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In
April, 1928, No. 8 Squadron was posted to Aden to
cooperate in the defence and pacification of the
territory, which had been placed under Air Control
earlier in the same year. During the remainder of the
inter-war years, the Squadron, based at Aden,
continuously, carried out varied and valuable work
against troublesome local tribes.
The outbreak of war found No. 8 Squadron still at Aden,
partially re-equipped with Blenheim aircraft, with
routine coastal reconnaissance flights and
anti-submarine patrols as its main duties, broken by
occasional punitive operations against local tribes for
such offences as caravan looting or firing on British
aircraft.
During
the East African Campaign of 1940/1941, the Squadron was
in continuous action against the Italians, and besides
operating in close support of the land forces, made a
very valuable series of bombing raids on enemy troop
concentrations and lines of communication, particularly
in the Assab area.
In
April, 1941, with the campaign in British Somaliland at
a successful conclusion, organised fighting in Abyssinia
had moved beyond the Squadron's range, although Assab
itself was not occupied by our forces until llth June.
The fall of the last Red Sea port in enemy hands brought
a close to the Squadron's activities in the campaign,
during which it had flown over 800 sorties involving
nearly 3,000 operational flying hours.
No. 8
Squadron, re-organised with one flight of Blenheims and
one of Vincents, was then called upon to undertake
police patrol and communication work in the Aden
Protectorate as well as in Somaliland, Eritrea and
Abyssinia.
The Squadron's duties for the next months,
during which period the Vincents were superseded by
Blenheims, consisted almost entirely of armed
reconnaissance flights over the Djibouti area for the
purpose of observing the movements of Vichy French
Submarines, and there are no outstanding incidents to
record. In August, 1942, the presence of hostile
submarines in the Gulf of Aden necessitated a continuous
patrol over shipping and by the following month,
organised patrols by detachments of the Squadron
operating from advanced landing grounds at Bandar Kassim,
Riyan, Salalah and Scuiscuiban were instituted.
In spite
of incessant patrols, very few submarines were sighted,
and no claims were made, although in July, 1943, one at
least was very seriously damaged.
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In May
1944, No. 8 Squadron took part in an action which led to
the destruction of a submarine and the capture of its
crew. During the following year, the Squadron carried on
with its uneventful duties of convoy patrols, and
anti-submarine and shipping sweeps. The extremely small
number of ships lost in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden
is an excellent testimony to the deterrent effect upon
the enemy of No. 8 Squadron's patrols, and it played an
important part in securing the safety of the lines of
communication to India and the Far East.
On 15th
May 1945, No. 8 Squadron was disbanded, but its number
plate was transferred to No. 200 (Liberator) Squadron,
at that time stationed at Minneriya, Ceylon. Thus, No. 8
Squadron continued its career as a Special Duty Unit,
the primary task being supply dropping to clandestine
agents in Malaya and Sumatra. Previously, No. 200
Squadron had been operating in a similar role over
Burma, Siam and French Indo-China.
No. 8
Squadron was disbanded in November, 1945, but its
association with Aden was revived on 1st September,
1946, when No. 114 Squadron, located at Khormaksar, was
re-numbered No. 8.
During
the post war years the Squadron has been frequently
employed in operations designed to maintain the peace
between the tribesmen of the Yemen and the adjoining
territories. The Squadron was temporarily based in
Cyprus during the 1956 Suez Operations, in which its
role was one of ground attack.
Once
more based at Khormaksar, Aden, No. 8 Squadron's
aircraft were back in their original role of the
defence and policing of the Protectorate, carrying out
assigned tasks in the interest of law, order and
well-being throughout the area. The Squadron changed
from Venoms to Hunter F.G.A. 9 aircraft in January/
February, 1960, and were declared operational on this
type by the A.O.C. Air Vice-Marshal David Lee on 8th
March, 1960.
From 8th
March, 1960, to 15th February, 1962, the Squadron
operated with Hunter F. (G.A.) 9 aircraft in the
Protectorate policing role. On 16th February, 1962, a
Fighter Reconnaissance role was added to the squadron's
task and for this purpose, Hunter F.R. 10 aircraft were
added to the establishment. The Squadron continued in
this dual role until 2nd March, 1963, when No. 1417
Fighter Reconnaissance Flight was formed, incorporating
the squadron's F.R. 10 aircraft. |
