First World War The squadron was formed on , at
Farnborough Aerodrome as No. 6 Squadron,
Royal Flying Corps. Its first squadron commander was Major
John Becke. The squadron, equipped with a mixture of B.E.2s,
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8s and Farmans crossed the English Channel in October 1914 to support
IV Corps in its attempt to prevent the Germans from capturing
Antwerp. In November, the squadron joined the newly formed 2nd Wing of the RFC, with the role of supporting the Second and Third Corps, taking part in the
First Battle of Ypres. In March 1915, the squadron received two
Martinsyde S.1 scouts, to escort the squadrons aircraft,
1611, flown by
Captain Lanoe Hawker on 25 July 1915 in his
Victoria Cross-earning engagementOn 25 July 1915, Captain
Lanoe Hawker, flying a Bristol Scout, attacked three German aircraft in succession. The first aerial victory for Hawker that day occurred after he emptied a complete drum of bullets from his aircraft's single
Lewis machine gun into a German aircraft which went spinning down. The second victory saw a German aircraft driven to the ground damaged, and the third saw a German aircraft – an
Albatros C.I of
FFA 3 – burst into flames and crash. For this feat he was awarded the
Victoria Cross. The squadron was deployed directing artillery during the
Actions of the Bluff near
Ypres in February 1916 and the
Actions of St Eloi Craters in March–April that year. During the
Battle of the Somme from July to November 1916, the squadron carried out bombing attacks, including night bombing operations, against targets in the Ypres salient to prevent the Germans transferring troops to the Somme front. In May 1917, the squadron re-equipped with
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8s. In September 1917, the squadron supported the British
Second Army during the
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge. In November 1917, the squadron was pulled out of the line and attached to
V Corps, which was being held in reserve to exploit a potential breakthrough in the front, and was used to give training on cooperation between aircraft and ground forces to infantry, artillery and staff officers. As the squadron had posted away most of its observers, it was not drafted into action during the
German spring offensive from March 1918, being sent to
Le Crotoy to be out of the way of the offensive, while its commanding officer,
Archibald James, was employed in finding airfields for the squadrons of the RFC (and RAF) as they were forced to relocate owing to the German advance. While most of the squadron continued in its training duties, one flight was attached to the
Cavalry Corps when the pressure from the German offensive died down, and in July 1918, the squadron reunited as an operational unit under the command of Major
George Pirie in support of the Cavalry Corps. and the Battles of
Bapaume and
the Scarpe at the end of the month. The squadron continued to fly in support of the Cavalry Corps until the end of the war. In 1924, the squadron was part of a large force of aircraft deployed against
Kudish revolts led by
Mahmud Barzanji, bombing the city of
Sulaymaniyah. On 14 September 1924, 6 Squadron Bristol Fighters attacked two Turkish cavalry columns that had crossed into Iraq, dispersing the columns. In 1925, the squadron carried out further operations against forces led by Mahmud. In 1927, the squadron supported operations against
Ahmed Barzani which resulted in the occupation of
Barzan by Iraqi Levies, and the retreat of Ahmed Barzani to the hills. aircraft operating from
RAF Ramleh airfield in the 1930s In October 1929, 6 Squadron moved to
RAF Ismailia in
Egypt, with a detachment at
RAF Ramleh,
Mandatory Palestine. while from June that year, it started to receive more modern
Fairey Gordons, with the last Bristol Fighters being withdrawn by June 1932. The main body of the squadron returned to Egypt in November 1936, with fighting in Palestine reducing. A resurgence of violence in Palestine saw the squadron return to Ramleh in November 1937, From January 1938, the squadron's Harts were replaced by
Hawker Hardys (another, General Purpose, variant of the Hart), In February 1941, the whole squadron transferred to North Africa, moving to
Barca in
Libya, with a flight forward deployed at
Agedabia The Lysander was unsuitable for operations when faced by modern fighters, and one flight was reequipped with
Hawker Hurricanes at the start of March 1941. When
Operation Sonnenblume the Axis offensive in Libya the spring of 1941 caused the Allied forces to withdraw, the flights of 6 Squadron were forced to make a number of moves to avoid being overrun, and when
Tobruk was besieged the squadron ended up inside the perimeter, carrying out tactical reconnaissance. The squadron suffered from spares shortages, while the airfield was subject to German shelling, and the squadron's aircraft were vulnerable to attack by German fighters when landing. Two of the squadron's three flights were ordered to evacuate in 19 April, while the remaining flight left Tobruk on 10 May. In August 1941, the squadron, now equipped with Lysanders and
Gloster Gladiator fighters, moved to
Wadi Halfa in Sudan, with a detachment at
