Nimrod reunion - CXX Sqn 90th Anniversary reunion 13-15 June 2008 RAF Kinloss

[The White Falcon]

No 120 Squadron based at RAF Kinloss are to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of their formation at a reunion weekend over 13-15 June 2008 at RAF Kinloss.:D

Serving Squadron members wish to invite all past members to attend what promises to be an excellent series of events. There has already been a great deal of interest in the Reunion, so it should provide a good opportunity to meet old friends and hopefully make some new ones. The programme for the weekend is as flexible as we can make it, allowing people the chance to mix planned activity with more informal meetings with colleagues and acquaintances.

Some of the activities are a meet and greet on the Friday night, this will be a great chance to renew old friendships and relive all those great memories. Saturday will be as busy as you like it. Perhaps a round of golf or a whiskey tour. Scotland is certainly spoilt in this regard. Saturday night will be the more formal celebration. Make sure you are one of the couple of hundred in the Sergeants mess for the big night. Sunday will probably start with a church service and then the opportunity to wander the SQN crew rooms and take in all the history. A family orientated day with a BBQ in the afternoon and a host of activities to keep everyone entertained as the weekend draws to a close.


For further details on the weekend and to express your interest please contact [email protected] (http:///) as soon as possible to ensure a place.:)



No. 120 Squadron of the Royal Air Force 0perates Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray, Scotland.

120 Squadron was formed in January 1918, as a day bomber squadron equipped with De Havilland DH.9. The First World War, ended before it became operational, so 120 Squadron spent 1918 and 1919 flying communication and mail flights in Western Europe until it was disbanded late in 1919.
Reformed in Northern Ireland in 1941 at RAF Nutts Corner, the unit equipped with the Liberator, flying against the U-Boat threat in the North Atlantic. The Squadron was very successful in this role, sinking 14 U-Boats outright, with shares in three more and eight damaged by the end of the war and its disbandment in 1945. This was the highest kill total in Coastal Command, achieved whilst flying from Northern Ireland, Iceland, and in support of Operation Overlord - the Allied invasion of France in 1944.
It reformed in 1946, by renumbering 160 Squadron at RAF Leuchars and equipped with Avro Lancasters. A detachment moved to Palestine in November 1947 where it carried out searches for illegal immigrant ships until February 1948, when it returned to Britain.
The squadron re-equipped with Avro Shackletons in 1951, and continued operating them in the maritime patrol role until re-equipping with Hawker-Siddeley Nimrods in 1971, gaining the updated Nimrod MR2 in 1981. It flew operationally in the Falklands War in 1982 and the Gulf War in 1991.
120 Squadron has provided a continual presence in the Middle East since late 2001. In that time, employment of the aircraft and crews has evolved to take on an additional range of non-traditional tasks, including Overland Surveillance and ISTAR operations over IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN in support of U.K and coalition forces.

[Jackonicko]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but.....

While No.120 Squadron deserves congratulations on its 90th birthday, there are many of us who wonder why it’s still around to celebrate, when an older, rather more distinguished maritime unit has been disbanded.

If you compare the records, it becomes more and more of a mystery. Though formed in the First World War, that conflict ended before No.120 could become operational, and so it spent 1918 and 1919 flying communication and mail flights in Western Europe until it was disbanded late in 1919.

It was not then reformed until 1941, in at RAF Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland where it was entirely immune from the enemy air threat that rival 206 was encountering over the North Sea and Channel, and indeed had been coping with throughout 1939 and 1940.

120 then spent most of the war flying from Northern Ireland, and Iceland, and so had none of the meatgrinder attrition that was experienced by the units flying over the Bay of Biscay and the Norwegian coast.

No.120 was responsible for sinking 14 U-Boats outright, with shares in three more and eight damaged and that seems to be the basis of the claim that 120 was some kind of Coastal equivalent to 617 – with a record so distinguished that it ‘trumps’ other squadron’s longer service. But I don’t see it. Sure, 120 got four more U-Boat kills than 206 managed, but in arguably less challenging circumstances.

