No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II.

World War I

No. 46 Squadron was formed at Wyton aerodrome on 19 April 1916, from a nucleus trained in No. 2 Reserve Squadron; it moved to France in October of that year equipped with Nieuport two-seater aircraft.

The squadron undertook artillery co-operation, photography, and reconnaissance operations until May 1917, when it took on a more offensive role after rearming with the Sopwith Pup. It was based at the aerodrome at La Gorgue from 12 May to 6 July 1917.

The change from a corps to a fighter squadron came at a moment when Allied air superiority was being seriously challenged by Germany, in particular through the introduction of the "circuses" formed and led by Manfred von Richthofen. Operating under the 11th Army Wing, the squadron was intensively engaged and had many combats with the enemy. In July 1917, No. 46 Squadron returned to Sutton's Farm (later Hornchurch) in Essex, for the defence of London, which had been heavily raided by Gotha bombers a short time before; no enemy aircraft penetrated its patrol area. The squadron returned to France at the end of August.

In addition to offensive patrol work, the unit undertook extensive ground strafing and did close support work in the attack on Messines Ridges.

In November 1917, the squadron was equipped with Sopwith Camels, and gave valuable assistance to the infantry in the Battle of Cambrai attack.

During the last year of the war, the squadron bombed lines of communication and ammunition dumps in the enemy's rear areas.

Intensive low-level ground attack work was carried out after the German spring offensive, in March 1918; 46 Squadron suffered high casualties as a result.

In June 1918, the squadron became part of No. 80 Wing RAF, at Serny, Pas-de-Calais.Air Ministry, 1938, "80 Wing R.A.F.", Air Historical Branch: Papers (Series I), AIR 1/1938/204/245/8. From 26 June, it was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Strange. The wing specialised in large scale attacks on enemy airfields. In October and November, the squadron was heavily involved in attacks during the German Great Retreat, during the weeks before the signing of the Armistice.

Towards the end of January 1919, the squadron was reduced to a cadre, and in February it was returned to England early; it was disbanded on 31 December.

During the war, 46 Squadron claimed 184 air victories, creating 16 aces.

Donald MacLaren joined the squadron in November 1917. MacLaren was credited with shooting down 48 aeroplanes and six balloons, making him one of the top aces of World War I; Cecil (Chaps) Marchant; George Thomson; Harry Robinson; Clive Brewster-Joske; Roy McConnell, DFC; Maurice D. G. Scott; Maurice Freehill; Philip Tudhope. Arthur Gould Lee, who authored No Parachute and later achieved the rank of later Air Vice Marshal Victor Yeates, the author of Winged Victory,

Between wars

The squadron was re-formed at Kenley under the RAF expansion scheme in 1936 by equipping B flight of No. 17 Squadron RAF as a full squadron. Gloster Gauntlets were the first airplanes to be allocated, and with these craft normal peacetime training activities were carried out. Wing Commander Bunny Currant, a future ace, joined the squadron as a sergeant pilot. Wing Commander Ian Gleed DSO DFC, another future ace, was posted the squadron as his first assignment after earning his wings on Christmas Day 1936.

World War II

Norway The outbreak of war found 46 Squadron at RAF Digby, equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. Action with the enemy came quickly when, at the end of October 1939, Squadron Leader Barwell, Pilot Officer Plummer and F/Sgt Edward Shackley attacked a formation of 12 Heinkel 115s, destroying one each, and scattering the remainder. The next six months were uneventful, consisting in the main of providing air cover for the shipping convoys steaming along the East Coast; a few enemy aircraft were sighted but no contacts were made.

In May 1940, the squadron was selected to form part of the Expeditionary Force in Norway, which had been invaded by the Germans on 9 April. The Hurricanes were embarked on and, despite doubts that a Hurricane could take off from a carrier flight deck in a flat calm, they all took to the air without difficulty, thanks to the efforts of the ship's engineers, who managed to get the Glorious up to a speed of 30 knots. No. 46 Squadron assembled at Bardufoss and began operation on 26 May; patrols were maintained over the land and naval forces at Narvik without respite, some of the pilots going without sleep for more than 48 hours. Conditions on the ground were very basic with poor runways and primitive servicing and repair facilities.

Many air combats took place, and in its brief campaign in Norway the squadron accounted for at least 14 enemy aircraft, besides probably destroying many others. On 7 June the squadron was ordered to evacuate Norway immediately and, on the night of 7 through 8 June, the Hurricanes were successfully flown back to Glorious — a dangerous procedure as none of the aircraft were fitted with deck arrester hooks. In fact this would be the first time that high-performance monoplanes without tailhooks had landed on an aircraft carrier. The Hurricanes of 46 Squadron had been flown off from their land bases to keep them from being destroyed in the evacuation after the pilots discovered that a sandbag carried in the rear of the Hurricane allowed full brakes to be applied immediately on landing.

