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No. 12 Squadron, RFC, was formed at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on 4th February 1915, and went to France in September of that year equipped with BE2c's under the command of Major CLN Newall (who later was Chief of the Air Staff from 1937-40). It was first employed directly under General Headquarters, but from February 1916, until the Armistice, was engaged mainly on what are nowadays termed army co-operation duties. The BEs were replaced by RE8s in August 1917. After the Armistice the squadron formed part of the Army of Occupation in Germany and remained in that country until July 1922, when it was disbanded at Bickendorf. In April 1923, No. 12 Squadron was re-formed at Northolt as a bomber squadron equipped with DH9As. In 1924 it received Fairey Fawns; and in 1926 Fairey Fox high-speed day bombers. On a number of occasions during exercises No. 12's Foxes eluded the defending fighters and this led to the adoption of the words "Leads the field" as the squadron motto. The highly-polished metal nose cowlings of the aircraft also gave the squadron its nickname, "Shiny Twelve". In 1931 No. 12 became one of the first squadrons to have Hawker Harts. Four years later, after the Italians had invaded Abyssinia, it moved to Aden to reinforce the Middle East Command. It returned home in 1936 and re-equipped with Hawker Hinds at Andover. Early in 1938 the squadron was re-equipped with Fairey Battles, the first of which arrived in February. A move was made to Bicester at the beginning of May 1939, and there in the months which followed the squadron awaited the call to arms. On 2nd September 1939, its 16 Battles landed at Berry-au-Bac, France, as part of No.76 Wing of the Advanced Air Striking Force. During the summer of 1940 great honour came to the squadron. Flying Officer DE Garland, a pilot, and Sergeant T Gray, his observer, were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - the first RAF VCs of the Second World War. Garland led a low-level attack on a metal bridge, then in German hands, at Veldwezelt, over the Albert Canal, on 12th May 1940. The three Battles which took part in this operation were all shot down - but not before one of them (and available evidence points to the fact of it being Garland's aircraft) had shattered the western truss of the bridge with its bombs. The squadron withdrew in mid-June to Finningley, Yorkshire. From there it moved to Binbrook early in July and in August it began attacking shipping in the German-held Channel ports. At Binbrook, in November, No. 12 began to re-equip with Wellingtons and trained on them during the ensuing winter. On 10/11th April 1941, it used them for the first time when a raid was made on Emden. When the first 1,OOO-bomber raid was launched on 30/31st May 1942, No. 12 sent 28 aircraft - the largest number so far operated at one time by the squadron. The target was Cologne and four squadron aircraft failed to return. During the winter of 1942/43 No. 12 converted to Lancasters at Wickenby and thereafter continued to play a prominent part in Bomber Command's offensive until 25th April 1945. During the eleven months from May 1944 to April 1945, the squadron's Lancaster I ME758 "N-Nuts" flew 108 operational sorties and dropped more than a million pounds of bombs. Bomber Command WWII Bases:
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Date Last Updated : Wednesday, April 6, 2005 2:40 AM |
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