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History

Motto: "Semper Aggressus" (Always having attacked)
Badge: A falcon in a red eagle‘s talons
 

No. 23 Squadron formed at Fort Grange, Gosport on 1 Sep 1915 under the command of one of the RAF's most experienced operational pilots - Captain Louis Strange. After a brief period attempting to counter German airship flights over London, the Squadron moved to France with its FE2Bs initially employed on escort duties. By early 1917, Spad single-seaters had arrived, and were being used on offensive patrols. By the end of the War, the Squadron had converted to Dolphins, and flew these until disbanded at the end of 1919.

On 1 July 1925, No. 23 Squadron reformed at Henlow with Snipes, but these were replaced shortly after with Gloster Gamecocks. In 1931, the Squadron was tasked with carrying out trials on the new Hawker Hart two-seaters, taking the production version, known as Demons, on strength in 1933. It wasn't until late 1938 that the squadron received its first monoplanes in the form of Blenheims.

In the early years of the Second World War, the Squadron undertook shipping protection and intruder missions over France, flying the twin-engined Bristol Blenheim.  In March 1941, US-manufactured Douglas Havocs arrived and were quickly supplemented by Bostons from the same stable.  The Squadron converted to Mosquito IIs in July 1942 and moved to RAF Luqa, Malta, from where the Squadron flew long-range intruder missions to targets in Sicily, Italy, Tunisia and southern France.  Later, conversion to the Mosquito VI coincided with a transfer to the newly formed 100 Group, Bomber Command, and a move to RAF Little Snoring in Norfolk followed in June 1944.  Thereafter, the pattern of bomber escort and night interdiction missions continued until the end of the war and the Squadron disbanded in September 1945.

(Source and (c): Royal Air Force and 23 Sqn website)

RAF Squadron crest © Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

Relevant Websites

http://23-squadron.co.uk

Casualties of the squadron, buried in the Netherlands.

Number of known casualties:

(this list was compiled with the help of Geoff's Search Engine is an excellent tool to help you search through the CWGC database)