No. 78 Squadron RAF
| No. 78 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 1916–1918 1936–1954 1956–1971 1986–2007 2008-2014 |
| Motto(s) |
Latin: Nemo non paratus ("Nobody unprepared") |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
A heraldic tiger |
No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operated the Merlin HC3/3A transport helicopter from RAF Benson. Until December 2007 it was the operator of two Westland Sea King HAR3s from RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands.
78 Squadron was stood down on 30 September 2014 as the Merlin Force transferred to the Commando Helicopter Force of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm at RNAS Yeovilton.
No. 78 Squadron was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps on 1 November 1916 for home defence at Harrietsham and tasked with protecting the southern English coast. It was originally equipped with obsolescent BE2 and more modern BE12 fighters. On the night of 25 September 1917 a Captain Bell of the squadron encountered a German Gotha and attacked it over RAF Joyce Green. John Rawlings, writing in Fighter Squadrons of the Royal Air Force (1969), stated that 'it was believed that he damaged it for one of the German raiders failed to return that night, being lost at sea.' The squadron received Sopwith 1½ Strutters in late 1917, followed by Sopwith Camels in mid-1918. It arrived at Sutton's Farm, under the command of Major Cuthbert Rowden, in September 1917 and was there until December 1919, with a detachment at Biggin Hill. The squadron disbanded on 31 December 1919 following the Armistice.
During the buildup of the RAF in the period before World War II, No. 78 Squadron was reformed at RAF Boscombe Down on 1 November 1936, twenty-two years after it was first formed, by redesignating a flight of the Handley Page Heyford equipped No. 10 Squadron. The new squadron moved to RAF Dishforth in Yorkshire early in 1937, joining No. 4 Group RAF of RAF Bomber Command. In July 1937 it was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley night bombers.
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