The ground parties embarked on and SS Monarch of BermudaThe SS Monarch of Bermuda — R. Nash and reached the UK safely, but the squadron's aircraft and eight of its pilots were lost when Glorious was sunk by German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 9 June 1940.HMS Glorious — David Curry — DigbyOps The two pilots who survived were the Squadron Commander, Squadron Leader (later Air Chief Marshal) Kenneth Cross, and the Flight Commander, Flight Lieutenant (later Air Commodore) Patrick Jameson. There were 44 survivors and 1500 dead.HMS Glorious and the Fate of No. 46 Squadron

Battle of Britain The squadron re-formed at RAF Digby, becoming operational once again at the end of June, and for the next two months it was occupied in uneventful convoy and defensive patrols before moving south to Stapleford Tawney, the satellite of RAF North Weald, for the defence of London during the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe's main effort at the time was against coastal objectives and shipping off the coast of Essex and Kent.

The squadron, now consisting of novice pilots and without any experienced command after its decimation in Norway, suffered heavy casualties during continuous action against far superior numbers of enemy bombers and escorting fighters. But the enemy sustained such shattering losses amongst their long-range bomber forces that they had to change their tactics. The attacking forces began to fly their fighter bombers at very high altitudes and to make use of every possible patch of cloud cover. Interception became difficult, and the squadron had to change its tactics too – principally maintaining patrols at heights between 20,000 and 30,000 feet.

On 11 November 1940, No. 46 Squadron, whilst on patrol over the town of Foulness, encountered some 50 Italian bombers and fighters; nine of them were destroyed, with no casualties or damage to the squadron, and the remainder of the Italians scattered in disorder.

The squadron claimed 34 aircraft destroyed July to December 1940, but lost 26 aircraft itself, with 16 pilots killed and three badly wounded. After the Battle of Britain ended, the squadron was engaged in convoy patrols, interspersed with escort duty to medium bombers in their attack on objectives in occupied France.

North Africa

In May 1941, the squadron was withdrawn from the line in preparation for going overseas; they embarked on the SS Almanzora at the end of the month. The ground crews reached Egypt early in July and with the squadron headquarters at Kilo 17 Fayoum Road, various detachments cooperated in the formation of maintenance, repair, and salvage units.

Pilots were operating in the defence of Malta, first as 46 Squadron and later absorbed into 126 Squadron. They were in action continuously, claiming the destruction of nearly 10 German and 10 Italian aircraft,

In May 1942, the airmen moved to Idku and reformed as a night fighter squadron with Beaufighters for action in the eastern Mediterranean. They became operational at the end of the month, and their main tasks were the interception of enemy reconnaissance and bombing aircraft, principally over Alexandria, and the escort of shipping convoys laden with supplies for Malta. At the end of October, after the 8th Army's advance from El Alamein, 46 Squadron carried out attacks on the retreating enemy columns in the Mersa Matruh area.

In November 1942, the squadron was reorganised as part of the RAF Coastal Command and operated convoy cover in Malta and Benghazi. Targets in Africa and Sicily were strafed and barges, trawlers and other small ships were attacked along the Tripolitanian coast with cannon and machine-gun fire. The New Year found the squadron preparing to resume its original role as a night fighter unit and at the end of January, two detachments left Idku — one for Tobruk and the other for RAF Abu Sueir. By the end of April two more detachments were operating at St. Jean (Palestine) and Bu Amud. With the most distant bases nearly 1,000 miles apart, administration of the squadron became very difficult.

Some out-of-the-ordinary tasks came the squadron's way. On one occasion, the Bu Amud detachment searched and found a convoy of local troops who were lost in the desert and long overdue; on another a grounded destroyer was located and given air cover until it could be refloated.

In April 1943, for the first time in the war a night fighter was controlled from a warship – the squadron's signal officer, Flight Lieutenant Muir a Canadian, having devised a homing beacon for use on the controlling ship. In July, with confirmed "kills" for one year's operations in the Middle East standing at 31, the squadron helped shepherd the invasion fleet sailing for Sicily. The end of August found a large detachment stationed in Cyprus with the main task of doing night intruder operations over Rhodes. On 14 September, Squadron leader Cuddie in command of the detachment, landed on the recently seized Dodecanese Island of Kos — the first Allied aircraft to do so; less than three weeks later the Germans invaded and Wing Commander G.A. Reid was killed.

In early 1944, with detachments operating from Abu Sueir, St. Jean and Tocra, night intruder patrols over Rhodes, Kos and Crete formed the backbone of activities. In February and March, the squadron claimed the destruction of five Junkers Ju 52s and the probable destruction of three more. April and May were quiet, despite the dovetailing of patrols with No. 252 Squadron over the islands, giving complete coverage from dusk to dawn. In September, the aircraft were controlled by HMS Ulster Queen, a Ground-controlled interception ship and the score for the month amounted to 11 enemy aircraft destroyed.

From 26 September to 11 October (a full-moon period) a detachment was established at Gambut and 16 enemy aircraft were destroyed, with one probable and four damaged. Four airmen were decorated for their part: Warrant Officer Roy Butler (pilot), distinguished flying cross (five planes destroyed) Warrant Officer Ray Graham (navigator), distinguished flying cross Warrant Officer Denis Hammond (pilot), distinguished flying cross (three destroyed or damaged) Flight Sergeant Harrison (navigator) distinguished flying medal