No. 4 Squadron, also known as No. IV Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since November 2011, it has operated the BAE Hawk T2 from RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. The squadron provides weapons and tactics training for student pilots after they have completed their conversion to jet aircraft with No. XXV(F) Squadron. Between 1970 and January 2011, the squadron operated various variants of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and British Aerospace Harrier II.

History

Formation and First World War (1912–1919) No. 4 Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. Operating a mixture of aircraft including early versions of the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 and Breguet biplane, the squadron quickly moved to Netheravon where it remained until the outbreak of the First World War. The more useful aircraft in its inventory were sent to France under the command of Major G. H. Rayleigh on 16 August 1914, to carry out reconnaissance in support of the British Expeditionary Force. On 19 August Lieutenant G. W. Mapplebeck flew the squadron's first mission over France, a reconnaissance flight searching for German cavalry in the vicinity of Gembloux, Belgium. Other aircraft remained in England to carry out anti-Zeppelin patrols.Ashworth 1989, p. 32.Yoxall 1950, pp. 255–256.

The contingent in France was reinforced on 20 September by the personnel who had remained behind in England, forming C Flight, equipped with the Maurice Farman MF.11 Shorthorn. It concentrated on the reconnaissance role, standardising on the B.E.2 in 1916. In the Battle of the Somme, the squadron flew contact patrols keeping track of the position of advancing troops at low level, in addition to more regular reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions. It re-equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 in June 1917, in time to take part in the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele. During this period William Robinson Clarke, the first black pilot to serve for Britain, flew for the squadron. It remained equipped with the R.E.8 until the Armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918 ended the fighting.Yoxall 1950, pp. 256–258. The squadron returned to the United Kingdom in February 1919 as a cadre.

Between the wars (1920–1939) No. 4 Squadron returned to full strength on 30 April 1920 at Farnborough, equipped with Bristol F.2 Fighters. Part of the squadron moved to Aldergrove near Belfast in November 1920 as a result of the Irish War of Independence, moving to Baldonnel Aerodrome near Dublin in May 1921, before rejoining the rest of the squadron at Farnborough in January 1922.Yoxall 1950, p. 258. The squadron deployed on Royal Navy aircraft carriers when they sailed to Turkey on HMS Ark Royal and Argus during the Chanak crisis in August 1922, returning to Farnborough in September 1923. When the 1926 General Strike broke out, the squadron's aircraft were used to patrol railway lines to deter feared sabotage.Yoxall 1950, pp. 258–259.

In October 1929, the elderly Bristol Fighters were replaced with new Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, purpose-designed for the squadron's army co-operation role. These in turn were replaced by Hawker Audaxes in December 1931.Yoxall 1950, p. 259.Halley 1980, p. 22. In February 1937, it moved from Farnborough to RAF Odiham, soon re-equipping with the Hawker Hector, a more powerful derivative of the Audax. In January 1939, it discarded its Hector biplanes in favour of the new monoplane Westland Lysander.Halley 1980, pp. 22–23.

Second World War (1939–1945)

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the squadron moved to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Following Germany's invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the squadron was frequently forced to change bases by the approach of the advancing German armies, being withdrawn to the UK on 24 May. Losses had been heavy, with 18 aircrew killed, while 60% of the groundcrew were lost. It continued in the coastal patrol and air-sea rescue role while training for its main army co-operation role after returning to the UK.

In 1942, the squadron changed its mission from the army co-operation role, where it would operate fairly low-performance aircraft from airstrips close to the front-line, to that of fighter-reconnaissance, receiving the more modern Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang, with the latter soon replacing Tomahawk, flying low-level attack and reconnaissance flights against targets on the continent.

In August 1943, it joined the Second Tactical Air Force in support of the planned invasion of Europe, changing to the pure reconnaissance mission in January, and replacing its Mustangs with the Mosquito PR.XVI and Spitfire PR.XI. It discarded its Mosquitoes in June, moved to France in August, and briefly supplemented its Spitfires with a few Hawker Typhoons for low-level reconnaissance. It retained its Spitfires at VE Day, moving to Celle in Germany to carry out survey operations in support of the British Army of Occupation until it was disbanded on 31 August 1945.Yoxall 1950, pp. 261–262.

Post-war and Cold War (1946–1999) The squadron reformed the next day by renumbering No. 605 Squadron, a light bomber squadron equipped with Mosquitoes based at Volkel in the Netherlands. It re-equipped with de Havilland Vampire fighter-bombers in July 1950, replacing them with North American Sabres in October 1953. The Sabres were discarded in favour of the Hawker Hunter in July 1955, retaining these until the squadron disbanded at RAF Jever on 31 December 1960.

Again, the squadron did not remain dormant for long, as it reformed on 1 January 1961 by renumbering No. 79 Squadron, flying the Hunter FR.10 in the low-level reconnaissance role. It re-equipped with the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier in 1970, first flying from RAF Wildenrath in West Germany. It moved on to RAF Gütersloh in 1977.The squadron operated the Harrier until the final withdrawal of the type, receiving numerous upgrades and new versions over the years. In April 1999, the squadron left Germany to move to RAF Cottesmore.

21st century (2000–present) On 31 March 2010, the squadron disbanded and reformed as No. 4 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Wittering, taking over from No. 20 (R) Squadron as the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit. As a result of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the squadron disbanded in January 2011, only to reform on 24 November 2011, when No. 19 (R) Squadron, operating the BAE Hawk T2 from RAF Valley in the tactical weapons training role, was renumbered.

In March 2020, the squadron was awarded the right to emblazon a battle honour on its squadron standard, recognising its role in Bosnia during 1995.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated have included:Halley 1980, p. 23.

