Number 16 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Saints'', is a flying 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 ...

providing Elementary Flying Training (EFT) with the Grob Tutor T.1 from

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...

. It formed in 1915 at

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audoma ...

to carry out a mixture of offensive patrolling and reconnaissance and was disbanded in 1919 with the end of the First World War. The squadron reformed on 1 April 1924 and again took on a reconnaissance role which it continued throughout the Second World War. Post-war, the squadron was disbanded and reformed several times and was converted to a bomber squadron. Equipped with the Tornado GR.1 from 1984 the squadron took part in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in 1990. It was again disbanded in September 1991, before reforming in November 1991 as the Operational Conversion Unit for the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

. With the Jaguar's imminent withdrawal from service, the squadron disbanded once more in 2005. No. 16 Squadron reformed again and took on its current role on 1 October 2008.

History

Early years

RFC aircraft with aerial reconnaissance camera

The Squadron was formed at

, France on 10 February 1915 from elements of Nos. 2, 6 and 9 Squadrons. It immediately began fighting in the First World War under

Hugh Dowding Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally c ...

, and for some time was based at the aerodrome at the Beaupré-sur-la-Lys Abbey in

La Gorgue La Gorgue is a town in northern France. It is a commune in the Nord department. The population of La Gorgue in 2019 was 5,639.Bleriot XI,

Martinsyde S.1 The Martin-Handasyde Scout 1 was a British biplane aircraft of the early part of the First World War built by Martin-Handasyde Limited. Design and development It was a single-seat biplane with a Gnome engine in tractor configuration. Operatio ...

and Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c on offensive patrol and tactical

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

duties. Disbandment occurred on New Year's Eve 1919. In September 1915

Duncan Grinnell-Milne Captain Duncan William Grinnell-Milne (6 August 1896 – November 1973) was an English First World War pilot credited with six confirmed aerial victories, a prisoner of war who escaped from German captivity, a flying ace, and an author. Initial ...

joined the squadron as a junior pilot, and later (1933) published an account of his time in the squadron. His portrait of Dowding (who when the book was originally published had not then attained his later fame) is unflattering.''Wind in the Wires'', by

. London 1933. Revised by the author and republished by Doubleday, New York 1968. The squadron was reformed at

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...

in the tactical reconnaissance role on 1 April 1924. Initially it operated the Bristol Fighter but this was replaced by the

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...

in January 1931 and by the Audax in December 1933.

Second World War

In May 1938, the

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft' ...

arrived and the Squadron continued in its tactical role in wartime France from April 1940. In May 1940 it returned to England and conducted roving sea patrols searching for both downed aircrew and enemy forces. From April 1942, 16 Squadron was re-equipped with the Allison-engined

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

I for fighter sweeps and reconnaissance duties over France from its base at

RAF Weston Zoyland RAF Westonzoyland is one of the country's oldest airfields being established in the early 1920s. Somerset, England. The airfield is located approximately east-southeast of Bridgwater; about west-southwest of London. It was opened in 1925 ...

in Somerset. The

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

Mk V took over this role from September 1943. On 2 June 1943 the Squadron became part of the Strategic Reconnaissance Wing of the

2nd Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forc ...

as a high-altitude photo reconnaissance unit with Spitfire PR Mk IXs based at Hartford Bridge. In the build-up to

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, No 16 supplied photographs instrumental to the planning of the Allied landings.

Cold War (1946–1991)

No. 16 Squadron was disbanded at

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

on 1 April 1946 but reformed at

RAF Fassberg Fassberg or Faßberg may refer to * Faßberg – a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany * RAF Fassberg – a Royal Air Force air base between 1945 and 1957 in the vicinity of Faßberg * Faßberg Air Base Faßberg Air ...

the same day and took the 24

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an ...

H-engined

Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to a ...

Mk V on charge until converting to the radial-engined Mk II on 7 June 1946. On 7 December 1948, the squadron took delivery of its first jet aircraft, the

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...

FB.5, which gave way to the

de Havilland Venom The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered comb ...

FB.1 in November 1954 until disbandment at Celle once more on 1 June 1957. HS Buccaneer S2B XW526 Y

As East-West relations cooled, the Squadron reformed at

RAF Laarbruch Royal Air Force , more commonly known as RAF ICAO EDUL (from 1 January 1995 ETUL) was a Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located in Germany on its border with the Netherlands. The Station's motto was (). The site now operates ...

on 1 March 1958. No. 16 Squadron maintained a permanent readiness state, tasked with meeting the Soviet threat, in the expected conventional phase and with the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The squadron was re-quipped with the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

B(I).8 armed with dual-key nuclear weapons. The Canberra gave way to the

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

S.2B on 16 October 1972. The squadron's twelve Buccaneers were equipped with a variety of conventional weapons and eighteen British

