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No.105 Sqn RAF - Squadron Profile.

No.105 Sqn RAF

Founded : 23rd September 1917
Country : UK
Fate : On 20 January 1968 the squadron disbanded for the last timein Bahrain
Known Aircraft 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 RAF


Latest No.105 Sqn RAF Artwork Releases !
 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.

Tribute to George Parry by Ivan Berryman.
 A pair of No.105 Sqn Mosquitos return over the English Channel in the early dawn light.

Home Again by Ivan Berryman. (PC)
 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.

Strike on Berlin 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 <i>Operation Sealion</i> 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.

Fear Nothing by Anthony Saunders.

No.105 Sqn RAF Artwork Collection
Click the images below to view the fantastic artwork we have available to purchase!



Clipped Signature - Tommy Broom.


Clipped Signature - Ted Sismore.


Clipped Signature - Robert Bray.


Clipped Signature - Sir Hughie Edwards VC.


Return From Leipzig by Anthony Saunders.


Fear Nothing by Anthony Saunders.

Mosquitos Over the Rhine by Nicolas Trudgian.

Blenheims Over Norfolk by Stephen Brown.


Top Dog by Robert Taylor.


Dawn of a Legend by Stephen Brown.


Strike on Berlin by Anthony Saunders.


Tribute to George Parry by Ivan Berryman.


Home Again by Ivan Berryman.

The Rail Strike by Robin Smith.


Those Nagging Mosquitoes by Stan Stokes.