Breguet Type IIIBruce 1982, p. 147. Cody V biplane Avro 500 Farman MF.11 Voisin IIIBruce 1982, p.610. Morane-Saulnier HBruce 1982, p. 288. Bristol Scout Martinsyde S.1 Caudron G.III Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 Bristol F.2 Fighter Armstrong Whitworth Atlas Hawker Audax Hawker Hector Westland Lysander Curtiss Tomahawk North American Mustang de Havilland Mosquito Supermarine Spitfire Hawker Typhoon de Havilland Vampire North American Sabre Hawker Hunter Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1, GR.3 and T.4 BAE Harrier II GR7, GR7A, GR9 and T12 BAE Hawk T2

Heritage Approved by King Edward VIII in May 1936, the squadron's badge features a sun in splendour divided per bend by a flash of lightning. The red and black segmented sun suggests round-the-clock operations (day and night), while the lightning flash is a reference to the unit's early use of wireless telephony for artillery co-operation.

The squadron's motto is .

Battle honours No. 4 Squadron has received the following battle honours. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may be emblazoned on the squadron standard.

Western Front (1914–1918)* Mons (1914) Neuve Chappelle (1915) Somme (1916) Ypres (1917) Lys (1918) Somme (1918)* France and Low Countries (1939–1940)* Fortress Europe (1942–1944) France and Germany (1944–1945)* Normandy (1944)* Arnhem (1944)* Rhine (1944–1945) Bosnia (1995)* Afghanistan (2001–2014) Iraq (2003)*

Commanding officers Commanding officers have included: + Name Date appointed Major G. H. Raleigh September 1912 Major H. R. P. Reynolds 20 January 1915 Major C. A. H. Longcroft 29 January 1915 Major F. F. Waldron 21 July 1915 Major G. E. Todd 29 September 1915 Major V. A. Barrington-Kennett 17 February 1916 Major T. W. C. Carthew 13 March 1916 Major L. Jenkins 20 September 1916 Major R. E. Saul 2 December 1917 Major H. B. Prior 6 January 1919 Squadron Leader C. H. B. Blount 30 March 1920 Squadron Leader J. C. Slessor 4 April 1925 Squadron Leader N. H. Bottomley 15 October 1928 Squadron Leader C. E. H. Medhurst 6 January 1930 Squadron Leader S. P. Simpson 3 January 1931 Squadron Leader F. M. F. West 4 October 1933 Squadron Leader E. J. K. McCloughry 16 January 1936 Squadron Leader G. H. Loughman 10 May 1937 Squadron Leader J. O. B. MacGregor 11 January 1938 Squadron Leader G. P. Charles 6 August 1939 Squadron Leader P. L. Donkin 7 September 1940 Wing Commander G. P. Charles 11 September 1940 Squadron Leader J. F. Maffett 29 October 1940 Wing Commander P. H. R. Saunders 9 December 1940 Wing Commander G. P. Charles 17 February 1941 Wing Commander P. H. R. Saunders 1 June 1941 Wing Commander G. E. Macdonald 29 October 1942 Squadron Leader R. H. D. Rigall 15 March 1943 Flight Lieutenant A. S. Baker 17 December 1943 Squadron Leader R. J. Hardiman 27 December 1943 Squadron Leader W. Shepherd 15 May 1944 Squadron Leader C. D. Harris-St. John 21 May 1945 Wing Commander M. P. C. Corkery 20 September 1945 Wing Commander R. L. Jones 15 May 1946 Squadron Leader B. Everton-Jones 15 November 1947 Squadron Leader C. P. N. Newman 14 September 1949 Squadron Leader P. G. K. Williamson 9 March 1951 Squadron Leader P. W. Gilpin 7 August 1953 Squadron Leader J. R. Chapman 5 December 1955 Squadron Leader T. J. McElhaw 2 September 1957 Squadron Leader R. J. Spiers February 1959 Squadron Leader R. J. T. Buchanan 30 December 1960 Squadron Leader R. J. Bannard 7 November 1961 Squadron Leader W. J. Milner December 1963 Squadron Leader E. J. E. Smith November 1964 Squadron Leader A. J. Hopkins 7 June 1967 Wing Commander I. K. McKee 1 June 1970 Wing Commander L. A. B. Baker 28 August 1972 Wing Commander D. P. J. Melaniphy 28 October 1974 Wing Commander A. J. Chaplin 17 March 1977 Wing Commander I. C. H. Dick 11 May 1979 Wing Commander K. G. Holland 27 November 1981 Squadron Leader P. R. Webb 29 June 1982 Wing Commander A. J. M. McKeon 31 August 1982 Wing Commander P. V. Harris 24 May 1985 Wing Commander R. W. Gault 20 November 1987 Wing Commander M. G. F. White 11 May 1990 Wing Commander D. A. Haward 16 December 1991 Wing Commander C. H. Moran 8 April 1994 Wing Commander A. S. Kirkpatrick 25 May 1996 Wing Commander K. B. McCann 26 November 1998 Wing Commander A. J. Q. Suddards 9 April 2001 Wing Commander A. Offer 21 October 2003 Wing Commander I. W. Duguid 17 March 2006 Wing Commander H. Smyth 1 September 2008 Wing Commander L. S. Taylor 1 April 2010 Wing Commander S.P. Jessett June 2010 Wing Commander R. Caine July 2017

See also List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Citations

Bibliography

Ashworth, Chris. Encyclopedia of Modern Royal Air Force Squadrons. Wellingborough, UK: Patrick Stevens Limited, 1989. . Bruce, J.M. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing). London:Putnam, 1982. . Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge, UK: Air Britain (Historians), 1980. . Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. .