No. 45 Squadron RAF

No. 45(R) Squadron RAF
Official Squadron Badge of No. 45(R) Squadron RAF
Active	1 March 1916 – 1919 1 April 1921 – January 1970 1972 – present.
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Multi Engine Advanced Flying Training
Base	RAF Cranwell
Motto(s)	Latin: Per ardua surgo ("Through difficulties I arise")
Equipment	Beechcraft King Air B200
Battle honours	Western Front 1916–1917*, Somme 1916, Ypres 1917, Italian Front and Adriatic 1917–1918, Piave, Independent Force and Germany 1918*, Kurdistan 1922–1924, Iraq 1923–1925, Egypt and Libya 1940–1942*, East Africa 1940*, Syria 1941, Burma 1942*, Arakan 1943–1944*, Burma 1944–1945*. Honours marked with an asterix* are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
Insignia
Squadron badge heraldry	A winged camel

45(R) Squadron is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was established on 1 March 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps.

Formed during World War I at Gosport on 1 March 1916 as Number 45 Squadron, the unit was first equipped with Sopwith 1½ Strutters which it was to fly in the Scout role. Deployed to France in October of that year, the Squadron found itself suffering heavy losses due to the quality of its aircraft. This did not change until it transitioned to the Sopwith Camel in mid-1917. Transferred to the Austro-Italian front at the end of 1917, 45 Squadron there engaged in ground attack and offensive patrols until September 1918 when it returned to France. Assigned to the Independent Air Force, 45 Squadron provided long-range bomber escort till the end of the war.

During the course of the war, some thirty flying aces had served in the squadron's ranks. They included future Air Vice-Marshal Matthew Frew, Cedric Howell, Geoffrey Hornblower Cock, future Air Commodore Raymond Brownell, John C. B. Firth, Kenneth Barbour Montgomery, Mansell Richard James, Norman Macmillan, Peter Carpenter, Richard Jeffries Dawes, Norman Cyril Jones, Ernest Masters, Henry Moody, future Air Marshal Thomas Williams, William Wright, James Dewhirst, James Belgrave, Edward Clarke, Alfred Haines, Thomas M. Harries, Alan Rice-Oxley, Earl Hand, Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, John Pinder, and future Group Captain Sidney Cottle.