No. 41 Squadron Royal Air Force is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), currently operating as the Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) for the RAF's Typhoon, presently based at RAF Coningsby in the English county of Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Its current official abbreviated title is 41 TES. The squadron was originally formed in , during First World War as part of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and served on the Western Front as a ground attack and fighter squadron. Disbanded in 1919 as part of the post-war draw down, No. 41 Squadron was re-formed as an RAF squadron in 1923, and remained on home service until 1935, when it was deployed to Aden during the Abyssinian crisis.
During the Second World War, the squadron flew Supermarine Spitfire fighters, and saw action over Dunkirk and the during the Battle of Britain in the early years of the war. Combat operations were flown from Britain over German-occupied Europe during 1941–1944, before the squadron moved to the continent after the Normandy landings. During 1944–1945, the squadron supported the Allied advance into Germany, and it remained there until mid-1946 as part of the occupation force following the end of hostilities. In the post-war years, the squadron was disbanded and re-formed several times, operating a variety of jet aircraft in the fighter, reconnaissance, and interceptor roles. In 2006, the squadron was re-roled as the Fast Jet & Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit. It remained in this role until 2010, when it became the Test and Evaluation Squadron of the Royal Air Force.
History First World War (1916–1919) No. 41 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed at Fort Rowner, Gosport, in early April 1916, with a nucleus of men from No. 28 Squadron RFC. However, on 22 May 1916, the squadron was disbanded again when it was re-numbered 'No. 27 Reserve Squadron RFC'.Operations Record Book for 41 Squadron RFC/RAF, Oct 1916 – Jan 1919, TNA AIR 1/1791/204/153/1-4 & 1/1792/204/153/5-6, 8 & 10
No. 41 Squadron was re-formed on 14 July 1916 with a nucleus of men from No. 27 Reserve Squadron, and equipped with the Vickers F.B.5 Gun Bus and Airco D.H.2 Scout. These were replaced in early September 1916 with the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8, and it was these aircraft which the squadron took on their deployment to France on 15 October 1916. Eighteen aircraft departed Gosport for the flight to Saint-Omer, but only twelve actually made it, the others landing elsewhere with technical problems. The twelve pilots spent a week at Saint-Omer before moving to Abeele, where the ground crews reached them by road, and the remaining six pilots by rail, minus their aircraft.History of 41 Squadron, R.A.F., 1916–1927; TNA AIR 1/692/21/20/41
The F.E.8 was already obsolete as a pure fighter, and the squadron used theirs mainly for ground attack. On 24 January 1917, the squadron claimed its first victories. These fell to Sergeant Pilot Cecil Tooms, who himself was killed in action only four hours later. While equipped with the F.E.8, the squadron participated in the Battle of Arras (April–May 1917) and the Battle of Messines (June 1917). By this time, the unit had become the last 'pusher' fighter squadron in the RFC. In July 1917, the squadron was re-equipped with the Airco DH.5 fighter, which proved disappointing; in October 1917, the squadron finally received the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a fighter, with which they were equipped for the duration of the war.
The squadron provided distinguished service in the Battle of Cambrai (November 1917), and subsequently in the German spring offensive (March 1918), and the Battle of Amiens (August 1918). The squadron claimed its final victory of the war two days prior to the cessation of hostilities. In the aftermath, the unit was reduced to a cadre of just sixteen men on 7 February 1919, and returned to the United Kingdom. Their new base was RAF Tangmere, West Sussex, but they were moved to RAF Croydon, Surrey, in early October, and formally disbanded on 31 December 1919.
The squadron's pilots and ground crews were awarded four Distinguished Service Orders, six Military Crosses, nine Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Military Medals, and four Mentions in Dispatches. The pilots were credited with destroying 111 aircraft and 14 balloons, sending down 112 aircraft out of control, and driving down 25 aircraft and five balloons. Thirty-nine men were killed or died on active service, 48 were wounded or injured, and 20 pilots became prisoners of war, including Australian Captain Norman Bruce Hair.Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Operations Record Book for 41 Squadron RFC/RAF, Oct 1916 – Jan 1919, TNA AIR 1/1791/204/153/1-4 & 1/1792/204/153/5-6, 8 & 10, Recording Officer's Diary, 41 Squadron RAF, 9 Oct 1916 – 30 May 1917; TNA AIR 1/1791/204/153/11, and Record of Enemy Aircraft Brought Down, Jan. 1917-Nov. 1918, 41 Squadron RAF, TNA AIR 1/1792/204/153/16
Interwar period (1923–1938)
No. 41 Squadron reformed at RAF Northolt, Greater London, on 1 April 1923, equipped with the Sopwith Snipe. In 1924, it began receiving the first Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III biplanes.41 Squadron Operations Record Book, TNA AIR 27/424. On 27 July 1929, eleven aircraft from the squadron flew to Calais to rendezvous with French aviation pioneer Louis Blériot and escort him back to Dover, in a re-enactment of the first crossing of the English Channel twenty years earlier.The Times, 29 July 1929 On 9 October 1930, following the R101 airship disaster in Beauvais, France, No. 41 Squadron pilots and ground crew formed a part of the Guard of Honour for the Lying-in-State of the forty-eight victims in the Palace of Westminster. Amongst the dead were the Secretary of State for Air, Brigadier General Lord Christopher Thomson, and the Director of Civil Aviation, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker. Thousands filed past to pay their last respects.