WE.177 The WE.177, originally styled as WE 177, and sometimes simply as WE177, was a series of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons with which the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) were equipped. It was the primary air-dropped nuclear we ...

nuclear bombs. Although Buccaneers could carry two WE.177 weapons, after taking into account attrition in the conventional phase of a high-intensity European war, and after withholding some aircraft in reserve, RAF planners expected that squadron strength remaining would still be sufficient to deliver the nuclear weapons stockpile. The Buccaneer distinguished itself in many bombing exercises; among its victories included the winning of the Salmond Trophy in 1978 and 1979. The squadron briefly expanded in 1983-84, absorbing some aircraft and men from its sister 15 Squadron which had converted to the Panavia Tornado GR.1. 16 Squadron followed in late 1984 following the 'designate' process where a new 16 Squadron formed up at

RAF Honington Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regim ...

before moving to Laarbruch and assuming the squadron standard from the Buccaneer unit which had continued to operate throughout. Despite the change of aircraft the squadron's role remained unchanged in countering a Soviet threat in Europe with conventional weapons and eighteen

nuclear bombs. As with the Buccaneer, there was a ratio of 1.5 weapons per aircraft. 16-20 Squadron Tabuk

Ahead of

Operation GRANBY Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations ...

in 1990 and the first

, the squadron deployed to

Tabuk Tabuk may refer to: *Tabuk, Kalinga, the capital city of Kalinga province of the Philippines *Tabuk Province, a province of Saudi Arabia **Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, capital city of the province ** Tabuk Regional Airport * Battle of Tabuk, a military ex ...

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

. No. 16 was the lead squadron in the deployment with No. 20 and crews from other Tornado GR.1 squadrons. The 'Tabuk Force' used

JP233 Originally known as the LAAAS (Low-Altitude Airfield Attack System), the JP233 is a British submunition delivery system consisting of large dispenser pods carrying several hundred submunitions designed to attack runways. Design and development ...

s and 1,000 lb bombs on low-level sorties against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i airfields and other targets. Some of the Squadron's aircraft later formed a TIALD flight that conducted accurate medium-level bombing. Following hostilities, the Squadron disbanded on 11 September 1991.

SEPECAT Jaguar (1991–2005)

Sepecat Jaguar GR1A, Royal Air Force AN1297883

On 1 November 1991, the Squadron reformed at

RAF Lossiemouth Royal Air Force Lossiemouth or more commonly RAF Lossiemouth is a military airfield located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. Lossiemouth is one of the largest and busiest fast-jet stations in the R ...

as No. 16(Reserve) Squadron, a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...

squadron and an Operational Conversion Unit, replacing and taking over the aircraft and weapons of No. 226 OCU, training and converting new pilots for the

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force. Originally ...

. Although no longer a front-line operational squadron, as a reserve, or shadow squadron, its twelve aircraft were equipped with conventional weapons and eight WE.177 nuclear weapons for use in a high-intensity European war, and it remained assigned to

SACEUR The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

for that purpose. Although a non-operational squadron, its pilots were still involved in

Operation DENY FLIGHT Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation that began on 12 April 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations (UN) no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United Nations and NATO later expanded the mis ...

and

Operation NORTHERN WATCH Operation Northern Watch (ONW), the successor to Operation Provide Comfort, was a Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing its own no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq. Its mission began on 1 January 1997. The coalition partners ...

. The squadron moved to

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006. It was a fighter airf ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

, on 21 July 2000. In December 2003, the MoD announced with the

Delivering Security in a Changing World The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled ''Delivering Security in a Changing World'', set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to t ...

defence review that RAF Coltishall would close in 2007 and the Jaguar fleet would be retired early. This led to the disbandment of No. 16 Squadron on 11 March 2005 as the Jaguar approached retirement. The Squadron Standard was laid up in Notre-Dame Cathedral

, France on 20 March 2005.

Elementary Flying Training (2008–present)

On 1 October 2008, the Squadron was reformed at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

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 ...

as part of

No. 22 Group No. 22 Group is one of five groups currently active in the Royal Air Force, falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. It is responsibl ...

operating the Grob Tutor T.1. No. 16(R) Squadron continues its training role by instructing new

pilots in Elementary Flying Training (EFT) as part of No.1 Elementary Flying Training School. From 2005 to 2008 the unit was previously known as 1 Squadron, 1 EFTS following a restructuring of the RAF's pilot training. 16(R) Squadron instructs the RAF's new pilots and some pilots from overseas. The Squadrons' role is to provide pilots to the more advanced flying training courses on their way to earning the coveted pilot wings and joining the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or unin ...

. In early 2008, Prince William took his first steps on his aviation career at No. 16 Squadron's site flying his first solo sortie in Tutor G-BYXN; his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

was also taught to fly at RAF Cranwell in 1971. In the first half of 2015, No. 16(R) Squadron, along with No. 115(R) Squadron relocated to

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

, which saw flying return to the base for the first time since 2010.