1 February 1915 – 1 April 1918 (
RFC) 1 April 1918 – 14 November 1919 (
RAF) 1 April 1924 – 23 February 1948 11 February 1949 – 13 March 1951 1 June 1956 – 31 December 1969 1 September 1970 – 31 March 1999 1 September 2002 – 12 April 2013 12 April 2013 – present
No. 17 Squadron formed for the first time on 1 February 1915 at
Gosport as part of the
Royal Flying Corps (RFC). It was first equipped with the
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c.[3] After an initial training period, the Squadron embarked for
Egypt in November and arrived on 11 December.[4] On 24 December, the Squadron made its first reconnaissance flight over the Turkish lines in
Sinai, also flying in support of troops engaged with Turkish army units in the Western Desert. Detachments were also to be found in Arabia until July 1916, when the Squadron was sent to
Salonika as a mixed unit of twelve B.E.2cs for reconnaissance and a scout component of two
Airco D.H.2s and three
Bristol Scouts. At first it was the only RFC unit in
Macedonia but was later joined by others in April 1918, handing over its fighters to a newly formed
No. 150 Squadron. For the rest of the war, it was engaged in tactical reconnaissance and artillery spotting on the Bulgarian border.[5]
Interwar years
In December 1918, the Squadron re-equipped with twelve
Airco D.H.9s and six
Sopwith Camels, sending 'A Flight' to
Batum to support the
White Russian forces and 'B' and 'C Flights' to
Constantinople in January 1919. On 14 November 1919, No. 17 Squadron was disbanded.[4]
The Squadron reformed at
RAF Hawkinge on 1 April 1924 and was equipped with
Sopwith Snipes. From this time No. 17 Squadron formed part of the fighter defence of the UK until the outbreak of the
Second World War. The Squadron converted to the
Hawker Woodcock in March 1926, one of only two squadrons to operate it - the other being
No. 3 Squadron. In June 1927 a Woodcock from No. 17 Squadron was borrowed by the pilot of the
Spirit of St. Louis,
Charles Lindbergh, who flew it from London to Paris shortly after his transatlantic flight.[6] In January 1928, the Squadron converted over to the
Gloster Gamecock, these were only kept until September when they were exchanged for
Armstrong Whitworth Siskins.[7]
No. 17 Squadron then equipped with
Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIs in October 1929, these would be kept up until August 1936. However, during the
Abyssinian Crisis in 1935, the Squadron lost most of its Bulldogs as reinforcements for other squadrons moving to the
Middle East and so had to fly
Hawker Harts for a period. No. 17 Squadron were equipped with
Gloster Gauntlets in August 1936. It was in recognition of these aircraft that the Squadron got its badge design, which was officially approved by
Edward VIII in October 1936.[2] The Squadron received its first monoplane, the
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, in June 1939.[8]
Second World War
No. 17 Squadron flew defensive patrols from numerous bases in Britain, including
RAF Debden and
RAF Martlesham Heath, until the
German attack on France in May 1940.[9][10] Once the
Phony War was over, fighter sweeps were then flown over the Netherlands, Belgium and French airfields to cover the retreat of allied troops. In June 1940, the Squadron moved to
Brittany as the remnants of
BEF and RAF units in France were evacuated, retiring to the
Channel Islands for two days before returning to the UK. No. 17 Squadron flew over southern England throughout the
Battle of Britain. The Squadron briefly upgraded to Hurricane Mk.IIas in February 1941 however they shortly reverted to Hurricane Mk.Is in April.[8] No. 17 Squadron moved up to
RAF Castletown in northern Scotland on 5 April for rest.[11] In July 1941 the Squadron again upgraded its Hurricanes, this time to Mk.IIbs.[8]
On 11 November 1941, the Squadron sailed for the
Far East where war broke out on 7 December.[11] Diverted to
Burma, it arrived in January 1942, as Japanese troops neared
Rangoon. Defensive patrols were flown until the Rangoon airfields were overrun and No. 17 Squadron moved north, eventually being cut off from India while operating from
Lashio. The surviving aircraft were flown out and the ground personnel made their way across Burma to the Indian border. By the end of May, the Squadron had re-assembled at
