Squadron Badge

In front of a palm tree eradicated, a tiger passant guardant - approved by King George VI in February 1937. The badge commemorated the Squadron's association with Malaya, the travellers palm being a reference to the long flights so often undertake and the tiger is said to have been inspired by the labels on the bottles on the local Singaporean brew.

Motto:

Kita chari jauh (Malay) - 'We search far'

Squadron History

Number 230 Squadron was formed at Felixstowe on 20 August 1918 by combining three locally based seaplane flights. It soon took up maritime reconnaissance flights over the North Sea. The Squadron did not disband after the Armistice, remaining at Felixstowe with F5 floatplanes until 1922 when it moved to Calshot, disbanding in April 1923.

Reformed at Pembroke Dock on 1 December 1934, the Squadron was without aircraft until April 1935 when the first Singapore IIIs arrived. The following year, No 230 flew to Seletar, Singapore where Sunderlands were received during 1938. Following the declaration of war, the Squadron moved to Egypt and mounted anti-submarine patrols over the Mediterranean. Operations stepped up with the entry of Italy to the War, and the unit's aircraft transported freight and troops between Egypt and North Africa before joining the evacuation of Greece, Yugoslavia and Crete during 1941. In January 1943, No 230 moved to East Africa for patrols over the Indian Ocean before successive moves to Ceylon and India found the Squadron returning British servicemen home after the end of the War.

The unit returned home during 1946 and flew supplies in to Berlin from Hamburg during the allied airlift of 1948/49. By 1957, the days of the flying boat were all but over, and the unit disbanded on 28 February 1957. No 230 Squadron reformed on 1 September 1958 at Dishforth with Single and Twin Pioneers, both types seeing action in the Cameroon and Northern Ireland before converting to Whirlwinds in early 1963.

No 230 spent time in Germany and Northern Borneo before returning to Odiham in 1966 and re-equipping with new Pumas during 1971. During 1980, the Squadron moved to Germany and remained there until the defence cutbacks of the early 1990s saw the unit deploy to Aldergrove where they supported Operation Banner and subsequently provided training to the ground forces. The Squadron moved to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire on 17th November 2009 to join 33 Squadron and co-locate the Puma Force for the first time in over 20 years.