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No.129 Sqn RAF
Founded : 1st March 1918
Mysore I will defend the right
No. 129 Squadron was formed on 1 March 1918 at Duxford as a day bomber unit but disbanded on 4 July 1918, before becoming operational. On 16 June 1941, No. 129 reformed at Leconfield as a fighter Squadron and its Spitfires became operational on 24 July. In August it moved south to provide escorts for day bombers and in December began taking part in offensive operations over France. The Squadron moved to the Orkneys in September 1942 for local air defence, returning in February 1943 to south coast airfields for escort and anti-shipping missions. In June 1943 the Squadron joined Second TAF and converted to Mustangs in April 1944. After covering the D-Day landings the Squadron was given the task of intercepting flying bombs in July for two months before moving to East Anglia to provide long-range escorts for Bomber Command's daylight raids. In June 1945 No. 129 moved to Norway with Spitfires, returning to the UK in November. On 1 September 1946, the Squadron was renumbered 257 Squadron at Church Fenton. Flew Mustangs from April 1944. |
No.129 Sqn RAF
No.129 Sqn RAF Artwork |
No.129 Sqn RAF Artwork Collection |
Clipped Signature - Dennis Armitage. | Clipped Signature - Sir Michael Giddings. | Home at Dawn by Nicolas Trudgian. |
Aircraft for : No.129 Sqn RAF | |||
A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.129 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Avro Production Began : 1942 Retired : 1963 Number Built : 7377 | Lancaster The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' Operation Gomorrah in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. | ||
Manufacturer : North American | Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. | ||
Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351 | Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. |
Signatures for : No.129 Sqn RAF | ||
A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
Name | Info | |
Squadron Leader Dennis Armitage DFC Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Squadron Leader Dennis Armitage DFC | Squadron Leader Dennis Armitage DFC Having flown 13 wing operations with Douglas Bader, Armitages strongest memories are of a man who was afraid of nothing, who would take on any odds. In the mess this transferred to the pilots so that they eagerly awaited the next day's operations. An RAFVR pilot, Armitage was commissioned and joined 266 Squadron in December 1939. He was appointed Flight Commander in August 1940. On August 12 he claimed the destruction of a Ju 88. 266 Squadron was not a formal part of the Duxford Wing, but did provide an additional element to the wing on a regular basis. Armitage took command of 129 Squadron in June 194 1. Flying from Westhampnett on September 2 1, he was shot down on a sweep and made a POW, meeting up with Bader again in prison camp. | |
Flight Lieutenant Ted Hall Click the name above to see prints signed by Flight Lieutenant Ted Hall | Flight Lieutenant Ted Hall Flight Commander, 452 Squadron. Ted Hall joined the RAAF in 1940 and went to England where he was posted to 129 Squadron at Tangmere flying Spitfires. As Flight Commander he claimed his first victory on 24th July 1942. In the next month he destroyed two more and one shared. He returned to Australia, joining 452 Squadron in Darwin again as Flight Commander. In March 1943 he claimed two Japanese aircraft damaged and on 30th Jun destroyed a Zeke. | |
Squadron Leader Arthur Leigh DFC, DFM Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Squadron Leader Arthur Leigh DFC, DFM | Squadron Leader Arthur Leigh DFC, DFM Another RAFVR pilot, The son of a regular soldier, Arthur Leigh was called up at the outbreak of war. After finishing his flying training he was posted to 7 OTU and then on to convert to Spitfires in August 1940. Arthur Leigh flew with 64 Squadron at Leconfield and 72 Squadron at Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain before transferring to 611 Squadron. Awarded the DFM in September 1941, Leigh had then completed 50 sweeps, had destroyed two Bf 109s, probably destroyed another four and shared in the destruction of a Do 17. After a spell instructing and ferrying Hurricanes from Gibraltar to Cairo, he returned to operations with 56 Squadron flying Typhoons from Manston. He was shot down on his first sweep by flak, near Calais but was picked up by an ASR launch. In late 1943 Leigh was posted to 129 Squadron at Hornchurch and was awarded the DDC on completing his second tour in December 1944, spending the rest of the war as an instructor. |
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