Calcutta and in June received aircraft again for the defence of the area. In August 1942, No. 17 Squadron upgraded to Hurricane Mk.IIcs.[8] Ground attack missions began in February 1943 and continued until August, when the Squadron moved to Ceylon.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIIIs began to arrive in March 1944 and were taken back to the Burma front in November to fly escort and ground attack missions. In June 1945, No. 17 Squadron upgraded to Spitfire Mk.XIVes.[8] The Squadron was withdrawn from Burma to prepare for the invasion of
Malaya. However, due to the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were simply taken by the carrier
HMS Trumpeter to the landing beaches near
Penang in early September, soon after the Japanese capitulation.[4][12]
Post-War
Cold War
In April 1946, No. 17 Squadron arrived in
Japan to form part of the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force. The squadron remained here until it disbanded on 23 February 1948.[4] However it shortly returned to existence on 11 February 1949 at
RAF Chivenor when
No. 691 Squadron was renumbered as No. 17 Squadron.[13] The Squadron adopted No. 691 Squadron's role of being an anti-aircraft co-operation unit. During this time the Squadron flew a mixture of aircraft including the Spitfire LF.XVIe and target tugs:
Airspeed Oxford T.II;
Miles Martinet TT.I;
North American Harvard TT.IIb;
Bristol Beaufighter TT.X.[8] No. 17 Squadron continued this role until it disbanded once again on 13 March 1951.[4]
The Squadron reformed at
RAF Wahn in West Germany on 1 June 1956. This time it operated
English Electric Canberra PR.7s, thus carrying out the photo reconnaissance role.[4] The Squadron moved to
RAF Wildenrath in April 1957 and flew from here before standing down on 31 December 1969. It stood up once more on 1 September 1970 at
RAF Brüggen, this time flying the new
McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2, in a ground attack role. They were also assigned to
SACEUR from which the Phantoms held a tactical nuclear strike role, carrying American supplied nuclear weapons.[14][15] In September 1975, the Squadron began to convert over to the
SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1.[4]
No. 17 Squadron were fully re-equipped with twelve Jaguar GR.1s by 31 January 1976. These continued the nuclear strike role from the Phantoms, being assigned to SACEUR, but this time carrying the British
WE.177 nuclear weapon, a role they kept until 1984.[16][17] Their task was to support land forces in a high-intensity European war using conventional weapons initially, and tactical nuclear weapons if a conflict escalated. Some aircraft were to be held back in reserve from the conventional phase to ensure that sufficient aircraft survived the conventional phase to deliver the squadron's full stock of eight nuclear weapons.[18]
Still at RAF Brüggen, No. 17 Squadron began to convert to the
Panavia Tornado GR.1 in January 1985. They reached full strength of twelve aircraft by 1 March when the last Jaguars were disbanded.[4] The Squadron at this time also had eighteen WE.177 nuclear bombs, and although the squadron's role remained unchanged, their Tornado aircraft were each able to carry two WE.177 bombs, with the ratio of weapons to aircraft at full strength increasing to 1.5 : 1.[19]
Operation Granby
During the
First Gulf War in 1991, No. 17 Squadron engineers were deployed to
Muharraq Airfield in
Bahrain, and also had crews sent to
Dhahran Airfield.[20] At Muharraq, its twelve Tornado GR.1s were split between three flight lines – 'Snoopy AirWays', 'Triffid Airways' and 'Gulf Airways'. Tornado operations, as part of
Op GRANBY, began on 17 January 1991 to assert
air superiority over Iraq. The Squadron suffered a loss on 24 January when a Tornado GR.1 (ZA403) was rocked by an explosion forcing the pilot (Fg. Off. S. J. Burgess) and navigator (Sqn Ldr R. Ankerson) to eject. Both crew members were captured and were kept as
prisoners of war (PoWs) until the end of conflict. An investigation after the war of the wreckage and