Spare a thought for 206!
206 Squadron was originally formed from 'A' Squadron, No 4 Wing at Petite Synthe on 1 November 1916 (31 December 1916 according to some sources) as No. 6 Squadron, RNAS, and served in France as a Fighter unit. The unit was disbanded less than a year later on 27 August 1917. The Squadron reformed on 1 November 1917 in the day-bomber role, equipped initially with DH4s, these being replaced with DH9s in February and it was this type that the squadron took into action for the first time on 9 March 1918. Initially allocated to No 5 Wing RNAS, it was transferred to 11th (Army) Wing of the RFC on 31 March and the following day was renumbered No 206 Squadron on the formation of the RAF.

So No.206 fought in the Great War in the fighter, bomber and recce roles!

With the end of hostilities, 206 moved to Germany as part of the Army of Occupation, where it carried out an air mail service. In May 1919 the unit returned to France and the next month it moved to Egypt where on the 1 February 1920 it was disbanded by being re-numbered No 47 Squadron.

The expansion of the RAF in the mid 1930's began to produce an increased flow of aircraft and in June 1936, 206 Squadron reformed at RAF Manston from 'C' Flight of No 48 Squadron as a General Reconnaissance Squadron flying Avro Ansons. It moved to Bircham Newton in July initially as a training squadron but later assigned to maritime patrols.

In August 1936 the Squadron was transferred to Coastal Command and in March 1938 presented with its emblem the 'Octopus'. With the outbreak of the Second World War the Squadron consisted of 24 aircraft. The first Allied officer to fall into German hands was a New Zealand RAF airman who was shot down over the North Sea on 5 September 1939 -- shortly after war was declared. Flying Officer Laurence Hugh Edwards was on a reconnaissance flight in an Anson aircraft of 206 Squadron when he fell prey to two German Bv 138 flying boats. The two other crew of the Anson were killed in the attack. The enemy aircraft landed alongside the wreckage floating in the sea and took Edwards prisoner.

A change to maritime patrols over the North Sea during the early days of the Second World War saw the unit in the thick of what action was available, and No 206 managed to shoot down an attacking He115 seaplane. One of 206’s aircraft was the first RAF plane to engage and hit a U Boat, although the latter probably survived due to the ineffectiveness of the 100-lb anti-submarine bombs. Hudsons began to arrive in March 1940 and the Ansons had gone by June. The Hudsons continued to be operated from St Eval (July 1941) Aldergrove (August 1941) and Benbecula (July 1942). Whilst nominally stationed at these locations, the squadron operated detachments from a variety of other stations around the UK.

By 1942 the Hudsons were being replaced by the Boeing Fortress II and IIA however one of the last tasks for the Hudsons was to take part in the '1,000 Bomber Raids' over Germany (see the link '1942 - Part I' on the left hand side). The arrival of the first Boeing Fortress IIA's in July 1942 marked a big leap in capability. The first operational mission with these was flown on 19 September 1942 following 18 non-operational days. A number of U-boats were sighted and attacked and six were sunk by mid June 1943. The Fortress II's and IIA's provided the facility to cover a much greater area than had been previously available, carrying a far greater war load. In October 1943 the squadron moved to Lagens in the Azores to cover what had become known as 'The Atlantic Gap', providing convoy protection.

A section was detached to West Africa for anti-submarine and convoy patrols, becoming No.200 Squadron. This new unit was formed in May 1941 from a section of No. 206 Squadron RAF, at Bircham Newton in Norfolk, operating Lockheed Hudson bombers. That June, it deployed to Gibraltar and then the Gambia, where it flew convoy protection missions out of Jeswang, moving to Yundum in 1943 and re-equipping with Liberator VI bombers.

In March 1944 (April 1944) No.206 Squadron returned to the UK where it converted to the Liberator. It operated these over the Channel and Bay of Biscay to prevent U-boats attacking the invasion forces. With radar and Leigh Lights the Liberators were able to conduct successful night sorties using radar against the German U-Boats. One of the Squadron’s medical officers from this time, Ian Donald, subsequently used his observations of the development of radar and sonobuoys for anti-submarine warfare, to pioneer the diagnostic use of ultrasound in medicine.

With the invasion over it moved to Scotland from where it operated over Norwegian waters for the remainder of the war. By the end of the war 206 Squadron had destroyed a total of 10 and assisted in the destruction of a further 2 U-Boats. 206 Squadron personnel had received 37 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 13 Distinguished Flying medals, sadly the Squadron had also lost a total of 274 personnel.

