First World War (1914–1919) , similar to what No. 9 Squadron operated between 1917 and 1918. No. IX (B) Squadron was formed on 8 December 1914 at
Saint-Omer in France, the first outside of the UK, from a detachment of the
Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Headquarters Wireless Flight. Known as
No. 9 (Wireless) Squadron, it was tasked with developing the use of radio for
reconnaissance missions through
artillery spotting. The squadron reformed at
Brooklands in Surrey on 1 April 1915, under the command of
Major Hugh Dowding (later commander of
RAF Fighter Command during the
Battle of Britain) as a radio-training squadron, flying the
Farman MF.7,
Blériot XI and
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2.
Second World War (1938–1945) 1939–1943 of No. 9 Squadron, on a mission in WW2, flying in formation. The
Second World War began with the unit being one of the few equipped with modern aircraft, the Vickers Wellington bomber, flying out of
RAF Honington in Suffolk; the Wellington later gave way to the Avro Lancaster in September 1942 upon the squadron's move to
RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, with which the unit would complete its most famous sorties. , of No. 9 Squadron taking off from
RAF Bardney, Lincolnshire, for a raid on the
Zeppelin works at
Friedrichshafen in Germany. No. IX (B) Squadron fought with
RAF Bomber Command in Europe throughout the Second World War; took part in all the major raids and large battles; and pioneered and proved new tactics and equipment. It also produced several of the leading figures in
The Great Escape, such as
Les 'Cookie' Long, as well as Colditz inmates – including the legendary 'Medium Sized Man'
Flight Lieutenant Dominic Bruce originator of the famous 'tea chest' escape. They became one of the two specialised squadrons attacking precision targets with the Tallboy bomb, and led the final main force raid, on
Berchtesgaden in Germany on 25 April 1945. Due to the sinking of
Tirpitz having been attributed to the squadron, an intense rivalry developed between No. 617 (the junior squadron in terms of RAF squadron seniority) and No. IX (B) Squadron after the sinking of the warship. The
Tirpitz bulkhead that was presented to Bomber Command by the
Royal Norwegian Air Force, in commemoration of friendship and co-operation during the Second World War was of particular interest with both squadrons "owning" the bulkhead at various times until 2002, when the bulkhead was presented to the
RAF Museum at Hendon.
1945 On 25 April 1945, No. IX (B) Squadron flew their last operational mission of the war when they, along with No. 617 Squadron,
attacked Obersalzberg – targeting the
Berghof,
Eagle's Nest (residences of
Adolf Hitler) and the local
SS barracks. Seventeen Lancasters of No. IX (B) Squadron participated, with eleven bombing the primary target and one bombing a local bridge. The first IX (B) Squadron Tornado sortie was made from Honington on 6 April. The squadron was officially reformed on 1 June, becoming the world's first operational Tornado squadron. The squadron was again equipped with WE.177, handed down from the
Vulcan force. The squadron was officially declared combat ready to SACEUR in January 1983. No. IX (B) Squadron suffered the RAF's first Tornado loss on 27 September 1983, when Tornado GR1
ZA586 suffered complete electrical failure causing the pilot
Squadron Leader. M. Stephens to order
ejection. The navigator,
Flight Lieutenant N. Nickles, safely ejected from the aircraft however Stephens failed to eject and was lost in the crash. During their time at RAF Honington, the squadron featured in the RAF recruitment film
Tornado, produced in 1985 by the
Central Office of Information. The film features a training exercise in which Tornado crews prepare and execute a strike on a coastal
surface-to-air missile site. On 1 October 1986, No. IX (B) Squadron moved to
RAF Brüggen as part of
RAF Germany, becoming the fourth Tornado squadron to be based there.
