No. 9 Squadron RFC
| No. IX Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 8 December 1914-Present |
| Role | Strike/attack/SEAD |
| Garrison/HQ | RAF Marham |
| Motto(s) | Per noctem volamus (We fly through the night) |
| Equipment | Tornado GR4 |
| Battle honours | Western Front 1915–1918, Somme 1916, Ypres 1917, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Channel and North Sea 1939–45, Norway 1940, Baltic 1939–45, France and Low Countries 1940, German Ports 1940–45, Fortress Europe 1940–44, Berlin 1941–45, Biscay ports 1940–45, Ruhr 1941–45, France and Germany 1944–45, Tirpitz, The Dams, Rhine, Gulf 1991, Kosovo, Iraq 2003. |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | A bat with wings extended |
| Squadron Roundel |  |
No. 9 Squadron (otherwise known as No. IX (Bomber) Squadron or IX(B) Squadron) of the Royal Air Force was the first in the service to receive the Panavia Tornado, which it currently operates from RAF Marham, Norfolk.
No. 9 Squadron was formed and disbanded twice during the First World War. The first incarnation was formed on 8 December 1914 at Saint-Omer in France from a detachment of the RFC HQ to develop the use of radio for reconnaissance missions; this lasted until March 1915.
Re-formed at Brooklands on 1 April 1915 under the command of Major Hugh Dowding (later commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain) as a reconnaissance squadron, No. 9 returned to France in December 1915, flying Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s. It flew reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. It re-equipped with R.E.8s in May 1917, using them for artillery spotting and contact patrols during the Battle of Passchendaele, during which it suffered 57 casualties, and carrying out short range tactical bombing operations in response to the German Spring Offensive in March 1918. While it started to receive Bristol Fighters in July 1918, it did not completely discard its R.E.8s until after the end of the war. It was disbanded again in December 1919.
The squadron's life as a bomber unit began on 1 April 1924, reforming at RAF Upavon, quickly moving to RAF Manston, with the Vickers Vimy. Less than a year later, the squadron re-equipped with the Vickers Virginia heavy bomber, occasionally supplemented by Vickers Victoria transports, which it retained until this was replaced by the Handley Page Heyford in 1936.
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