No. 12 Squadron RAF

Brief History

One of the original WW 1 Squadrons, it reformed at RAF Northholt on 1 Apr 1923 and was active through most of the inter war years. On Day 1 of WW 2 it moved to France, equipped with Fairey Battle aircraft, returning to England in June having suffered very heavy casualties. Refurbished with Battle it was based at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire in July 1940 carrying out bombing missions over occupied Europe until it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington medium bombers in November 1940, before moving to RAF Wickenby in 1942 where it converted to Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. 102 Australian personnel lost their lives while serving with No. 12 Squadron RAF.

The squadron has remained active since WW 2, operating a range of jet aircraft, currently the Eurofighter Typhoons. It served during both the 1991 and 1998 Gulf/Iraq wars and in Afghanistan during 2009.

Squadron personnel

• † Leslie John (Jock) Powell DFC 17 Aug 1942 - 13 Mar 1943

Battle Honours

• Western Front 1915-1918
• Loos
• Somme 1916
• Arras
• Cambrai 1917
• Somme 1918
• Hindenburg Line
• France and Low Countries 1939-1940
• Meuse Bridges
• Fortress Europe 1940-1944
• German Ports 1941-1945
• Biscay Ports 1940-1945
• Berlin 1941-1945
• Ruhr 1941-1945
• France and Germany 1944-1945
• Rhine

Individual Honours (Australian personnel)

• 24 x Distinguished Flying Cross
• 12 x Distinguished Flying Medal