Gulf War and Yugoslavia (1991–2000) , 1991. In the build up to the
First Gulf War in 1990, personnel of No. IX (B) Squadron were deployed to
Tabuk Air Base and
Dhahran Airfield in
Saudi Arabia, as well as
Muharraq Airfield in
Bahrain. As part of
Operation Granby, crews from these bases flew their first sorties on 17 January 1991 to gain
air superiority over Iraqi airspace. Initial bombing raids were focused on Iraqi air bases with the Tornado using unguided 1000lb bombs and
JP233 submunition delivery systems to knock out runways. On 20 January, the squadron lost Tornado GR1
ZD893 near Tabuk when its control column failed to respond properly shortly after takeoff. After
jettisoning their external stores, the crew attempted two landings to no avail, forcing the crew to eject. Over the course of the campaign, No. IX (B) Squadron flew two-hundred sorties dropping three-hundred 1000lb bombs. The squadron suffered no loses in combat throughout the conflict, only losing
ZD893 outside of combat. In the aftermath of Operation Granby, no-fly zones were set up over Iraq, with
Operation Warden beginning in 1991 in the north and
Operation Jural in the south in 1992. No. IX (B) Squadron along with other RAF Brüggen-based squadrons, each conducted four month long tours of duty as part of Operation Jural. Returning home to RAF Brüggen after Operation Granby, No. IX (B) Squadron continued to maintain their nuclear delivery role until 1994. On 11 May 1998, the first Tornado GR4 was delivered to No. IX (B) Squadron at RAF Brüggen. As a result of the
Strategic Defence Review in 1998 it was planned decided that in 2001, No. IX (B) Squadron and No. 31 Squadron, would relocate from RAF Brüggen to
RAF Marham,
Norfolk. in 1998.No. IX (B) Squadron participated in the 1999
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia to liberate Kosovo as part of Operation Engadine, the British contribution to NATO's Operation Allied Force. Initial sorties were flown from RAF Brüggen but the squadron later deployed to
Solenzara Air Base, Corsica, along with No. 31 Squadron. In 1999, No. IX (B) Squadron became the first operational Tornado GR4 squadron.
Iraq War, Libya and Afghanistan (2001–2011) Under the command of Wing Commander Derek Watson, the squadron formed part of
Operation Telic, the British involvement in the
Iraq War, after being deployed in February 2003. No. IX (B) Squadron suffered its only loss of the war on 22 March 2003, when a Tornado was shot down by an American
Patriot surface-to-air missile system in Kuwait while returning from a mission. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Kevin Barry Main, and
navigator, Flight Lieutenant David Rhys Williams, were both killed. Immediately after the incident it was claimed that the RAF crew had failed to switch on their
identification friend or foe system. However a US journalist embedded with the
U.S. Army unit operating the Patriot battery said the "army Patriots were mistakenly identifying friendly aircraft as enemy tactical ballistic missiles." While the Tornado GR4 was capable of carrying the
ALARM anti-radiation missile, No. IX (B) Squadron and No. 31 Squadron specialised in the role, in which they were known as "Pathfinder" squadrons. From 2004 to 2010, The squadron annually deployed in support of Operation Telic. in 2007. (This aircraft is today preserved at
IWM Duxford).No. IX (B) Squadron saw its first tour of duty in Afghanistan, on
Operation Herrick at
Kandahar Airfield in early January 2010, taking over from No. 31 Squadron. The squadron's Tornados flew both
close air support (CAS) missions in support of ground forces, as well as flying multiple reconnaissance missions using the
Raptor and
Litening III pods. The squadron handed over their duties to No. 2 (AC) Squadron on 13 April after a three-month deployment. In that time the squadron launched 450 times, amassed nearly 1,600 flying hours and undertook almost forty CAS missions. The penultimate leg of the squadron's journey home was completed aboard
HMS Albion from Santander in Spain, due to
air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. In March 2011, No. IX(B) Squadron was the first RAF Tornado squadron to participate in
Operation Ellamy, the British involvement in
Libyan Civil War. The squadron performed the second-longest ranged attack sorties in the history of the RAF and the first to be launched from the UK mainland since the Second World War, launching from the squadron's home base at RAF Marham and carrying out
Storm Shadow cruise missile strikes, hitting targets deep inside Libya. The squadron then deployed forward to continue operations from
Gioia del Colle in Southern Italy. After a brief respite from the action, during which it was relieved by No. 2 (AC) Squadron, the squadron was selected to return to Gioia del Colle. Squadron aircrew of No. IX (B) Squadron were inside Libyan airspace on 20 October 2011 when the conflict came to an end with the capture of
Colonel Gaddafi by
National Transitional Council fighters. The squadron returned to Marham on 1 November 2011. The squadron was one of only three in the RAF awarded the right to emblazon the
battle honour Libya 2011 on their
squadron standard.
