First World War , similar to what No. 10 Squadron operated between 1917 and 1918. No. 10 Squadron of the
Royal Flying Corps was formed from a nucleus provided by No. 1 Reserve Aircraft Squadron on at
Farnborough Airfield,
Hampshire. It initially acted as a training squadron until 27 July 1915 when it relocated to
Saint-Omer on the
Western Front in France. No. 10 Squadron's first major engagement was providing spotting for the
Indian Corps during the
Battle of Loos in September 1915 with the
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2. The squadron also participated in the
Battle of the Somme in 1916. In April 1917, No. 10 Squadron carried out spotting and bombing duties during the
Second Battle of Arras. The squadron participated in the
Second Battle of the Somme between August and September 1918.
Interwar On 3 January 1928, No. 10 Squadron was reformed as a night bomber unit at
RAF Upper Heyford with the
Handley Page Hyderabad. On 8 July 1940, the unit moved to
RAF Leeming,
Yorkshire. On 23 September 1940, the squadron launched a raid on the
Boulogne docks in occupied-France. In July 1942, the squadron was split in two when a detachment was sent to
RAF Aqir,
British Mandate, which went on to form
No. 462 Squadron of the
Royal Australian Air Force. operating from
RAF Lübeck.
Bomber Command (1953–1964) On 15 January 1953, No. 10 Squadron reverted to its original bomber role upon its reformation at
RAF Scampton,
Lincolnshire, with the
English Electric Canberra B.2. Between October and November 1956, the squadron deployed to
RAF Nicosia,
Cyprus, during the
Suez Crisis. The squadron disbanded on 15 January 1957. and on 1 July 1966 the squadron reformed at
RAF Brize Norton as the first operators to receive the new
Vickers VC10 C.1 The most visible role No. 10 Squadron's VC10s played was that of VIP transport and aeromedical evacuations. In the
VIP role, the C1 flew the
British royal family, government ministers and Prime Ministers around the world. Later the VC10 VIP role was phased out, with VIP transport being carried out by the RAF's
BAe 146 fleet and
Boeing 767 airliners chartered from
British Airways. However, former Prime Minister
Tony Blair reverted to the VC10 for more sensitive flights, notably during his diplomatic trips to
Pakistan and the Middle East after the
11 September 2001 attacks. The rationalisation of the VC10 force led to No. 10 Squadron being disbanded on 14 October 2005, with their C.1(K) aircraft transferred to
No. 101 Squadron. The squadron was officially reformed on 1 July 2011. The first Voyager (
ZZ330) was delivered to Brize Norton on 5 April 2012. Operations began with the Voyager on 12 May 2012, with a sortie flown from Brize Norton to
RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. The first air-to-air refuelling flight with the Voyager took place on 20 May 2013, when No. 10 Squadron refuelled several
Panavia Tornado GR4. No. 10 Squadron has helped support
Operation Shader since September 2014. ==Aircraft operated==