With the end of the war in Europe, 206 was transferred to Transport Command in June 1945 undertaking training flights to and from India prior to beginning operations in October, tasked with the transport of freight to India and then returning home ex-POW's from the Far East until 206 was disbanded on 25 April 1946.

It was reformed on 17 November 1947 as a transport unit equipped with Yorks. It used these during the Berlin Airlift operating from Wunstorf until 1949 when it transferred to overseas scheduled flights. The squadron disbanded once again on 20 February 1950 at Lyneham.

206 reformed on 27 September 1953 at St Eval (‘in 1952’) with Avro Shackletons. Initially equipped with the Mk 1A, these were replaced by Mk 2s in February 1953 and Mk 3s in January 1958, when 206 moved to nearby St Mawgan. The squadron moved to Kinloss in July 1965 and was equipped with Nimrod MR.Mk 1s in November 1970. These began to be replaced by the Mk 2 in February 1980 and the squadron was fully equipped by February 1981. The Squadron was awarded the Battle Honours South Atlantic, 1982, Gulf, 1991 and Iraq 2003 during the Nimrod era.

The squadron disbanded in April 2005, the members of 206 squadron being told the news while on active duty in Iraq.

Group Captain Chris Birks, station commander at Kinloss, said that he was sorry to lose a squadron which he described as "one of the finest in the RAF".

"Having served on the squadron myself, I know how deeply the squadron members will feel," he said. "However, throughout the RAF's long history squadrons have disbanded and reformed……”

No future?
And it should reform, as it is the most suitable numberplate for the RAF’s C2ISTAR OEU at Waddington. Perhaps one of its old boys could help?

Which old boy?

Air Vice Marshal Stu Butler, whose crew was one of the 206 Squadron crews to participate in the Falkland Islands War.

Butler joined the RAF in August 1974 and was commissioned in December 1974. Following flying training he joined 206 Squadron at Kinloss, Scotland as a pilot on the Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft. On leaving Kinloss, he qualified as a flying instructor on the Jet Provost Mk5 at RAF Cranwell; Basic Flying Training School. Promoted to squadron leader in mid tour, he remained at Cranwell as Officer Commanding 1 Squadron and later as the Deputy Chief Flying Instructor.

A ground tour followed as the Nimrod pilot and air engineer specialist on the 18 Group Air Staff at Northwood. He was then posted to the Air Headquarters at Riyadh during the build up of the Gulf War. On returning from Saudi Arabia, he attended the Royal Navy Advanced Staff course at Greenwich and was promoted to wing commander in January 1992. He was then posted to the Ministry of Defence as Air Plans (Maritime Patrol and Helicopters) before becoming Officer Commanding 206 Squadron in July 1994.

In January 1997 he was promoted to group captain prior to attending the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies. He graduated as a Fellow of the College in December 1997 and was appointed as Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Kinloss in August 1998. On completion of his command tour he was appointed as Deputy Director Equipment Capability (Underwater Battlespace) in the Ministry of Defence. Promoted to Air Commodore in Dec 2002, he undertook the Higher Command and Staff Course prior to commencing an appointment as HQ 3 Group, Air Officer Intelligence, surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR). In April 2005 he returned to the Ministry of Defence as Director Equipment Capability (ISTAR). On promotion to Air Vice-Marshal in April 2006 he became Capability Manager (Information Superiority).

So come on sir, you know it makes sense!

And many congratulations to 120.....

[Al R]

Perhaps a round of golf or a whiskey tour.

Not wanting to be a pedant and spoil a great sounding weekend, but if you do the trail and ask for a 'whiskey', you're likely to get shown the door and put on the ferry..

[Rossian]

Jacko

I think you'll find that OC Butler will be concentrating on writing his CV at the moment. Your suggestion would however be a nice touch.

The Ancient Mariner

[nav attacking]

Jacko

This thread is not one which should be hijacked as yet another slagging off or point scoring against others. This is a genuine invite to what should be a damn good squadron reunion.

If 206 where around still then I am sure those of us on CXX would support their reunion as best we could.

If you want to carry on the slagging off then please come along and keep up the banter at the dining in night. Lets see what response you get there from the rest present. Basically put your balls on the line or shut up! No cheap shots please.

CXX deserves its place in history.

[Jackonicko]

I wish all members of CXX (past and present) a happy celebration.

They have an undeniably proud history (as do a host of existing and recently disbanded units), and deserve (and have) my respect and thanks.

