No. 52 Squadron RAF facts for kids

No. 52 Squadron was a special group of pilots and planes in the Royal Air Force. They flew important missions in both World War I and World War II.

Quick facts for kids No. 52 Squadron RAF
Active	15 May 1916 (RFC), 1 April 1918 (RAF) to 23 October 1919 18 January 1937 – 8 April 1940 1 July 1941 – 31 March 1944 1 July 1944 –25 April 1966 1 December 1966 – 31 December 1969
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto(s)	Latin: Sudore quam sanguine ("By sweat and blood")
Battle honours	World War I • Western Front 1916–1918 • Ypres, 1917 • Messines, 1917 World War II • Mediterranean, 1943 • Sicily, 1943 • Pacific 1944-45 • Burma, 1945
Insignia
Squadron badge heraldry	A lion rampant guardant holding in the forepaws a flash of lightning. The personnel of this squadron were originally recruited from the district of Hounslow, Heston and Isleworth, so the lion has been introduced which appears in the arms of Heston and Isleworth and in those which were used by Hounslow Abbey. The flash of lightning refers to the marking used by this squadron during the First World War.
Squadron codes	MB Apr 1939 - Sep 1939 ZE Sep 1939 - Apr 1940

Squadron History

Early Days in World War I

No. 52 Squadron started on May 15, 1916. It was part of the Royal Flying Corps, which was the UK's air force at the time. Their job was to fly over enemy lines and gather information, like a spy in the sky.

They moved to France in November 1916. They were the first to use a new plane called the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8. At first, the squadron had trouble with these planes. Many crashed, which made the pilots sad.

In January 1917, they swapped their R.E.8s for older planes. But by May, they got the R.E.8s back. They flew these planes to help in battles, like the big fight at Ypres in the summer of 1917.

In March 1918, they faced heavy attacks. They flew low to attack enemy forces. On April 1, 1918, the Royal Flying Corps joined with another air service. This created the new Royal Air Force (RAF). No. 52 Squadron continued its spy-in-the-sky role. They returned to the UK in February 1919 and were officially stopped on October 23, 1919.

Reforming for World War II

No. 52 Squadron started up again on January 18, 1937. They were based at RAF Abingdon. They first flew Hawker Hind biplanes, which are planes with two sets of wings. Later, they got Fairey Battle monoplanes, which have one set of wings.

By February 1939, their main job was to train new pilots. They used their Battle planes and also Avro Anson planes for this training. When World War II began, they kept training pilots. They helped prepare crews for other squadrons. On April 8, 1940, the squadron became part of a larger training unit.

Flying in the Middle East

The squadron started up again on July 1, 1941, in Iraq. This time, they were a maintenance unit. This meant they helped keep planes in good working order. They had 21 Hawker Audax planes. Even though they didn't have their own pilots, other pilots sometimes flew these planes for quick spy missions.

In December 1941, they got rid of the Audaxes. They moved to Mosul in August 1942. In October 1942, No. 52 Squadron became a flying squadron again. They received Bristol Blenheim planes. They used these planes to map out areas over Iraq.

In January 1943, they also got Martin Baltimore planes. They moved to Egypt in February 1943. There, they only flew Baltimore planes. In June 1943, they moved to Tunisia. Here, they started flying real missions. They looked for enemy ships over the sea. They also searched for pilots who had crashed into the water.

The squadron moved to Italy in November 1943. They also had small groups of planes in Malta. Then, in February 1944, they moved to Gibraltar. The squadron was officially stopped on March 31, 1944.

Transporting Supplies and People

On July 1, 1944, No. 52 Squadron started up again. This time, they were a transport squadron in India. They flew a mix of Lockheed Hudson and Douglas Dakota planes. A big part of their job was flying mail over the huge Himalaya Mountains to China. This route was very dangerous and was called "The Hump route".

They also carried mail and other goods all over India and to Ceylon. In December 1944, they received Liberator planes for the Hump flights. They also got smaller Beechcraft Expeditor planes. Some de Havilland Tiger Moth planes were even changed into air ambulances.

After the war ended, they continued their transport flights. By December 1945, they had flown over the Himalayas 830 times. They carried thousands of passengers and tons of cargo and mail. They only lost one plane on this difficult route.

The squadron moved to Burma in October 1946. Then, they moved to Singapore in July 1947. From Singapore, they helped in 'Operation Firedog'. Their Dakota planes were replaced by Valettas in 1951. They flew regular passenger trips between Singapore and Butterworth.

The squadron continued to fly, especially from Kuching. They dropped supplies to soldiers fighting in the jungle, many of whom were Gurkha troops. This was during a conflict with Indonesian forces. The squadron was stopped on April 25, 1966.

Final Years

No. 52 Squadron started for the last time on December 1, 1966. They were based at Seletar. They still did general transport duties. This time, they flew Andover aircraft. They used these planes until the squadron was stopped for good on December 31, 1969.

They flew regular trips to RAAF Butterworth. They also had twice-weekly flights to RAF Kuching, Seria, and RAF Labuan. These flights often carried Gurkha troops to Singapore. From there, the troops would fly to Nepal. The squadron also did training and liaison flights around the region. This included places like Hong Kong, Saigon, and Bangkok.

In 1968, the squadron moved to RAF Changi. They were officially stopped in January 1970.