206 Test and Evaluation Squadron

History

1916   Formed on 25 October as 6 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. A fighter unit, 6 Squadron initially flew the Nieuport Scout.

1917   Re-equipped with the Sopwith Camel in June, for operations around Dunkirk, before disbanding in August.

1918   Reformed in January as an Airco DH.9-equipped bomber unit. Re-numbered as 206 Squadron, RAF, on 1 April. Remained in Germany after the Armistice, flying airmail.

1919   Moved back to France in May and then to Egypt in June. Renumbered as 47 Squadron on 1 February 1920.

1936   Re-formed out of 48 Sqn’s ‘C’ Flight at RAF Manston, using the Avro Anson to provide advanced flying training. Began maritime patrol work in 1937.

1940   Re-equipped with the Lockheed Hudson.

1943   Began re-equipping with the Boeing Fortress during July, moving to the Azores in October. Returned to the UK in 1944, for conversion onto the Consolidated Liberator VI.

1945   Converted onto the Liberator VIII transport aircraft and began flying routes to India and Asia. Disbanded on 25 April 1946.

1947   Re-formed as an Avro York operator on 17 November. Flew transport missions during the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift. Disbanded on 20 February 1950.

1952   Re-formed in the maritime role as a Shackleton MR1 operator on 27 September. Re-equipped with the Nimrod in 1970 and flew during the 1982 Falklands War. Disbanded on 1 April 2005.

2009   The Heavy Aircraft Test & Evaluation Squadron, based at MOD Boscombe Down, became 206 (Reserve) Squadron, tasked with trialling all UK Defence ‘heavy’ aircraft, from the Beechcraft King Air up to the Boeing C-17.

2014   Permanently moved to RAF Brize Norton, alongside the bulk of the RAF’s heavy aircraft fleet, as Atlas trials ramped up.