Return to Afghanistan (2012–2014) No. IX (B) Squadron returned to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick in December 2012, taking over from No. 2 (AC) Squadron. No. IX (B) Squadron was deployed for four months before returning to RAF Marham on 18 March 2013. The squadron participated in
Exercise Red Flag 14-1 at
Nellis Air Force Base in the United States between 27 January and 14 February 2014, operating alongside and against units of the
US Air Force,
US Navy,
US Marine Corps and the
Royal Australian Air Force. No. IX (B) Squadron's last deployment to Afghanistan was in June 2014 when they again took over from No. 2 (AC) Squadron before being replaced by No. 31 Squadron in September – the last RAF Tornados to be deployed. To celebrate 100 years of No. IX (B) Squadron, Tornado GR4
ZA356 was painted in a special commemorative scheme to mark the occasion.
Operations in Iraq and Syria (2014–2019) On 11 August 2014, the British government decided to deploy RAF Tornados from RAF Marham to RAF Akrotiri to help support aid efforts to refugees in the Iraqi
Sinjar Mountains, who were under attack by terrorist organisation
Islamic State (IS). On 26 September, the
UK Parliament voted in favour of airstrikes against IS, with the first strikes occurring on the 30 September. No. IX( B) Squadron contributed to the 1,300 missions conducted by RAF Tornados and the
General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers during the first year of action against IS. On 8 December 2014, squadron members both past and present held a service at Saint-Omer to mark 100 years since No. 9 Squadron was first formed. After Parliament approved strikes in Syria on 2 December 2015, the squadron's aircraft carried attacks the same day on
IS owned oil fields in
al-Omar, Syria. On 14 April 2018, the squadron's aircrew participated in the
missile strikes against Syria in response to the Syrian government's suspected
chemical attack in
Douma. On 10 July 2018, nine Tornados of No. IX (B) Squadron and No. 31 Squadron participated in a flypast over London to celebrate the Royal Air Force's 100th anniversary. On 6 November 2018, the RAF unveiled Tornado GR4
ZG775 in a special commemorative No. IX (B) Squadron scheme to celebrate the squadron's 37 years of Tornado operations, the first of three Tornado retirement schemes to be made public. On 4 and 5 February 2019, the eight Tornados of No. IX (B) Squadron and No. 31 Squadron that had been deployed to RAF Akrotiri returned home to RAF Marham ahead of the Tornado's retirement on 31 March 2019. The squadrons held a joint parade at Marham on 14 March 2019 to mark the impending disbandment of the Tornado force. Although the parade flypast was the Tornado's last planned sortie in RAF service, both squadrons maintained readiness for operations until the type's out-of-service date of 31 March 2019. The two squadron commanders simultaneously lowered their pennants at 09:31 on the following day, making No. IX(B) Squadron the world's first and the RAF's joint-last operational Tornado squadron.
Eurofighter Typhoon (2019 onwards) FGR.4 at RIAT, 2019. Four
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 were assigned to No. IX (B) Squadron (Designate) at
RAF Lossiemouth in Moray in February 2019, the first appearing in squadron markings on 13 February. No. IX (B) Squadron re-equipped as an
aggressor and air defence squadron operating the Typhoon at 09:31 on 1 April 2019, thereby continuing in unbroken service upon Tornado's retirement. The squadron marked its change of aircraft, role and location with a further parade on 2 May 2019, having formally reformed on 1 April. On 24 March 2020, due to its participation in Operation Herrick, No. IX (B) Squadron was awarded the battle honour 'Afghanistan 2001–2014' (without the right to emblazon on the squadron standard) by Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II, To mark the 75th anniversary of
VE Day on 8 May 2020, a pair of No. IX (B) Squadron Typhoons performed a flypast over
Edinburgh. On 16 November 2020, the squadron deployed Typhoons to
Konya Air Base in
Turkey to conduct training alongside locally based
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons. On 23 April 2021, four Typhoons from No. IX (B) Squadron deployed to
Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base,
Romania, to carry out enhanced Air Policing on behalf of NATO. In March 2023, No. IX (B) Squadron deployed to
Ämari Air Base,
Estonia, in support of Operation Azotize, operating in tandem with
TLG 71 of the
German Air Force. ==Aircraft operated==