Kufra in south-west Libya. On 26 September 1941, one of the Gladiators from Kufra intercepted an Italian
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, claiming it as possibly damaged. This was the last combat engagement by an RAF-flown Gladiator. A few Hurricanes were added in September 1941, and four
Bristol Blenheims added in November that year. The squadron moved up to
RAF Gambut on 4 June 1942 for operations, flying its first, unsuccessful combat operation with the Hurricane II.Ds on 7 June, while on 8 June it claimed one tank destroyed and several other vehicles damaged, at a cost of two Hurricanes shot down by anti-aircraft fire and another damaged. As the Hurricane IID was slow and relatively vulnerable to enemy attack, it was employed under tight conditions - requiring fighter escort and targets whose position was known, could be easily identified from the air and not protected by too much anti-aircraft fire were attacked - this allowed the aircraft to operate effectively while minimising casualties. The squadron took part in the
Second Battle of El Alamein in October–November 1942, but in December, the squadron was temporarily withdrawn from its anti-armour role to fly shipping protection duties with Hurricane IICs. The squadron returned to the anti-tank role on 22 February 1943, again equipped with the Hurricane IID. In March 1943, the squadron took part in the
Battle of the Mareth Line. The squadron's attacks were effective, but losses were heavy. Fifteen Hurricanes from 6 Squadron were shot down between 22 and 26 March, with six shot down near
El Hamma on 25 March. The vulnerability of the unarmoured Hurricane IID to ground fire when carrying out gun attacks led to
3-inch rockets being preferred and the squadron was withdrawn after the end of the fighting in North Africa until it could receive new equipment, which arrived in July 1943 as the Hurricane IV, which could be armed with rocket projectiles. In February 1944, the squadron moved with its Hurricane Mk IVs to
Grottaglie airfield, near
Taranto, Italy. Moored Axis ships were attacked at Yugoslav harbours and the
Dalmatian islands. They were strongly defended by anti-aircraft gunners on
Siebel ferries, as the ships were being used to supply the German forces. Squadron detachments were also made to
Bastia in Corsica,
Araxos near Patras in Greece,
Brindisi, and near Ancona. A fixed 44-gallon extra petrol tank under the port wing increased the Hurricanes' duration to almost three hours at cruising speed. The airfield on
Vis was extensively used as an advanced base from May 1944 to February 1945, usually to top up tanks before each armed reconnaissance.
Post-Second World War/Cold War In July 1945, the squadron returned to Palestine, as British forces faced an
insurgency by Zionist forces, with duties including patrolling oil pipelines to deter sabotage attacks. The squadron was the last RAF combat unit to operate Hurricanes, and for a brief period four
Spitfires due to a lack of Hurricanes. In February 1952 the squadron received Vampire FB.9s.
Post-Cold War in 2006 The squadron continued at RAF Coltishall in its non-nuclear role until Coltishall closed on 1 April 2006, and the squadron moved to RAF Coningsby. The squadron's aircraft were deployed to the Gulf as part of
Operation Granby (Gulf War), for which it received battle honours, and later as part of the Northern No-Fly-Zone. The squadron deployed to
Gioia del Colle Air Base in Italy for operations over
Bosnia as part of
Operation Deny Flight from April 1993. The squadron was the last to fly the
SEPECAT Jaguar, and was disbanded on 31 May 2007. The Jaguar's intended replacement in RAF service was the
Eurofighter Typhoon. The RAF announced that No. 6 Squadron was to be the fourth operational front-line squadron equipped with the Typhoon and the first with Tranche 2 aircraft, initially scheduled to reform in 2008 at RAF Leuchars in
Fife. However, this was delayed until 2010, with the squadron reforming at
RAF Leuchars on 6 September 2010, when a closed standing-up ceremony was performed to mark the squadron's reforming, including the arrival of the new Typhoon aircraft in 6 Squadron colours from RAF Coningsby. of No. 6 Squadron, with squadron specific codes "EJ" and "EU", March 2013|alt=Two Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4s of No. 6 Squadron with squadron specific codes "EJ" and "EU", March 2013.The squadron has taken over the role of
Quick Reaction Alert for the north of the United Kingdom from
No. 111 Squadron RAF, the RAF's last
Panavia Tornado F.3 squadron, in March 2011. In November 2011 four Typhoons from No. 6 Squadron flew to
RMAF Butterworth to participate in aerial war games for the 40th anniversary of the
Five Power Defence Arrangements. In August 2013, several Typhoons from No. 6 were exercising with and US fighters in the Gulf. In June 2014, the squadron began to move to its new home in RAF Lossiemouth. The squadron participated in the
2018 missile strikes against Syria during the
Syrian Civil War. In March 2020, the squadron was awarded the right to emblazon a
battle honour on its squadron
standard, recognising its role in
Bosnia during 1995. The squadron attended
Exercise Spears of Victory 23 during February 2023 at
King Abdulaziz Air Base. ==Aircraft operated==