Motto:
"Tertius primus erit" - The third shall be the first. This is a
reference to the fact that No 3 Squadron, RFC, was the first to be
equipped with heavier-than-air machines.
Badge: On a monolith, a cockatrice - approved by King
George VI in September 1937. The cockatrice was chosen because in
mythology it was the first creature to fly.
History
No. 3 Squadron was one
of the founding squadrons of the Royal Flying Corp in 1912. By 1939, it
was a fighter squadron equipped with the Hawker Hurricane. Over the
winter and spring of 1939-40 it was retained the Great Britain, but when
the great German offensive began on 10 May 1940, No. 3 Squadron was one
of several extra units rushed to France. Ten days later the squadron was
back in the U.K., having lost almost its entire strength during the
collapse.
Once back in Britain,
the squadron was sent to Scotland to re-equip and regroup. On 21 July
1940 "B" flight of No. 3 Squadron was detached to form the nucleous of
No. 232 Squadron. Once back at strength, No. 3 Squadron was used to
guard the great Naval base at Scapa Flow, remaining in Scotland until
April 1941.
In that month the
squadron moved back south, beginning two years of night fighter duties.
Single engined fighters were not really suited to the night fighter
role, lacking the space for the AI radar or the endurance to carry out
lengthy patrols. Even so, No. 3 Squadron remained on this duty until
June 1943, when as a Typhoon squadron it went onto the offensive,
attacking enemy shipping and flying day and night intruder missions over
France and the Low Countries.
June-September 1944
saw the squadron diverted to defensive operations against the V-1 Flying
Bomb, having recently recieved the Hawker Tempest. At the end of the V-1
offensive, the squadron moved to the continent, joining the 2nd Tactical
Air Force and carrying out fighter-bomber sweeps behind enemy lines for
the rest of the war (this duty was known as "armed reconnaissance", with
the emphasis on the "armed").
(©
www.raf.mod.uk and
Rickard, J (24 April 2007), No.
3 Squadron (RAF): Second World War)
RAF Squadron crest
© Crown Copyright is reproduced with the
permission of the Controller of Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office
Casualties of the squadron, buried
in the Netherlands.
Number of known casualties:
5
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