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Aircraft Flown Over The History of RAF74Famous pilots and their aircraft associated with the squadron:
Famous Moments from the moviesBattle of Britain (Movie 1969) Sailor Malan"DON'T THINK! Don't just glance! LOOK! Search for the bastards! OK, let's try it again" "How many times do i have to tell you. Dont fly straight and level in the combat zone for more then 30 seconds. "
For the six months following its formation at London Colney on 1 July 1917, Number 74 Squadron was a training unit flying Avro 504Ks before commencing work-up as a fighter squadron with SE5As prior to moving to France in March 1918. After a short spell with the Army of Occupation, the Squadron returned to the UK in February 1919 and disbanded the following July. The Squadron was reformed in unusual circumstances on 3 September 1935 when separate detachments from Nos 3, 23, 32, 56, 65 and 601 Squadrons en-route to Malta aboard the troopship Neuralia where combined to form No 74 Squadron. Ten months later, the unit and its Demons returned to the UK to form part of the newly created Fighter Command and re-equipped with Gauntlets. In February 1939, the Squadron began converting to Spitfires and these were used to carry out defensive patrols over southern England following the declaration of War in September and later the unit joined the air battles over Dunkirk as the British forces were forced to evacuate from France. No 74 was part of No 12 Group during the Battle of Britain and these battles extracted a heavy toll on both pilots and aircraft, and the Squadron was sent North to regroup. Shortly after moving to the Middle East in April 1942, the Squadron received Hurricanes and these were employed on shipping patrols, before the unit reverted to Spitfires 6 months later. No 74 returned home just in time to take part in the D-Day landings in June 1944, using its aircraft as fighter-bombers supporting the Allied liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. May 1945 saw the arrival of jet aircraft in the shape of the Meteor F3 and these survived until 1957 when Hunters replaced them. Following a move to Coltishall, the unit began working-up on the Lightning and these classic aircraft remained with the Squadron until disbanded on 31 August 1970, by which time the Squadron was based in Singapore. Despite many rumours, No 74 was not reformed until 1984, remarkably with Phantoms, albeit the hybrid F4J(UK), and these were amongst the last of this classic aircraft to fly in RAF service until retirement in October 1992 and the numberplate passed on to one of the Hawk training squadrons at RAF Valley.
Royal Aircraft Factory SE 5a of 74 Squadron. First World WarThe squadron was first formed at London Colney on 1 July 1917. No 74 Squadron was a training unit flying Avro 504Ks. Its first proper fighters were S.E.5As in March 1918. The squadron served in France from April until February 1919, when it returned to Britain where it was disbanded on July 3 1919.
During the Abyssinia crisis, 74 Squadron's Malta-based Hawker Demons were hastily camouflaged in this unusual scheme. The port side pattern shown is conjectural, being extrapolated from a starboard view. Interwar yearsDuring the Abyssian crisis of 1935 the squadron was reformed in September to operate out of Malta with Hawker Demon two-seater fighters. In July the following year, the Squadron, with its Demons, was shipped back to England. It re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets in April 1937 at Hornchurch, and formed part of the newly created Fighter Command. The Gauntlets were exchanged for the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I in Feb 1939.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk I in 74 Squadron markings. World War IIThe Squadron, which was now part of No 12 Group, first saw combat during the evacuation from Dunkirk. These battles extracted a heavy toll on both pilots and aircraft. Thereafter they served successfully through the Battle of Britain Mark Is were replaced with Mk.IIA Spitfires in September 1940 at RAF Coltishall. The squadron moved back south to RAF Biggin Hill in October for the end of the Battle of Britain. The Squadron went to the north of England in July 1941 to regroup, from there moving around to stations in Wales and Northern Ireland until it was sent, without aircraft, to the Middle East in April 1942. Shortly after moving to the Middle East in April 1942. In June they arrived in Egypt. The squadron was moved to Palestine to operate as a maintenance unit for USAAF B-24 Liberators. The squadron received aircraft, Hurrricane IIBs in December 1942 and served in Iran until May 1943, moving back to Egypt for shipping patrols and conversion to Spitfire Mk.VB and Mk. VC in September 1943. In late October 1943 the squadron got Mk.IX Spitfires, which were swapped for Mk. XVIs in March. No 74 returned home just in time to take part in the D-Day landings in June 1944, using its aircraft as fighter-bombers supporting the Allied liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron received Gauntlets in April 1937 and kept them until February 1939 when it re-equipped with Spitfire I's, remaining at Hornchurch in Essex not far to the east of London throughout the entire period.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I What a change from the pretty colours of the Gauntlet! Here's one of 74's early Mk.I Spitfires with the pre-war code letters JH and pre-war style camouflage and markings. The roundels on the tops of the wings were also red/blue over the Dark Green/Dark Earth camouflage. Code letters are light grey (that was not an official standard colour and varied a lot between the various Squadrons, being simply mixed from black or grey and white). The undersurfaces are still in the original silver (aluminium doped) finish on the right side, and black on the left side with the dividing line straight down the middle of the fuselage, and red/white/blue roundels under both wings. All the serial numbers have been painted over.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I Another Spitfire Mk.I, but this one as they appeared early in the war. The most obvious change is to the code letters adopted on the outbreak of war: ZP. Secondly the reinstatement of the white in the fuselage roundel, but deletion of the underwing roundels. This aircraft has the proper black and white undersurfaces, divided down the centre of the fuselage yet again, the uppersurfaces remaining as before in Dark Earth/Dark Green. The serial number is still painted over. The Squadron remained at Hornchurch until 27 May 1940, when it was sent up to Leconfield in Yorkshire for one week's break, returning to Essex at Rochford (Southend) near the Thames estuary on 6 June. Note that both this and the earlier Spit have the early type thin radio aerial mast and wire aerial attached.
