No. 208 Squadron RAF

No. 208 Squadron RAF
Armstrong Whitworth Atlas aeroplanes of 208 Squadron RAF in Egypt, circa 1932.
ActiveRoyal Naval Air Service
26 October 1916 – 1 April 1918
Royal Air Force
1 April 1918 – 7 November 1919
1 February 1920 - 30 March 1959
1 April 1959 - 10 September 1971
1 March 1974 - 31 March 1994
1 April 1994 -13 April 2016
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
RoleAdvanced flying training
Instructor training
Conversion training
BaseRAF Valley
Nickname(s)The Flying Shuftis
Motto(s)Vigilant[1]
AircraftBAE Systems Hawk
Battle honoursWestern Front 1915-1918*
Arras*
Ypres 1917*
Lys
Somme 1918*
Egypt and Libya 1940-1942*
Greece 1941*
Iraq 1941
Syria 1941
El Alamein*
Italy 1944-1945*
Gustav Line
Gothic Line
Gulf 1991*
Honours marked with an asterisk* are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldryA sphinx affrontée proper[1][2]
The Gizah Sphinx commemorated the Squadron's long association with Egypt during the inter-war years. An unofficial 'winged eye' badge had been in use from July 1930 until 1937.[3]
Squadron roundel
Squadron CodesGA (Apr 1939 - Sep 1939)[4][5]
RG (Mar 1944 - 1949)[6][7]
S (Carried on Buccaneers)[8]
D (1994 - present)[9]

No 208 (Reserve) Squadron was a reserve unit of the Royal Air Force, most recently based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. It operated the BAe Hawk aircraft, as a part of No. 4 Flying Training School. Due to obsolescence of its Hawk T.1 aircraft compared to the new-build Hawk T.2 aircraft of its sister unit, 4(R) Sqn, the squadron was disbanded in April 2016, in its 100th year of operations.

  1. ^ a b Halley 1988, p. 270.
  2. ^ "208 Sqn". RAF. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  3. ^ "2007 Hawk Display Fact Sheet". RAF. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  4. ^ Bowyer and Rawlings 1979, p. 14.
  5. ^ Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 50.
  6. ^ Bowyer and Rawlings 1979, p. 89.
  7. ^ Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 104.
  8. ^ Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 198.
  9. ^ Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 199.