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Aviation Art Prints  Countries UK Squadron Index More Squadrons Squadrons 88 to 126  No.105 Sqn |
[UP] - No.88 Sqn - No.89 Sqn - No.90 Sqn - No.91 Sqn - No.92 Sqn - No.97 Sqn - No.99 Sqn - No.100 Sqn - No.101 Sqn - No.102 Sqn - No.103 Sqn - No.104 Sqn - No.105 Sqn - No.106 Sqn - No.107 Sqn - No.109 Sqn - No.110 Sqn - No.111 Sqn - No.112 Sqn - No.120 Sqn - No.124 Sqn - No.126 Sqn |
No.105 Sqn
Country : UK
Founded : 23rd September 1917
On 20 January 1968 the squadron disbanded for the last timein Bahrain
Codes : , GB, OM, MT,
Fortis in proeliis - Valiant in battles
No 105 Squadron, RFC, was formed at Andover, Hampshire, in September 1917, and was originally intended as a bomber unit for service in France. In April 1918, however, plans were changed: it was ordered to mobilize as a corps reconnaissance squadron for service in Ireland and in May it proceeded to Omagh, Co. Tyrone, equipped with RE8 aircraft. In December 1918, it was re-equipped with Bristol Fighters. and 105 Squadron continued on duties in Ireland until 1 February 1920, when the squadron was disbanded by being re-numbered to 2 Squadron at Oranmore
The squadron was formed again on 12 April 1937 at RAF Harwell from B Flight of 18 Squadron as a day bomber squadron. Its first equipment was the biplane Hawker Audax while it awaited delivery of the more modern monoplane Fairey Battle. The Battles arrived in August 1937 and 105 Squadron was one of the first to be operational on the type.
At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force, the squadron moved to France, initially on reconnaissance missions along the France-German border. The Germans invaded France in May 1940 and the squadron was soon busy attacking the advancing German troops. One of the most important targets was the bombing of the bridges over the River Meuse in attempt to slow down the German advance. It suffered heavily from the attention of German fighters and the squadron had to retire back to England in June 1940. At RAF Honington the squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim to join 2 Group's offensive against the invasion ports and German shipping. The squadron had many losses particularly from the German Flak ships. In October 1940 part of the squadron was detached to Malta to carry out attacks on Axis shipping in the Mediterranean Sea. It moved to RAF Swanton Morley in Norfolk. After losing its commanding officer in a raid near Stavanger in 1941, it gained a new CO, Wing Commander H.I. Edwards. For his part in planning and leading a low level daylight attack on the port of Bremen he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
In October 1941 the Malta detachment returned to England and the squadron began to operate at a reduced level. The reason for the reduction in sorties was the squadron had been chosen to be the first to use the Mosquito Mk.IV and was concentrating on training. In December the squadron moved to RAF Horsham St Faith near Norwich.
The first Mosquito operation was a high-level attack on Cologne as a follow-on to the "thousand-bomber" raid on the city. It was not the best use of the new aircraft and the squadron soon moved to low-level precision attacks where the aircraft had an outstanding performance. The first precision attack was against the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo on 25 September 1942. The squadron was the first to do a daylight raid on Berlin on 30 January 1943. By June 1943 the squadron joined No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group and upgraded to Oboe-equipped Mosquito Mk.IXs. It performed precision target-marking for Bomber Command until the end of the war. The squadron was disbanded at RAF Upwood on 1 February 1946.
