Sunderland I
Originally formed as No 10 (Naval)
Squadron, RNAS at St Pol on 12 February 1917 as a scout unit tasked
with escorting RNAS bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. In may its
various Nieuports were replaced by Sopwith Triplanes and at the same
time it was sent to the Western Front to assist the RFC. During this
period ones of its pilots was
Raymond
Collishaw, who would become the third highest scoring Allied
fighter pilot of the war.
In August 1917, the squadron received
Camels and in October returned to its coastal defence duties.
However, the German offensive of March 1918, resulted in the unit
being sent back to the Western Front to help bolster the defences and
during these action on 1 April 1918, it was absorbed into the newly
formed RAF and renumbered as No 210 Squadron. In July 1918 it once
again returned to the coast but rejoined the fighting on the Western
Front for the last few weeks. It remained on the continent until
February 1919, when it returned to Scopwick, disbanding there on 24
June 1919.
It reformed as a torpedo-bomber unit at Gosport on
1 February 1920, equipped with the Sopwith Cuckoo, but this was short
lived, the squadron disbanding on 1 April 1923. It next reformed at
Felixstowe on 1 March 1931 as a flying boat unit equipped with
Southampton IIs. A move to a new permanent base came in June, when it
arrived at Pembroke Dock, which was still under construction at the
time. It re-equipped with Rangoons in August 1935, which it took to
Gibraltar during the Abyssinian crisis returning to Wales in August
1936. On its return it re-equipped yet again, this time with
Singapores. It also became involved in the Spanish Civil War, when it
was detached to Algeria to protect neutral shipping from being
attacked by submarines of the warring factions. Sunderlands arrived
in June 1938.
On the outbreak of war the squadron was immediately
involved in patrolling the Irish Sea and with detachments at
Invergordon and Sullom Voe, the North Sea to the Norwegian coast. The
squadron re-located its headquarters in July 1940, when it moved to
Oban and began conversion to Catalinas. From October 1942, the
squadron was back at Pembroke Dock with a detachment at Gibraltar
covering the North African landings. The squadron moved to Hamworthy
in April 1943, whilst the detachment at Gibraltar remained there ,
however, on 31 December the detachment was transferred to No 202
Squadron and the squadron HQ was disbanded.
The squadron was reformed on 1 January 1944 by
renumbering No 190 Squadron at Sullom Voe in the Shetlands, where it
continued to operate until the end of the war, disbanding on 4 June
1945. During this period one of its pilots, Flying Officer John
Cruickshank carried out a daring attack on a German U-boat and despite
severe injuries, managed to fly his aircraft home and waiting until
daybreak was able to land it safely saving his crew, an achievement
for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The squadron was reformed once again on 1 June
1946, when No 179Y Squadron at St Eval was renumbered. It was now
operating as a land based maritime reconnaissance unit equipped with
Lancasters. From 15 February 1949 until 13 January 1952, the squadron
had No 217 Squadron linked to it in October 1952 it moved to Topcliffe,
where it re-equipped with Neptunes in February 1953, disbanding again
on 31 January 1953. It was soon reforming again, when No 269 Squadron
at Ballykelly was renumbered on 1 December 1958. Equipped with the
Shackleton MR Mk 2, it moved to Sharjah in the Persian Gulf in
November 1970 but a year later disbanded on 15 November 1971.
Motto: Yn y nwyfre yn hedfan (Hovering in
the heavens)
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This
page last updated:Sunday 22 July 2007