But that doesn't alter the fact that a squadron with an even prouder history was chopped (in my view wrongly) when the Nimrod force went from three to two squadrons.

And there do seem to be a couple of units with 'vacant' numberplates....

[Biggus]

Jacko,

At home on a Sunday morning, so working from memory, but here we go....

An RAF Sqn generally has to be in existence for 25 years before it is presented with a standard. That 'rule' has been broken on only 2 occasions. One was 617 Sqn, in recognition of its efforts on the Dam raids and other specialist missions in WW2. The second was CXX Sqn in recognition of its contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic. This is where you get your.....'seems to be the basis of the claim that 120 was some kind of Coastal equivalent to 617' comment - a grain of truth in your arguement, but not factually correct (you have no idea how tempting it is to make a comment about journalists!!).

You may well disagree that CXX should have been awarded its standard early, but in doing so you will be disagreeing with the (presumably) Air Ministry decision of the time. Rightly or wrongly that decision was made, and as a result CXX has a history that makes it more immune from closure than some other proud and distinguished Sqns.

206 has gone, like it or not you have to accept it (just as WEBF has to get over the loss of the SHAR). When 206 folded many of its personnel transferred to 120, some of whom are still there. For what it is worth, the crew involved in the tragic loss of XV230, was largely an ex-206 Sqn crew. The ever shrinking Nimrod fleet is a pretty close knit band of brothers, and anyone who has been on the fleet for any length of time will have served on most of the Sqns, including 206. Just let them celebrate the continued existence of at least one maritime (sorry - ISTAR) Sqn.

[Jackonicko]

I do congratulate them, as I said.

AND I got the thread back onto the first page......

[Duncan D'Sorderlee]

Well done, and congratulations, to all members, past and present, of 'Big Badge' Sqn. Have fun on your 90th anniversary.

Dunc

PS Nihil Nos Effugit

[JimNich]

CXX, was that the one I was on?:eek:

[circle kay]

JimNich,

Can't recall you having any badges big or otherwise. But if you looked up when you went through the front door on the way to the Tea Bar it said that, (most of the time:) ).

[ReneL]

Hi,

Good luck with your reunion! I used to run a hotel in Forres near Kinloss and have hosted many ex-Raf guys visiting Kinloss for a reunion. I also know that accommodation is sometimes hard to find. If anyone needs any help finding accommodation please let me know. I still work in Tourism in the area and have lots of contacts that can help you finding accommodation, all for free!

Don't hesitate to contact me, happy to help (ex) RAF personnel!

Rene

[Seymour Belvoir]

Jim,

I think we were on the same crew, many, many tours ago.:ok:

[Shack37]

Nihil Nos Effugit................ I always thought that was an odd name for an octopus.
Wise Without Eyes anyone?

Congratulations CXX, 10 more for the telegram from betty?

[Rossian]

White Falcon
Apologies for a slight thread hijack - but I will be at the reunion.

Back in the days when Sqn COs had Minis the motto under the badge on the 206 mini was

"What a gripper!"

Back on thread - back on track to the top.
The Ancient Mariner

[anti col]

jacko

Let it go dude, you just sound bitter

and you're boring

[difar69]

Jacko,

Awfully bad form dear chap, by all means have a rant but you should have started your own thread:mad:. Can we just let the Sqn guys get the invite out there and organise CXXs bash without some campaign being mentioned?.....the peeps at Kinloss have had their fair share of "expert" input on this forum for the last year or so, lets just leave them to organise a bit of well deserved fun.

[thunderbird7]

Will the Grand Master be present with his 'special' Beechgrove Garden sign?

Under the gaze of the all seeing eye...

[pipistrelle]

jacko, all three squadrons at KS were great places to be part of, and inter squadron rivalry was always part of life at KS (just ask the engineers) but your petty,small minded dig at CXX reminded me why left the RAF ... grow up and please don't spoil the reunion by attending

[JimNich]

CircleKay

That explains everything. As you well know I always used the tradesman's entrance. :}

Seymour. You have the better of me. In any case, if it was me, hope I never tried to set light to you or throw you into any harbours or anything else that seemed to posses me in the small hours in some godforsaken bar where we weren't allowed to be (No Drinking within 50 Ft and No Smoking within 8 Hours). :O