No. 27 Squadron RAF

No. 27 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC2 from RAF Odiham.

The Great War
27 Squadron formed at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on 5 November 1915, soon being equipped with Martinsyde Elephant fighter aircraft, hence the use of an elephant for the squadron badge. It transferred to France early in 1916, but although initially using their aircraft as escort fighters, by the time the Battle of the Somme began, it was clear that the Elephant was unsuitable as a fighter, and the Squadron switched to a bomber-reconnaissance role, taking advantage of the Martinsyde's good range and load carrying capacity,carrying out its first bombing mission on 1 July 1916.

It re-equipped with Airco DH.4s, which carried twice the bombload of the Martinsyde at greater speed and height, while carrying a gunner to defend against enemy fighters, from between September and November 1917, flying missions in support of the British offensive at Cambrai, and low level missions against the attacking German troops during the Spring Offensive of 1918. It started to receive DH.9 bombers in July 1918, but as these proved to be inferior to the DH.4, managed to keep some of its DH.4s until the end of the war. The squadron was disbanded on 22 January 1920.

Inter-war period
On 1 April 1920, No. 27 was reformed by re-numbering No. 99 Squadron RAF then in India, flying Airco DH.9A light bombers from Risalpur over the North-West Frontier. These aircraft were eventually replaced by Westland Wapitis in 1928, when the squadron moved to Kohat. In October 1939, the squadron became a flying training school, operating de Havilland Tiger Moth and Hawker Hart biplanes as well as Wapitis, but was re-equipped with Bristol Blenheim bombers by the end of 1940.

War in the East
It was based in Malaya when the Japanese invaded, using its Blenheims as long range fighters, but quickly received heavy losses and was effectively wiped out as a fighting unit by early 1942.

A new No. 27 Squadron was formed in India on 19 September 1942, receiving Bristol Beaufighters, using them for ground-attack missions over Burma and anti-shipping strikes. In April 1943, the squadron received a number of de Havilland Mosquitoes for evaluation, and a flight was re-equipped with Mosquitoes in December that year. The glue-and-plywood construction of the otherwise excellent Mosquito proved to be less than optimal for tropical Burma, and the operations where plagued by technical problems. They eventually relinquished the Mosquitoes to No. 680 Squadron RAF, retaining the Beaufighters and continuing the Squadrons diet of ground attack and anti-shipping strikes,switching to air-jungle rescue in April 1945.

Following the Japanese surrender, it was deployed to Batavia during the Indonesian War of Independence, being disbanded on 1 February 1946.

Post-war service
On 24 November 1947, the squadron reformed at RAF Oakington as a Transport unit equipped with Douglas Dakota transports. It flew both routine scheduled transport routes and trained in glider towing, and took part in the Berlin Airlift in 1948–49. It was disbanded on 10 November 1950.

On 15 June 1953, No. 27 Squadron reformed at RAF Scampton as part of RAF Bomber Command, with Canberra bombers. It took part in the Suez Crisis in 1956, and was disbanded at RAF Waddington on 31 December 1957.

In April 1961, the squadron reformed at RAF Scampton as the first squadron to be equipped with the Avro Vulcan B2 V bomber and formed part of the UK nuclear deterrent strike force. The squadron's Vulcans were equipped with the Blue Steel one megaton stand-off bomb until 1969 when their eight aircraft were each re-equipped with a WE.177B laydown bomb of 450 kt yield. The squadron's role assigned to SACEUR in a low-level penetration role was tactical support for ground forces resisting a Soviet land attack into Western Europe by striking targets assigned by SACEUR, beyond the forward edge of the battlefield, and deep into enemy-held areas. By the end of 1971 the squadron had relinquished its nuclear delivery role, and stood down until in December 1973 it was reformed at RAF Scampton with the Vulcan B2 to operate in the Maritime Radar Reconnaissance role assigned to SACLANT. The squadron disbanded again at Scampton in 1982.

The squadron reformed again at RAF Marham in 1983 with twelve Tornado GR1 aircraft and eighteen WE.177 nuclear bombs, and once again assigned to SACEUR in 1984, the squadron's role was low-level penetration tactical support for ground forces resisting a Soviet land attack into Western Europe by striking targets beyond the forward edge of the battlefield. The squadron's allocation of eighteen WE.177 weapons was because of the greater carrying capacity of the Tornado, which could carry two weapons. The apparent mismatch between twelve Tornado aircraft and eighteen nuclear weapons was because RAF staff planners expected up to one third attrition of aircraft in the conventional phase, with sufficient aircraft held back in reserve to deliver the squadron's full stock of nuclear weapons if the conflict escalated to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

In 1993 the squadron disbanded and immediately reformed as No. 12 Squadron RAF which had just disbanded at RAF Marham.

Helicopters
As No. 27 Squadron disbanded, and reformed with its existing Tornado aircraft as No. 12 Squadron, a new squadron was reformed immediately from 240 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at RAF Odiham as No. 27 (Reserve) Squadron to be the Chinook/Puma Operational Conversion Unit. It regained full squadron status in January 1998 equipped with Chinooks only. In 2002 the squadron's Chinooks saw service in Afghanistan as they transported Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade for Operation Jacana. They also served in a transport role during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was stationed at Basra as part of No. 1310 Flight RAF, supporting Operation Telic. It moved to Afghanistan for Operation Herrick after that.

Today the squadron operates 18 Chinooks. The Chinook HC2, equivalent to the US Army CH-47D standard, began to enter RAF service in 1993.

In July 2006, 3 Chinook helicopters of No.27 Squadron deployed to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon. The squadron also flew the EU foreign affairs representative Javier Solana to Beirut at the start of the crisis.

In October, BBC1 showed a documentary focusing on 27 Squadron's duties in Afghanistan. It was widely applauded by critics and soldiers alike.

Cultural References
In 2007, Olly Lambert made a documentary for the BBC about a two month deployment of 27 Squadron in Helmand, Afghanistan. It documented the daily routines and work of the squadron personnel on duty during Operation Herrick. Named "Above Enemy Lines", it was first screened on BBC One on 9 October 2007, and was noted for its graphic portrayal of the evacuation and loss of Private Christopher Gray, fatally shot in an ambush in Now Zad on 13 April 2007.