First World War No. 56 Squadron was formed on 8 June 1916 at
Fort Rowner,
Gosport, from members of
No. 28 Squadron, as part of the
Royal Flying Corps (RFC). On 14 July, the squadron relocated to
London Colney. No. 56 Squadron received its first aircraft, a
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c on 7 August, which was followed by numerous other types. Captain
Albert Ball joined No. 56 Squadron as a Flight Commander in February 1917. 's Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, sporting the propeller spinner from one of his victims, 1918. In January 1918, the squadron moved to
Baizieux. McCudden was sent back to England on 5 March, where he was promoted to Major and received the Victoria Cross, he died on 9 July in an accident while on his way to take command of
No. 60 Squadron. On 21 March, the Germans began their
Spring Offensive, this forced No. 56 Squadron to pull back to Valheureux, where from they conducted air-to-air patrols for the next four months. A good impression of the demobilisation of the squadron is given in the final pages of
Wind in the Wires by
Duncan Grinnell-Milne, the squadron's last CO. The squadron tune during the later stages of the war was
The Darktown Strutters' Ball.
Interwar years On 22 November 1918, No. 56 Squadron moved to
Béthencourt, France. It stayed here until it moved back to Britain on 15 February 1919, arriving at
RAF Narborough along with
No. 60 Squadron and
No. 64 Squadron. The squadron was disbanded again on 23 September 1922; however, one flight was hastily reformed on 26 September and sent to Turkey for the
Chanak Crisis. This flight was officially attached to
No. 208 Squadron and remained in Turkey until August 1923. However it continued to use the 56 numberplate, even though No. 56 Squadron had reformed officially in November 1922 at
RAF Hawkinge. This flight returned and rejoined the rest of the squadron at
RAF Biggin Hill. The same month saw the squadron convert to the
Gloster Grebe Mk.II, flying them until they were exchanged for
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk.IIIas in September 1927. No. 56 Squadron converted to their last biplane, the
Gloster Gladiator Mk.I, in July 1937. The Gladiators were flown up until May 1938 when the squadron acquired
Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is. The squadron would operate the Hurricane in the opening stages of WW2. Two pilots of the squadron were shot down and one, P/O Montague Hulton-Harrop, was killed, becoming the RAF's first casualty in the defence of the
UK. , 2 January 1942. The squadron entered the Second World War equipped with the
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I and first saw action during the
Battle of France, although they remained based in England and sent flights to France for short periods. Mk.V undergoing servicing while at
Volkel, circa 1944-45. The squadron relocated away from RAF Boscombe Down on 29 November to
RAF Middle Wallop where they stayed until 17 December when
the Firebirds returned to RAF North Weald in
Essex. It was while based here that No. 56 Squadron upgraded to the Hurricane Mk.IIb in February 1941. In April 1941, No. 56 Squadron gained its 'Punjab' nickname after the Indian province of
Punjab raised money to have their name attached to a fighter, thus becoming an Indian 'gift' squadron.
The Firebirds then relocated for a brief stay at
RAF Martlesham Heath,
Suffolk on 23 July before settling at
RAF Duxford on 26 July. After moving around multiple bases in the UK, the squadron moved up to
RAF Scorton,
Yorkshire on 7 April 1944, where they converted to the
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX. As a unit of
No. 150 Wing, under the command of
Wing Commander Roland Beamont, No. 56 Squadron became an
air defence squadron. It was tasked with defending Britain from
V-1 flying bombs – of which between 70 and were shot down by the squadron. No. 56 Squadron transferred to advance landing ground B.60 at
Grimbergen in
Belgium on 28 September 1944, becoming part of No. 122 Wing,
Second Tactical Air Force. During subsequent operations No. 56 Squadron was to become the equal highest scoring Tempest unit, with
No. 486 (NZ) Squadron, totalling 59 confirmed victories. In the latter months of the war, the
Firebirds were deployed to several airfields in Europe: including
Volkel, in the Netherlands;
Copenhagen; and numerous bases in Germany.
Early Cold War (1946–1960) WK242, circa 1954-55. On 31 March 1946, the No. 56 (Punjab) Squadron nameplate was transferred over to
No. 16 Squadron. They remained here before relocating on 10 November to
RAF Acklington, eventually moving on to
RAF Wattisham on 20 December. No. 56 (F) Squadron moved on to
RAF Duxford on 17 April 1947 staying there until 31 August before returning once again on 30 November, where they would last until 2 February 1948. No. 56 (F) Squadron upgraded to Hunter F.6s in November 1958. In 1963, No. 56 (F) Squadron formed a display team called "
The Firebirds", flying nine red and silver Lightnings. The incident occurred when a pair of Lightnings (
XM179 and
XM181) collided during a bomb-burst manoeuvre –
XM179, piloted by Flt. Lt. Michael Cooke, crashed, while
XM181 landed safely. Cooke ejected and was left with severe spinal injuries, after which he used a wheelchair. The Firebirds display team was disbanded in 1964, becoming the last RAF aerobatic team to fly fighter jets. The following October,
the Firebirds deployed once more to Luqa, this time to participate in an air defence exercise alongside
Avro Vulcans,
English Electric Canberra PR.9s and
No. 29 (F) Squadron Gloster Javelin FAW.9s. No. 56 (F) Squadron left RAF Wattisham on 11 May 1967, deploying to
RAF Akrotiri in
Cyprus. A detachment of four Lightnings deployed to Luqa between 11 and 20 December 1971 to carry out scrambles, night flying and practise in-flight refuelling with a
Handley Page Victor K.1A of
No. 57 Squadron.
