Formation and World War I The Squadron was formed as a Royal Air Force Squadron on 1 April 1918, from No. 9 Squadron,
Royal Naval Air Service at
Clairmarais aerodrome. (All former RNAS squadrons were renumbered by the addition of 200 to their RNAS number.) During the remainder of
World War I, 209 Squadron flew
Sopwith Camels over the
Western Front on fighter and ground support missions. The Squadron badge, the falling red eagle, symbolizes the destruction of
Baron Manfred von Richthofen (commonly known as The Red Baron) who, in the 1914–1918 War, was credited to the guns of a pilot,
Roy Brown from No. 209 Squadron. It was first equipped with
Blackburn Iris flying boats and then from January 1934 by
Blackburn Perth but neither of these types were built in sufficient quantities to equip the squadron fully. In July 1936, however, the squadron was fully equipped with
Short Singapore Mk.IIIs and it was transferred to
RAF Kalafrana, Malta in September 1937 for three months. In December 1938, No 209 began to convert to yet another flying boat type, the
Supermarine Stranraer.
World War II , March 1941 When the Second World War broke out, No.209 moved to
Invergordon to patrol the
North Sea between
Scotland and
Norway. From October 1939 it patrolled the Atlantic from
Oban. Two further re-equipments occurred, in December 1939 (
Saro Lerwicks) and then in April 1941 (
Consolidated Catalinas). In August 1941, the squadron moved to
Iceland for two months. From March 1942 until July 1945, No.209 was stationed in
East Africa. It flew patrols over the
Indian Ocean with detached bases in
South Africa,
Madagascar,
Oman and the
Seychelles to extend its cover. In July 1945 the squadron moved to
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), with recently acquired
Short Sunderland MkVs, with a detachment at
Rangoon (now Yangon), to harass Japanese shipping along the coast from
Burma (now Myanmar) to
Malaya. •
Arthur Roy Brown •
Stearne Tighe Edwards •
Air chief marshal Robert Foster – 1918 •
John Hales •
Oliver Colin LeBoutillier •
Wilfrid May •
Air vice-marshal Francis Mellersh •
John Paynter – 1917 with No. 9 •
Oliver Redgate – 1917–1918 •
Merrill Samuel Taylor – 1917–1918 with No. 9 and No. 209 ==Aircraft operated==