (two in centenary markings) led by OC 208(R) Squadron and the RAF Valley Station Commander overflew several landmarks linked with the Hawk TMk1. When it was handed back, it was estimated that over 1000 student pilots had been trained in the 208(R) Squadron building during its 22 year tenure at RAF Valley. The Squadron Standard was lodged in the RAF church, St Clement Danes, at a ceremony on 22 May 2016, attended by squadron personnel, members of the 208 Squadron Association, Air Officer Commanding 22(Trg) Group and the Director of Flying Training.

+Aircraft operated by No. 8 Squadron RNAS and no. 208 Squadron RAFFrom To Aircraft Variant FromToAircraftVariant October 1916 November 1916 Sopwith 1½ Strutter May 1942September 1942Curtiss TomahawkMk IIb October 1916 December 1916 Nieuport Scout May 1942December 1943Hawker HurricaneMks. Ia, IIb, IIc October 1916 February 1917 Sopwith Pup December 1943July 1944Supermarine SpitfireMk Vc February 1917 September 1917 Sopwith Triplane March 1944June 1947Supermarine SpitfireMk IX September 1917 November 1918 Sopwith Camel August 1944October 1944Supermarine SpitfireMk VIII November 1918 September 1919 Sopwith Snipe August 1946March 1957Supermarine SpitfireFR18 February 1920 November 1920 Royal Aircraft Factory RE8 March 1951January 1958Gloster MeteorFR9 November 1920 May 1930 Bristol F2 Fighter F2bJanuary 1958February 1958Hawker HunterF5 May 1930 August 1935 Armstrong Whitworth Atlas January 1958March 1959Hawker HunterF6 August 1935 January 1939 Hawker Audax April 1959March 1960de Havilland VenomFB4 September 1935 March 1936 Hawker Demon March 1960September 1971Hawker HunterFGA9 January 1939 May 1942 Westland Lysander Mrs I, IIOctober 1974March 1994Blackburn BuccaneerS2A, S2B November 1940 September 1942 Hawker Hurricane Mk IApril 1994April 2016BAe HawkTMk1, TMk1A May 1941 June 1941 Hawker Audax