flight recorder deduced that one of the 1,000lb bombs dropped had detonated prematurely thus causing extensive damage to the Tornado.[21] No. 17 Squadron suffered its second loss on 14 February when a Tornado GR.1 (ZD717) carrying out
laser-guided bomb attacks on an Iraqi airfield was forced down by two Iraqi
SAMs which exploded in close proximity to the aircraft. The pilot (Flt. Lt. R. J. Clark) initiated ejection for himself and his navigator (Flt. Lt. S. M. Hicks). On landing Clark was captured by Iraqi forces and was held as a PoW for the rest of the war, it was only after his capture that he learned his navigator Hicks had been killed in the attack.[21]
Tornados to Typhoons
Returning to RAF Brüggen, No. 17 Squadron continued its nuclear strike role up until the retirement of the WE.177, with it finally relinquishing its nuclear delivery capability fully in 1998.[22] With the end of the Cold War and the
reunification of Germany, the RAF planned to reduce its presence in Germany by half, and by 1996 a final decision was made to withdraw the entire RAF presence from the country. Due to the
Strategic Defence Review of 1998, it was decided to withdraw two RAF squadrons, one of which was No. 17 Squadron. The Squadron and its Tornado GR.1s disbanded on 31 March 1999, ending almost 30 years at RAF Brüggen.[4]
The Squadron was reformed on 1 September 2002 as No. XVII (Reserve) Squadron at
BAE Systems's
Warton Aerodrome. At Warton, a special facility had been constructed to specially operate the new
Eurofighter Typhoon T.1s and F.2s. No. 17 (R) Squadron was tasked with being the
Operational Evaluation Unit (OEU), or alternatively the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit (TOEU), for the type, becoming the first in the RAF to operate it.[23] The Squadron relocated to
RAF Coningsby on 1 April 2005 and was officially re-formed at its new base on 19 May 2005.[24] With the Typhoon fully operational, the need for the separate OEU ended and so the Squadron was disbanded on 12 April 2013.[25] Its functions were taken over by the RAF's Test and Evaluation Squadron,
No. 41 (R) Squadron.[26]
Modern day
F-35B Lightning
The Squadron stood up at
Edwards AFB, California, on 12 April 2013 as a joint RAF/
Royal Navy Test and Evaluation Squadron for the new
Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning.[27] In January 2014, it became the first UK, and RAF, squadron to operate the F-35B Lightning, with BK-1 (ZM135) being the first British aircraft. In February 2015, the Squadron celebrated its centenary at Edwards AFB.[28] No. 17 (R) Squadron is currently made up of half RAF/RN personnel, as well as training personnel for
No. 617 Squadron and
No. 207 Squadron; the second and third RAF squadrons to operate the F-35B in 2018 and 2019. Equipped with 3 F-35B aircraft (ZM135, ZM136 and ZM138), it continues to be the first UK Lightning squadron and is tasked with full-time operational test and evaluation of the F-35B, required to bring the aircraft and its weapons into UK service. It operates within the Joint Operational Test Team for F-35 at Edwards AFB, flying operational test sorties alongside all variants from the
US Air Force,
US Navy,
US Marine Corps and
Royal Netherlands Air Force, as part of the UK Partnership within the F-35 program. It's currently embedded with the
461st Flight Test Squadron of the United States Air Force.[29] No. 17 (Reserve) Test and Evaluation Squadron lost its (Reserve) suffix on 1 February 2018 when the (Reserve) nameplate was rescinded across the entire RAF, thus becoming No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron.[30]
No. 17 TES embarked their three F-35Bs upon
HMS Queen Elizabeth on 13 October 2019 as part of Westlant 19, becoming the first British jets to land on the carrier.[31]
^Munson, Kenneth (May 1970). "Woodcock and Fury - Hawker's first and last biplane fighters". Aircraft Illustrated Extra. No. 4. Ian Allan Limited. pp. 6–12.
^Thetford, Owen. "On Silver Wings — Part 6". Aeroplane Monthly, March 1991, Vol 19 No 3, Issue 215, pp. 138–144. London: IPC. ISSN 0143-7240.
^Norris, Robert (1994). British, French and Chinese Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Weapons Databook, Vol. V. Boulder: Westview Press. p. 64.
ISBN978-0813316123.
Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001).
ISBN1-85310-053-6.