During the 1930s, displays, sports, competitions, tactical exercises, and flying practice were a part of regular activity. In the summer of 1934, the squadron even performed a flying display for South Bucks Mothers' Union. On 1 July 1935, the squadron escorted an Imperial Airways aircraft to Brussels, with the Duke and Duchess of York on board, where they attend functions for British Week at the International Exhibition.The Times, 27 June, 1 July, 2 July, & 3 July 1935 During this period, No. 41 Squadron was also visited by a number of British and foreign government and military dignitaries. One of the first was Japanese General Matsui Iwane who, after the Second World War, was held accountable and executed for the 1937 'Rape of Nanjing', in which his armies murdered an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians. British dignitaries included Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald; the Chief of Air Services, Marshal of the RAF Hugh Trenchard; the Air Officer Commanding in Chief Air Defence of Great Britain, Air Marshal Sir Edward Ellington; and the Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain, Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Dowding.
In October 1935, the squadron was sent to the Aden Province with No. 12 Squadron and No. 203 Squadron, to help provide a deterrent to Italy in the region during the Abyssinian crisis of 1935–36, and to protect Aden in case of an airborne or seaborne attack by Italian forces. Although No. 41 Squadron visited British Somaliland once, which bordered Abyssinia, the unit was otherwise not involved in the crisis, and spent much of their time in flying training and periodic mail runs to Perim Island and Kamaran Island. On occasion, they assisted the resident unit, No. 8 Squadron, with air policing duties, and returned to the United Kingdom in August 1936.The Times, 14 August & 2 November 1936 They were then based at RAF Catterick, Yorkshire, from September 1936,The Times, 14 August & 16 September 1936 where they remained until May 1940.
On 30 December 1938, No. 41 Squadron was issued with the Supermarine Spitfire, becoming the third RAF squadron to receive them. By early February 1939, the squadron had received a full complement of twenty Mk.I Spitfires, at the cost of £129,130.Calculation based on cost information for early Spitfires provided in "Spitfire; The History", Eric B. Morgan & Edward Shacklady, 1987, .
Around 200 pilots served with No. 41 Squadron between 1 April 1923 and 2 September 1939. During this period, no battle honours were granted, nor any decorations awarded, but the era produced ten Air Commodores, nine Air Vice-Marshals, two Air Marshals, and two Air Chief Marshals. During these same years, eleven men were killed and three injured in flying accidents, and three injured in aircrew accidents on the ground.41 Squadron Operations Record Book, TNA AIR 27/424, Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation, Air Officer Biographies, http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/1-Cdrs_Alp_ind.htm, and Flying Accident Cards, Air Ministry Form 1180, Royal Air Force Museum, Grahame Park Way, Hendon, United Kingdom, NW9 5LL.
Second World War (1939–1945) Following the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, No. 41 Squadron spent the first several months on monotonous routine patrols in the north of England. At the end of May 1940, the squadron flew south to RAF Hornchurch in Essex to participate in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Twelve days later, they returned to RAF Catterick, claiming six Axis aircraft destroyed and one probable, but also left behind two pilots, the squadron's first pilot killed in action, and their first lost as a prisoner of war. After resting for a few weeks, the squadron headed south again on 26 July 1940, to participate in the first phase of the Battle of Britain. In its two-week tour, the squadron claimed ten Axis aircraft destroyed, four probables and three damaged, for the loss of one pilot killed and a second wounded.Again, No. 41 Squadron returned north to Catterick for a few weeks rest, but returned to Hornchurch on 3 September 1940, where they remained until the end of February 1941. They were now in the thick of the Battle of Britain. The price was high, but so was the damage they inflicted on the Luftwaffe. On 5 September, the squadron experienced one of its blackest days. The commanding officer and officer commanding B Flight, were killed in action, and three other pilots were shot down and two were wounded in action; one of these was hospitalised for six months.
On 31 October 1940, the Battle of Britain was considered officially over. Forty-nine pilots flew with the squadron between 10 July and 31 October 1940. Of these, forty-two were British, two Canadian, two Irish, and two New Zealanders. Ten were killed and twelve wounded in action (44% casualties). The squadron claimed over a hundred victories from July 1940 to the end of that year.41 Squadron Operations Record Book, TNA AIR 27/424, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and Brew (2014), pp 281–285.
On 23 February 1941, the squadron returned to Catterick for a well-earned break. Only four pilots remained from the original eighteen who landed in Hornchurch on 3 September 1940. However, in reality it is much worse: sixteen pilots had been killed, five wounded and hospitalised (who did not return) and fifteen otherwise posted away, in effect a 200% turnover since the unit's deployment to Hornchurch in early September. The squadron also now has its third commanding officer since then, and its fourth within ten months.Brew (2014), p. 357.
Following five months rest in Catterick, during which the last Battle of Britain hardened pilots departed and new recruits joined from the British Commonwealth Air Training Programme, the squadron headed south to RAF Merston, Sussex, on 28 July 1941, to join the Tangmere Wing, where the wing leader was Douglas Bader. There followed an intensive period of offensive activity over France.41 Squadron Operations Record Book, TNA AIR 27/425, and Brew (2014), p. 430.