Between 1949 and 1957 the squadron was linked with 109 Squadron as 109/105 Squadron, but on 21 February 1962 the squadron re-formed in its own right at RAF Benson with the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, a medium-range tactical transport. By June it had moved to RAF Khormaksar, Aden, to provide support to ground forces in the area. It also carried out transport runs through the middle-east and parts of Africa. It was involved in paradropping supplies to the British Army during operations in the Radfan and was also involved in supporting the operations in Borneo. In 1966 it was supporting troops in Aden again. When the terrorist activity worsened, it was also tasked with providing search-and-rescue searches over the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. As the British withdrawal from Aden got nearer the squadron moved out the Muharraq, Bahrain, in 1967. On 20 January 1968 the squadron disbanded for the last time there.
| No.105 Sqn Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Top Dog by Robert Taylor. Completing a record 213 operational sorties with Bomber Commands Pathfinder Force, Mosquito LR503 became one of the most successful aircraft in the Royal Air Force during World War II. It flew first with 109 Pathfinder Squadron, and then 105 Pathfinder Squadron, completing more combat missions than any other Allied aircraft. |
Tribute to George Parry by Ivan Berryman. George Parry joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve before the Second World War broke out, joining No.110 Sqn flying Blenheims as his first post once war was declared. He completed this tour and after a year in a training squadron, joined No.105 Sqn flying the Mosquito. Parry led the successful mission to attack the Gestapo HQ in Oslo, and completed his tour with No.105 Sqn in 1943. He took up various roles in Bomber Command and training squadrons until leaving the RAF in 1947. He is depicted here in Mosquito Mk.IV GB-G of No.105 Sqn in June 1942, against the backdrop of sunlit cloud tops. He went on to become an engineer, retiring in 1979 - he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross and was a Member of the British Empire. George Parry died in 1999. |
Fear Nothing by Anthony Saunders. The Battle of Britian - 28th August 1940. The Battle of Britain is at its height but the threat of invasion is still a deadly reality. As the country waited, grim and expectant, for Hitlers Operation Sealion to be put into action, Blenheims of 105 Squadron make another strike against German troop barges assembling in the northern French port of Boulogne. Overhead, escorting Hurricanes of 501 Squadron engage in a savage tussle with Me109s of JG3 as the Luftwaffe pilots attempt to disperse the attacking British bombers. During the encounter three Me109s of JG3 were shot down for no British loss. |
Return From Leipzig by Anthony Saunders. Mosquitos of 105 Squadron, Marham. No. 105 Squadron, stationed at Marham, Norfolk, became the first Royal Air Force unit to become operational flying the Mosquito B. Mk. IV bomber on 11th April 1942. The painting shows 105 Squadron on the raid of 10th April 1945, to the Wahren railway marshalling yards at Leipzig, Germany. |
Home Again by Ivan Berryman. A pair of No.105 Sqn Mosquitos return over the English Channel in the early dawn light. |
Those Nagging Mosquitoes by Stan Stokes. Although fifty years has passed since the end of WW II, the de Havilland Mosquito, or Mossie, is still held in high admiration by the crews which flew this wonderful aircraft. Built in a number of variants, the Mosquito served in a number of roles including fighter, bomber, trainer, transport, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft. Prior to WW II the de Havilland Company had built a good reputation for building highly streamlined, very fast aircraft, utilized for racing. The Company submitted a design proposal in 1939 for an all new twin-engined aircraft, primarily built of wood, which would be capable of 400 MPH with its twin Merlin engines. Late in 1939 the Air Ministry ordered a prototype, and in March of 1940 an initial fifty production aircraft were ordered. The Mosquito was built utilizing a one-piece, two-spar wing. Spruce and plywood were utilized extensively. The aircraft performed admirably in its initial tests and the first combat mission took place in September, 1941. Some of the early Mosquitoes were produced in a bomber variant. Early Mosquitoes were painted in a unique blue-gray camouflage. One of the first squadrons equipped with the Mosquito was number 105. In September of 1942, 105 squadron sent four of its aircraft on a daring daylight low level