Country United Kingdom Base RAF Coningsby | Branch Royal Air Force | |
 | ||
Active 7 November 1915 – 1919
1923 – 1974
1975 – 1998
2003 – present Role Operational Conversion Unit (air defence) Motto(s) Latin: Impiger et Acer
("Energetic and keen") | ||
No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for the Typhoon.
Contents
Service in World War I
This unit was first raised as a reserve squadron, initially equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, in November 1915. In early 1916 however No. 29 became the fourth squadron to receive the Airco DH.2 "pusher" fighter, and arrived in France on 25 March 1916 – helping to end the Fokker Scourge and establish Allied air superiority in time for the Battle of the Somme.
By late 1916 the DH.2 was outclassed by new German fighters, but No. 29 kept its pushers until March 1917, when it was re-equipped with Nieuport 17s. These were replaced with later Nieuport types, such as the Nieuport 24bis, as these became available. Due to a shortage of the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a the squadron retained its Nieuports until April 1918, becoming possibly the last operational unit to operate "vee strut" Nieuport fighters. At this time the squadron finally received the S.E.5a, which it retained for the rest of the war.
The award of a Victoria Cross — the highest award for valour "in the face of the enemy" in the British Empire — to Captain James McCudden of 29 Sqn was gazetted on 2 April 1918, for McCudden's "conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance and a high devotion to duty", between August 1917 and March 1918. By the time of his death a few months later, McCudden had 57 official victories in air combat.
October 1918 was a bitter month for the squadron; four of its more notable members died within a fortnight. Claude Melnot Wilson was the first to fall, on 14 October. Roderic MacLean collided with Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath on the 26th, with MacLean dying that day and Rath lingering until the next. Even as Rath was succumbing to his injuries, Guy Wareing was shot down on the 27th.
After a short period with the army of occupation in Germany, the Squadron returned to the UK in August 1919 and was disbanded on 31 December 1919.
The squadron ended the war having claimed 385 victories. Apart from those already mentioned, the 26 aces who served with the squadron included:
"Inter-war" years (1923–1939)
The squadron was reformed on 1 April 1923, initially equipped with Sopwith Snipes. These were replaced by Gloster Grebes in January 1925, In turn, these were replaced by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA in March 1928 and Bristol Bulldogs in June 1932.
In March 1935, nearly twenty years after it was first raised as a single-seat fighter squadron, the squadron received two-seater Hawker Demons, which it operated until 1938. This included service in Egypt from October 1935 to 1936, during the Abyssinian crisis. The squadron also operated a few old Fairey Gordons for night patrols in Egypt.
As part of the Royal Air Force’s modernisation and expansion in the late 1930s, No. 29 received Bristol Blenheim IF heavy fighters in December 1938.
Second World War
No 29 began the Second World War with its Blenheims, which at the period operated as day fighters – especially on convoy protection patrols. From June 1940 it became a night fighter squadron, receiving some of the first Beaufighters in November, though it was February 1941 before the squadron was fully equipped with the new fighter. Various marks of the de Havilland Mosquito were flown by the squadron from May 1943 culminating in the Mosquito NF30. From the middle of 1944 most of the squadron’s missions took it over the continent.
1945 to 1998
During the immediate post-war years the squadron remained a night/all weather fighter unit. The Mosquitoes continued to serve until replaced by Gloster Meteor NF11s in August 1951. In November 1957 these were superseded by Gloster Javelins.
In January 1957 the squadron moved north, first to Northumberland and then in July 1958 to Scotland, conversion to Javelins taking having taken place in November 1957. In February 1963 No 29 moved to Cyprus and in December 1965 went to Zambia for nine months on detachment during the Rhodesian crisis.
From May 1967 the squadron operated the English Electric Lightning F.3 based at RAF Wattisham near Stowmarket in Suffolk until December 1974 when they re-equipped with the McDonnell F-4 Phantom and moved to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. A detachment was stationed at Wideawake airstrip on Ascension Island during the Falklands War, moving on to provide defence of the Falklands in August 1982, following repairs to the airfield at Stanley.
In 1987, 29 Squadron was one of the first RAF units to receive the Tornado F3; deploying to Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and participating in Operation Desert Storm. No. 29 flew the Tornado until disbanding in 1998, as part of the Strategic Defence Review.
The current squadron
The squadron was reformed in 2003, this time as the Typhoon operational conversion unit (OCU). This is its current role.
Squadron markings and the "Misspelled Roman numeral" tradition
Since the late 1920s, the squadron marking has been three (red) Xs (XXX). Since this closely resembles the Roman numeral for "29" (XXIX) there is a "traditional" belief among current squadron personnel that this originated as a "misspelling" of the Roman numeral. Although various versions of the tradition are put forward, the most common explanation is that a mis-understood instruction to ground crew to paint "2 X's in front of the roundel and IX behind it" meaning "X,X,(roundel), and 'IX' or 'one-X'" resulted in "XX(roundel)'one times' X".
In fact, the marking was always applied as "XXX(roundel)XXX" (as illustrated at the head of this article) – or as "XXX(roundel)" on smaller types, such as Siskins – unfortunately, neither lends much support to the "tradition".
It seems probable that the original adoption of "XXX" for the 1930s squadron marking was nothing to do with Roman numerals, but was a reference to the brewers mark for "extra strong", frequently applied to kegs of beer, and that it is only a coincidence that this resembles the numeral for "29" (XXIX). It should be noted that the use of Roman numerals for numbering RAF units is a relatively modern development – in any case it was certainly not the practice in the RAF in the 1920s. Nor, so far as it is known, has 29 squadron ever been officially referred to as "XXX squadron" – or as "XXIX squadron" for that matter.