No. 14 Squadron of the Royal Air Force currently operates the Beechcraft Shadow R1 (a modified Beechcraft Super King Air) in the Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) role from RAF Waddington.
History
World War I
No. 14 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed on 3 February 1915 at Shoreham with Maurice Farman S.11 and B.E.2 aircraft. After a few months of training it departed for the Middle East in November of that same year for Army co-operation duties during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. In 1916 the squadron's B.E.2s were supplemented with a small number of D.H.1A two seat fighters for escort duties, with the type remaining in use until March 1917. Other fighters operated by the squadron's fighter flight included the Bristol Scout and Vickers FB.19, but the fighter flight left the squadron in August 1917 to form No. 111 Squadron. The squadron flew in support of British forces in the Third Battle of Gaza in late 1917. In November 1917 the squadron was equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8s, which were used to perform reconnaissance duties, attacking the Turkish Seventh Army as it retreated following the Battle of Nablus. It was recalled to the UK in January 1919 and disbanded the following month.
Squadron motto
The Squadron motto—I spread my wings and keep my promise—is believed by many, including the RAF, to be an extract from the Koran as suggested to the RAF by the Emir of Transjordan but in Arabic, this is not quite as depicted on the Squadron badge.
Between the wars
On 1 February 1920 the squadron was reformed in Ramleh by renumbering No. 111 Squadron. The squadron operated Bristol Fighters and used them for various duties including photo surveying and air policing. The squadron patrolled Trans-Jordan and Palestine for the next 20 years and it was during this period that the squadron gained its Arabic motto. Airco DH.9A bombers supplemented the squadron's Bristol fighters in June 1924, using them to attack and together with RAF-operated armoured cars help defeat a several-thousand strong raiding force of Ikhwan tribesmen at Umm el Amad, south of Amman in Jordan in August that year. The squadron fully equipped with DH.9As in January 1926. Fairey IIIFs replaced the squadron's DH.9As in November 1929, using them on reconnaissance duties during civil unrest in Palestine. The Fairey Gordon, a radial engined derivative of the IIIF re-equipped the squadron in September 1932, being used for operations against Arab rioters during the 1933 Palestine riots. In March 1938, the squadron replaced its Gordons with Vickers Wellesley monoplane bombers.
World War II
When World War II broke out the squadron was transferred to Egypt but soon returned to Amman. In May 1940, with the likelihood of war between Britain and Italy increasing rapidly, 14 Squadron was ordered to move to Port Sudan to reinforce the weak RAF forces in East Africa facing Italian forces in Ethiopia and Eritrea. On 10 June, Italy declared war on Britain and France, and on the night of 11/12 June 14 Squadron flew its first offensive mission of the Second World War, when nine Wellesleys bombed fuel storage tanks and the airfield at Massawa. It lost its first Wellesley to Italian defences on 14 June during a second raid against Massawa. The squadron received a single Supermarine Walrus from 47 Squadron which was used for patrols over the Red Sea in July 1940, while the squadron's Wellesleys continued bombing missions against Italian targets. The Squadron started to receive twin-engined Bristol Blenheims in September that year, flying its first Blenheim mission on 20 September, and flying its final Wellesley sortie on 20 November. In March 1941 it carried out bombing raids in support of the assault on Keren.
In April 1941, following the liberation of Addis Ababa, the squadron was sent to Egypt for operations over the Western Desert. The squadron was deployed in support of Operation Brevity on 15–16 May 1941, an unsuccessful British offensive, and carried out attacks on German and Italian motor transport, with five Blenheims being shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters of III Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27 while carrying out strafing attacks along the Tobruk–Capuzzo road on 21 May. The squadron flew attacks against Maleme Airfield on 25 and 27 May during the Battle of Crete, and in June, flew in support of Operation Battleaxe, another unsuccessful British offensive in the Western Desert. On 7 July 1941, the squadron withdrew from the Western Desert, being based in Palestine and Iraq until it returned to Egypt in November 1941.