raid to bomb the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo, Norway. This successful mission was lead by RAF Squadron Leader George Parry. The mission was important because the Gestapo Headquarters housed vital dossiers on Norwegian resistance personnel, and the resistance had requested the mission to boost morale. The Mosquitoes were unexpectedly attacked by two Fw-190s as they approached the target. One of the aircraft (piloted by F/Sgt. Carter) was hit and crashed while attempting a forced landing on a lake. One of the Fw-190s struck a tree during the chase, and crash landed in a mountainous area. Stan Stokes, in his striking painting, appropriately titled Those Nagging Mosquitoes, depicts the three returning aircraft of 105 Squadron flying fast and low over a fjord in Norway. Because the Mossie utilized speed as a way to avoid enemy fighters, several minor modifications were made to coax every additional MPH possible out of the aircraft. Other modification were made to some aircraft which allowed them to carry a 4,000 pound bomb. The Mosquito was also produced under license in Canada utilizing Packard-manufactured Merlin engines. The Mosquito B Mk IX utilized a pair of 1,680 HP Merlin 72s and the prototype attained a speed of 437 MPH. Other Mossies were modified to utilize a bulbous ventral radar dome. The Mosquito was produced until 1950. More than 7,700 aircraft were built. The aircraft remained in service with the RAF until 1963. Only a few restored examples of this versatile aircraft remain in existence. |
Dawn of a Legend by Stephen Brown. In what became a familiar sight over East Anglia during World War II, RAF de Havilland Mosquitoes head out at low level towards the North Sea. These aircraft are Mosquito B. Mk IVs of No 2 Group, 105 Squadron operating from Horsham St. Faith in the summer of 1942. Also known as The Wooden Wonder or Timber Terror, the Mosquito was a twin-engine aircraft with the pilot and navigator sitting side by side. Its plywood structure gave the Mosquito exceptional speed, ability and durability. |
Strike on Berlin by Anthony Saunders. The swaggering figure of the Reichsmarshal swept imperiously into the Air Ministry on Berlin's Wilhemstrasse, his jewel-encrusted baton and extravagant uniform as flamboyant as ever. This was Saturday, 30th January 1943, the tenth Anniversary of the Nazi Party coming to power, and Goering was about to deliver the main speech in tribute to the Party and its leader, the Fuhrer - Adolf Hitler. The Royal Air Force had other plans for the anniversary. In stark defiance of the imagined air security safeguarding Berlin, brave pilots of 105 and 139 Sqn's took to the air in de Havilland Mosquitoes, on course for Germany. Their mission: RAF Bomber Command's first daylight raid on Berlin! The raid was timed to perfection and three Mosquitoes of 105 Sqn raced headlong, low level towards their target - the Haus des Rundfunks, headquarters of the German State broadcasting company. It was an hour before Goering could finally be broadcast. He was boiling with rage and humiliation. A few hours later, adding further insult, Mosquitoes from 139 Sqn swept over the city in a second attack moments before Goebbels addressed a Nazi mass rally in the Sportpalast. Goering's promise that enemy aircraft would never fly over the Reich was broken, the echo of that shame would haunt him for the rest of the war. This dramatic painting pays tribute to this pivotal moment in the war, capturing the Mosquito B.Mk.IVs of 105 Sqn departing the target area, following their successful strike on the Haus des Rundfunk. |
Mosquitos Over the Rhine by Nicolas Trudgian. Mosquitos from No 105 Squadron R.A.F. based at Marham, Norfolk, England, on a low-level intruder strike over the Rhine river, Germany in December 1942. |
Blenheims Over Norfolk by Stephen Brown. Bristol Blenheim IVs of 105 squadron returning at low level over Norfolk, after one of many anti-shipping sorties carried out over the North Sea in 1941. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Bristol Blenheim was Bomber Commands fastest and most effective aircraft and formed the mainstay of its offensive operations. Pressed into numerous different roles the Blenheim had many successes, including pioneering the first airborne interception radar for night fighting. Even so, compared with the powerful machines of the Luftwaffe, it was highly vulnerable and only achieved what it did as a result of the extraordinary bravery and determination of its aircrews. |
The Rail Strike by Robin Smith. Mosquito BIV of 105 Sqdn. attacking rail yards at Nantes in 1944. |
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