No. 72 Squadron RAF

No. 72 Squadron Royal Air Force started its service life supporting the army during World War I on operations in Middle East and afterwards was quickly disbanded. In its second incarnation the squadron was a real fighter unit, transitioning from Gloster Gladiator biplanes to Gloster Javelin all-weather jets, in between flying the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. The jets went in 1961 and from then till 2002 the squadron flew helicopters in the transport role. No. 72 (Reserve) Squadron Royal Air Force is currently a training reserve squadron based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse using the Short Tucano T.1, a modified version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB-312 Tucano training aircraft.

The squadron nickname, "Basutoland", is derived from the fact that during both world wars, the Basutoland Protectorare, now Lesotho, donated aircraft to RAF, which were assigned to No. 72 Squadron.

First World War
No. 72 Squadron was formed on 28 June 1917 at Upavon. On Christmas Day, the squadron left for the Middle East and regrouped at Basra on 2 March. Here, they split in three flights, each assisting the Army in their various missions, and were disbanded in Baghdad on 22 September 1919.

Second World War
No. 72 Squadron was reformed at RAF Tangmere on 22 February 1937 from 'B' flight of No. 1 Squadron. In 1939, the squadron was outfitted with Spitfires which replaced the Gloster Gladiators that came with the flight from No. 1 Squadron. These were used in Air defence and convoy protection duties following the start of World War II. Then, in 1940, the squadron moved to assist in the evacuation of Dunkirk.

During the Battle of Britain, No 72 spent the early days at RAF Acklington as part of No. 13 Group RAF, before moving south during September to aid the main defence force. The squadron was then moved to North Africa to support the Tunisian campaign before being supplied with the updated Spitfire Mk.IX in 1942. They then assisted the British 8th Army as they advanced through Italy and France up until the German surrender. At this point they were moved to Austria. It was here they were disbanded on 30 December 1946 at Zeltweg.

Post war jets
The squadron was reformed on 1 February 1947 at RAF Odiham by renumbering No. 130 Squadron RAF. They took over 130 squadrons Vampire F.1s, making no haste to remove that units 'AP' code The Vampire soldiered on for three versions until it gave way to the Meteor F.8 in 1952, and when the squadron was given a night-fighter role in February 1956 these were replaced with Meteor NF.12s and Meteor NF.14. In 1959 the squadron got the all-weather fighter role and was given Javelin FAW.4s and later Javelin FAW.5s. These were flown until the Squadron was disbanded at RAF Leconfield on 30 June 1961.

Helicopters
On 15 November 1961 No. 72 squadron was reformed at RAF Odiham, but now as a helicopter unit. They were equipped with twin-rotor Belvederes HC.1s until the Wessex HC.2 replaced these aircraft in August 1964. For the next thirty-eight years they continued to use these aircraft and in that time the Squadron saw action in Malaya, provided post-disaster assistance following the Torrey Canyon tanker disaster in 1967 and supported the security forces in Northern Ireland from 1969. From January 1997 the Wessex was partly supplanted with the more modern Westland Puma. The Squadron was disbanded in April 2002 at RAF Aldergrove and the Wessex helicopters were retired from service.

Training
On 12 July 2002 No. 1 Flying Training School divided its strength between two new reserve Squadrons, one of which was No 72, reformed as No. 72 (Reserve) Squadron operating the Short Tucano at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Legacy
The squadron also had an Air Training Corps squadron named after it which is situated in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. 72 Squadron's relationship with Northern Ireland and the young people living there was honoured upon their departure there when Air Cadets in the newly formed Omagh Squadron chose 72 as their Squadron Number. Many young people in Northern Ireland enjoyed a warm welcome, and hours in the air with 72 Squadron.