The Phantom Years (1976–1992) XV470 at
RAF Wattisham, 1992. On 22 March 1976, No. 56 (Designate) Squadron formed at
RAF Coningsby with the
McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2. The squadron deployed to RAF Luqa in Malta for the last time between 13 October and November 1977 with ten Phantom FGR.2s. In October 1978,
the Firebirds became the first squadron in the RAF to operate an aircraft in air superiority grey when Phantom FGR.2
XV474 was delivered to RAF Wattisham, marking a change from the old green and grey schemes. On 21 June 1979, Phantom FGR.2
XV424 from No. 56 (F) Squadron re-enacted the
transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown to celebrate its 60th anniversary. The flight was undertaken by pilot, Sqd. Ldr. A. J. N. Alcock (nephew of John Alcock who made the original flight), and navigator, Flt. Lt. W. N. Browne, who brought the original 1919 mascot 'Twinkletoes' with them on their journey. No. 23 (F) Squadron departed RAF Wattisham on 21 March 1983 when their nameplate was passed to No. 29 (F) Squadron at
RAF Stanley on the
Falkland Islands, from where they provided air defence.
The Firebirds were not alone for long however with No. 74 (F) Squadron reforming at RAF Wattisham on 19 October 1984.
The Tigers were equipped with unique
F-4J(UK) Phantoms, procured from the
United States Navy due to the re-basing of Phantoms to the Falklands. These contrasted with No. 56 (F) Squadron's Phantom FGR.2s which used
Rolls-Royce Spey engines, UK MOD Radar systems and other RAF modifications. No. 74 (F) Squadron eventually exchanged their F-4J(UK)s for the Phantom FGR.2 in January 1991, due to their availability from other squadrons converting to the
Panavia Tornado F.3. Plans had originally been for the RAF to retain both Phantom squadrons but under the
Options for Change defence review in 1990 the decision was made to withdraw both units. Both No. 56 (F) Squadron and No. 74 (F) Squadron participated in their last APC at RAF Akrotiri in early June 1992. On 13 June 1992,
the Firebirds and
the Tigers participated in
Queen Elizabeth II's
official birthday flypast, flying over
Buckingham Palace with a 16-ship diamond formation, which was made up of eight Phantoms from each squadron. No. 74 (F) Squadron would continue to operate there until October 1992 when they stood down and reformed at
RAF Valley as a training squadron.
From Tornados to the Air Warfare Centre ZE789 over
Doncaster Sheffield Airport, 1994. On 1 August 1992, the No. 56 (Fighter) Squadron nameplate was transferred to
No. 65 Squadron at RAF Coningsby becoming No. 56 (Reserve) Squadron. No. 56 (R) Squadron flew an aerobatic display from 1993 until December 2005 when it was announced, that as a cost-cutting measure, the RAF would no longer have a Tornado F.3 display. With the introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon into RAF service it was decided that No. 56 (R) Squadron would be amalgamated with No. 43 (F) Squadron as part of the Tornado F.3 force draw down, with
the Fighting Cocks taking over the OCU role. The No. 56 (R) Squadron nameplate and standard was transferred to the
Air Warfare Centre Air Command and Control Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operational Evaluation Unit (AIR C2ISR OEU) at
RAF Waddington on 22 April 2008. On 1 February 2018, all (Reserve) nameplates were rescinded by the RAF thus changing No. 56 (Reserve) Squadron to just No. 56 Squadron. On 10 June 2018,
the Firebirds paraded through the village of
North Weald, where the squadron was based between 1927 and 1941, after being awarded the 'Freedom of the District' by the local council. As of 2020, the squadron provides operational test and evaluation, and specialist advice, for RAF airborne ground surveillance, airborne electronic sensors, airborne command and control, aerospace battle management and intelligence exploitation. In March 2021, the Sentinel R.1 was withdrawn from use, having made its last flight on 25 February 2021. The Sentry AEW.1 was retired from RAF service on 28 September 2021. After the first
General Atomics Protector RG1 was delivered to RAF Waddington in September 2023, No. 56 Test and Evaluation Squadron was tasked with introducing the type into service. ==Aircraft operated==