Number 51 Squadron is a squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. Since 2014 it has operated the Boeing RC-135W Airseeker R.1, more commonly referred to as the Rivet Joint, from RAF Waddington,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. It had previously flown the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R.1 from 1974 until 2011."Nimrod R1 makes final flight"
''Defence Management Journal'', 28 June 2011. Retrieved: 28 June 2011. Following the Nimrod's retirement, crews from No. 51 Squadron trained alongside the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

on the RC-135W Rivet Joint, which was being acquired by the RAF under the Airseeker project.

History

World War I

51 Squadron Royal Flying Corps flew B.E.2 and

B.E.12 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 was a British single-seat aeroplane of The First World War designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was essentially a single-seat version of the B.E.2. Intended for use as a long-range reconnaissance and bom ...

aircraft; the squadron formed at Thetford, Norfolk, before moving its headquarters to the airfield that later became RAF Marham. The squadron's primary role during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

was defence of the UK against

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

raids. It also used the Avro 504K to give night flying training to new pilots. The squadron disbanded in 1919.

Interwar years

The squadron was reborn when 'B' Flight of 58 Squadron was renumbered as 51 Squadron at Driffield in March 1937, flying

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

s and Ansons. At this time the squadron badge was being chosen and a goose was chosen as a play on words: the squadron was flying the Anson and the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for goose is ''Anser''. It was also appropriate for a bomber unit to have a heavy wild fowl to represent it.

World War II

Bombing up 51 Squadron Halifax at RAF Snaith WWII IWM CH 11622

51 Squadron Halifax crew return from Ruhr WWII IWM CH 10293

51 Squadron dropped leaflets over Germany on the very first night of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, using the Whitley aircraft. In February 1942, led by the legendary Percy Pickard, 51 Squadron carried 119 paratroops and an RAF flight sergeant skilled in electronics to Bruneval, France, in converted Whitleys. The men then carried out a very successful raid on a German radar installation, removing parts of a new type known as a Würzburg, which they took back to Britain. A brief period as part of Coastal Command patrolling against the U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay preceded the re-equipment with the Halifax in 1942. 51 spent the rest of the war in Europe flying as part of

No. 4 Group RAF No. 4 Group was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in the First World War, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command. History Formation in the Firs ...

, RAF Bomber Command's strategic bombing offensive against the Nazis, operating from

RAF Snaith Royal Air Force Snaith or RAF Snaith is a former Royal Air Force station which was located south west of Goole, Yorkshire, England and close to the village of Pollington. The airfield opened 1941 before closing in 1946. Based units The ai ...

in East Yorkshire.

Postwar

The squadron became part of Transport Command with Stirlings and later

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

s following the end of the European war, transporting men and material to India and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

. The squadron disbanded in 1950, after taking part in the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

. The squadron again reformed in the 'Special Duties' role when

No. 192 Squadron RAF No. 192 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron operational during the First World War as a night training squadron and during the Second World War as a radar countermeasure unit. After the war the squadron served again in the Electronic Intell ...

was renumbered at RAF Watton on 21 August 1958, moving to nearby Wyton in April 1963.Lake 2001, p. 130–131. It was only following the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

that the signals intelligence role of the squadron was publicly recognised. Signals intelligence encompasses both Electronic Intelligence (Elint) and Communications Intelligence (Comint). The squadron flew this role using

de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...

s. The Comets were replaced by a modified version of the

Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designe ...

in 1974.

First Rivet Joint Aircraft Lands at RAF Waddington MOD 45156408

One of the three Nimrods on strength was retired at the end of November 2009 with the other two remaining in service until June 2011. The Nimrods were replaced by three Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft. In January 2011 personnel from 51 Squadron began training at Offutt Air Force Base in the US for conversion to the RC-135. Crews were to be deployed on joint missions with the USAF 343rd Reconnaissance Squadron until the new aircraft became available. The first RC135W (ZZ664) was delivered to the Royal Air Force on 12 November 2013, and entered operational service in 2014, taking part in Operation Shader against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated have included: * B.E.2 *

* FE2b *

Martinsyde G.100 The Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant" and the G.102 were British fighter bomber aircraft of the First World War built by Martinsyde. The type gained the name "Elephant" from its relatively large size and lack of manoeuvrability. The G.102 differed fr ...

* Avro 504K * Sopwith Camel * Vickers Virginia Mk10 * Avro Anson Mk1 *

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

Mk 2–5 * Handley Page Halifax Mk B2 and B3 * Short Stirling Mk5 *

Avro York The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of La ...

Mk2R * English Electric Canberra B2 *

Handley Page Hastings The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings is a retired British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, ...

C1 * Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R1 * Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Ford, Keith S. ''Snaith days: Life with 51 Squadron, 1942–45''. Warrington, Cheshire, UK: Compaid Graphics, 1993. . *Ford, Keith S. ''Swift and Sure: Eighty Years of 51 Squadron RAF (York's Own Squadron)''. Preston, Lancashire, UK: Compaid Graphics, 1997. . * *Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth, 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britai (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Lake, Jon. "Wyton's Cold War spyplanes: No 51 Squadron's Canberras". ''International Air Power Review''. Volume 1, 2001. Norwalk, Connecticut, USA: AIRtime Publishing. pp. 130–137. . ISSN 1473-9917. *Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and Their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (Revised edition 1976). *Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and Their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. . *Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and Their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (Revised edition 1976, reprinted 1978). . *Ward, Chris. ''Royal Air Force Bomber Command Squadron Profiles, Number 16: 51 Squadron – Swift and Sure''. Berkshire, UK: Ward Publishing, 1998.

External links

51 SquadronSquadron website51 Squadron
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 51 Squadron Raf 051 Squadron 051 Squadron Signals intelligence units and formations Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom