THE SQUADRON
20 Squadron provides training and support on Operations, in air picture and Tactical Control of air assets Air Command and Control. It falls under Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) within the Air C2 Force.
Deeds not words
BASED AT
WHAT WE DO
The Squadron operates in 3 Flights:
A Flight - provides Combat Ready training for ASACS, the Command and Control Qualified Warfare Instructor Course, and Joint Service courses.
B Flight - provides practical operational conversion training for all ASACS roles.
Mission Support Flight (MSF) – provides Training and Assurance. MSF Synthetics section which provides support to the training of Weapons Controllers and Surveillance Operators.
The Squadron has operated mainly in India, the Far East and Germany, flying aircraft including the FE2D, Lysander, Hurricane, Hunter, Jaguar, Tornado and Harrier.
20 Squadron's mission is to train, develop and generate world class tactical air command and control operators for standing and contingent Defence Tasks; and support the execution of Joint Air Operations in the UK and overseas.
History
1915 Formed at Netheravon under the command of Major C Wilson and proceeded to France in January 1916 to become one of the highest scoring squadrons on the Western Front.
1917 Sergeant Thomas Mottershead, a pilot on 20 Squadron, became the only Sergeant pilot to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War.
1919 Squadron moves to India, tasked to support the Army in the North West Frontier Province.
1929 Squadron provides 2 Westland Wapitis to provide airborne Wireless Telephony links for the Kabul airlift.
1942 Squadron moves to various locations in the North-East of India, re-equipping with Lysanders and operating against the Japanese invasion of Burma and supporting the Chindit expeditions.
1944 Having re-equipped with cannon and rocket-firing Hurricanes, the Squadron spent the rest of the war in Burma, attacking Japanese supply lines and bunkers in support of General Slim’s 14th Army.
1951 Established in Germany as a day Fighter-Bomber squadron.
1961 Moved to RAF Tengah, Singapore, as part of the Far East Air Force. Provided air defence, reconnaissance and attack during the Confrontation in Borneo.
1971 Reformed as a Strike / Attack squadron in Germany, flying the Jaguar, Harrier and Tornado GR1.
1991 Flew in Operation Granby, bringing the new ALARM missile into operational service.
1992 Assumed the role of the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Wittering.
2010 Disbanded at RAF Wittering.
2021 Re-established as the Air Surveillance and Control System’s Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Boulmer.
BATTLE HONOURS
1914 – 1918 Western Front
1916* Somme
1917* Arras
1917* Ypres
1918* Somme
1918 Lys
1918 Hindenburg Line
1919 – 1920 Mahsud
1919 – 1925 Waziristan
1927 Mohmand
1930 – 1931 North-West Frontier
1933 Mohmand
1935 – 1939 North-West Frontier
1943 – 1944* North Burma
1943 – 1944* Arakan
1944* Manipur
1944 – 1945* Burma
1991 Gulf
*Honours marked with an asterisk are emblazoned on the Squadron’s Standards.