No.103 Squadron
- Badge
- A swan, wings elevated and addrosed
- Motto
- Nili me tangere - Touch me not
- Formed
- 01 September 1917
- Disbanded
- 31 July 1975
No 103 Squadron was formed at Beaulieu on 1 September 1917 as a day bomber unit. In May 1918 it moved to France. In March 1919 the unit returned to the UK and on 1 October 1919 it disbanded.
On 10 October 1936 the unit reformed at RAF Andover. As a part of the Advanced Air Striking Force the unit moved to France on 2 September 1939. Following the May 1940 German Blitzkrieg the unit was forced into a series of withdrawals before returning from Brittany to the UK. The squadron then began a series of night attacks on invasion barges in the Channel ports. No 103 Squadron remained a part of Bomber Command’s strategic bombing offensive to the end of the war. On 26 November 1945 the unit was renumbered No 57 Squadron.
On 30 November 1954 the squadron reformed at RAF Gutersloh, Germany. It disbanded again on 1 August 1956. On 1 August 1959 No 284 Squadron was renumbered No 103 Squadron. Operating from RAF Nicosia, Cyprus it was a helicopter unit responsible for air sea rescue and army support in Cyprus and Libya. On 31 July 1963 the unit split into two and was renumbered Nos 1563 and 1564 Flights.
On 1 August 1963 B Flight No 110 Squadron was renumbered No 103 Squadron. Again operating helicopters the unit was responsible for search and rescue operations as well as transport flights in support of ground forces in Malaya and Borneo. The squadron disbanded on 31 July 1975.
AIRCRAFT
Various types 1917 - 1917
DH9 1917 - 1919
Hind 1936 - 1938
Battle 1938 - 1940
Wellington 1940 - 1942
Halifax II 1942 - 1942
Lancaster I/III 1942 - 1945
Canberra 2 1954 - 1956
Sycamore 14 1959 - 1963
Whirlwind 10 1963 - 1972
Wessex 2 1972 - 1975
Reference Sources
The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force
James J Halley Air Britain (Historians) Ltd 1988
RAF Squadrons Wg Cdr C G Jefford Airlife 2001
Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their aircraft
Phillip J R Moyes Macdonald & Jane’s 1976
Coastal Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their aircraft
John D R Rawlings Jane’s
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