Yet another different Mk.I Spitfire of 74 Squadron. This shows the colours used later in 1940, covering the period from the Battle of France until August when the undersides of fighters were changed to the Sky colour during the Battle of Britain. The fighter has the same basic camouflage scheme of Dark Earth/Dark Green upper surfaces with the black/white undersides, but the much modified fuselage roundel now has the yellow ring added (thinner than officially specified), and also the addition of the fin stripes. By this time, as can be seen, the serial numbers had been put back on. The radio aerials remain the same as before but note the addition of the armoured glass windscreen on the cockpit canopy. 74 saw its first action of the war in May 1940 helping the hard-pressed squadrons in France with patrols over that country during which five pilots were lost in one week. The unit continued flying Mk.I Spitfires until September 1940, being heavily involved in the Battle of Britain during June and July especially.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IIA Here is the Mk.IIA Spitfire with which 74 Squadron was re-equipped in September 1940 at Coltishall, before moving back south again to Biggin Hill in October for the closing stages of the Battle of Britain. The Squadron destroyed 38 enemy aircraft in November/December 1940, moved to Manston in February 1941 and to Gravesend in May where it received Mk.VB Spits armed with 20 mm cannon, but moved to Acklington in the far north of England in July 1941 where it reverted to the Mk.IIA Spits until January 1942. The colour scheme on this a/c is that used by RAF fighters in the winter of 1940/41 - still the standard Dark Earth/Dark Green upper surfaces but with Sky spinner and 18 inch fuselage band; the fuselage roundel is of the standard type adopted for Spitfires until summer 1942. The black undersurface to the left wing was only used through these winter months, before reverting back to the all Sky undersides introduced first in August 1940. The serial is in the standard 8 inch high characters and the codes are Medium Sea Grey. Only the roundel on the black wing has the yellow outline, the other side being the standard red/white/blue. Upper wing roundels are, of course, simply red/blue. Note the different radio aerial, first introduced on Mk.I's during the Battle of Britain (in particular no wire to the tail). The cockpit canopy has the armoured screen and rear view mirror as standard. The eight machine gun ports have canvas patches over them fixed on with red primer dope in order to keep dust out of the guns - these were obviously shot through when the guns were fired. For those modellers interested, the only definite external difference (besides serial number) between Mk.I and Mk.II Spitfire is that the latter has a small bulged fairing below the exhausts on the right side, As a final note on 74 Squadron in this period, it was commanded from August 1940 to March 1941 by the famous South African ace, Squadron Leader Adolph Gysbert "Sailor" Malan, DFC.
Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIB As said 74 Squadron went to the far north of England (Acklington) in July 1941 where it reverted to Spitfire Mk.IIA's. It kept these for defensive duties at various locations in Wales and Northern Ireland until embarking for the Middle East in April 1942, arriving in Egypt in June but with no aircraft! Since it had no a/c it moved to Palestine (Ramat David) where it acted as a maintenance unit servicing USAAF B-24's - how bizarre for a top fighter squadron from the Battle of Britain! At last, in December 1942, they received Hurricane IIB's like the one shown in the profile, but only for service in Iran until May 1943 when they returned to Egypt for defensive patrols and conversion to Spitfire Mk.VB and VC in September 1943. Very little is known of the markings of these Hurricanes: they almost certainly never carried any Squadron code letters, but some probably did have individual aircraft letters (probably in white). They were painted in the standard desert finish of Mid Stone/Dark Earth camouflage on upper surfaces with Azure Blue undersides, and red spinner as standard to all Allied fighters in the Mid East. Note, of course, the tropical carburettor filter under the nose.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. VB In September 1943 74 Squadron went to Cyprus with its Spitfire V's in support of the abortive campaign to occupy certain of the Aegean Islands. In one notable incident on 29th September Flight Sergeant Wilson shot down a Ju 88 and caused two Me 109's to collide with each other. Like the previous Hurricane, this Spitfire is in the standard desert camouflage scheme; the only non-standard item is that the serial number is smaller than the usual specified 8 inches high, indicating that it has been repainted over the desert finish. The tropical filter under the nose certainly alters the look The unit returned to Egypt in late October 1943 to re-equip with Mk.IX Spitfires.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IXC Here is one of the Spitfire IXC's that 74 were re-equipped with in Egypt from October 1943 until April 1944 when they returned to the UK. Its colour scheme is just as that employed in Northern Europe; by this time there was no longer any need for desert camo in Egypt to be used as the war there was over. The scheme is Dark Green/Ocean Grey upper surface camouflage pattern with Medium Sea Grey undersides. Even the Sky spinner and band are retained, along with the individual a/c code letter (the Squadron still carried no code letters as identification). There are two slight differences from the standard scheme - it does not have the yellow wing leading edge; and the serial number has been repainted smaller so that it all fits on the Sky band.
Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXE This Spitfire is representative of the Mk.IXE version that 74 operated in 2nd Tactical Air Force after their return to the UK, from April 1944 to March 1945. They were naturally involved in the fighting leading up to the D-Day landings, the invasion itself, and all the way on into Germany in support of the 21st Army Group as fighter-bombers and bomber escorts. They first moved to Normandy (Sommervieu) in August 1944, advancing into the Netherlands during the winter campaign. As can be seen, the Squadron were allocated the code 4D on their return from the Middle East. By the date of this illustration 2nd TAF had removed the Sky spinners (black instead) and fuselage bands (overpainted with camo, hence the slightly darker shade of the fresh paint), and also the roundels were the same in all positions - i.e. with yellow outline and the addition of white on top of the wings. The bomb is Dark Green, which was (and still is) standard for British "live" bombs, the yellow ring around the front indicates High Explosive (HE) filling. The camouflage colours are identical to the previous Mk.IXC, but note the 6 inch yellow leading edge to the outer wing. The wings are of the 'clipped' variety without the elliptical tips - for the interest of modellers this was simply done by inserting a shaped wooden plug in place of the original tip. The 'E' wings were fitted with two 20mm Hispano cannon and two 0.5 inch Browning machine guns, the latter being inboard of the former and so hidden in side view.
Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIE This is the last Mark of Spitfire operated by 74 Squadron, the Mk.XVIE, which was a conversion of the Mk.IX fitted with the US built Packard Merlin engine. Although, apart from serial number, there is no definite external difference between the two marks (late Mk.IX's had the cut down rear fuselage, and early Mk.XVI's had the original type, and contrary to the belief of some authors they all had fixed tailwheels), the two Marks were not interchangeable simply by swapping over the engines. This was because the different engines had different electrical voltage systems and were slightly different in certain 74 Squadron replaced its Mk.IXE's with the XVI's in March 1945, advancing from the Netherlands into Germany with them, being based at Drope from 16th April to 11th May, so the aircraft depicted is as it was only a few days before the end of the European War. The field at Drope was quite unsuitable really, being too small and very waterlogged. The Squadron returned to the UK only 3 days after the end of the war and commenced re-equipment with Gloster Meteor III's immediately. The only colour difference between this a/c and the Mk.IXE above is that the Sky fuselage band is painted over on the underside with Ocean Grey rather than Medium Sea Grey. The only other external difference is the obvious cut down rear fuselage with 'tear drop' canopy and whip radio aerial. The Jet Age
Gloster Meteor F. Mk. III 74 Squadron was re-equipped as the RAF's third Meteor squadron in June 1945 at Colerne in Wiltshire and formed the first all jet fighter wing along with 616 and 504 Squadrons. As you can see the camouflage and markings are nearly the same as the wartime ones - Ocean Grey/Dark Green upper surfaces, Medium Sea Grey undersurfaces, 18 inch Sky fuselage band, and six inch leading edge to the outer wing panels. Obviously there was no Sky spinner on a jet! The two differences from wartime Fighter Command practice were the addition of underwing serial numbers and the reintroduction of the narrow white stripe in the upper wing roundels. The Mk.III Meteors were retained until March 1948, re-equipment with F.4's commencing in December 1947.
Gloster Meteor F. Mk. 4 The F.4 Meteor was operated by the Squadron from December 1947 to October 1950. This shows the period when Fighter Command aircraft reverted to all silver finish, which lasted from the late 1940's to c.1954 - a relatively short time. At first, as with this aircraft, the wartime style of roundels and fin flash were retained, only being replaced with the post-war style divided into three equal lots of one third in the much brighter shades of red and blue around 1949/50. Code letters were still retained at this time, the pre-war style of coloured markings only gradually reappearing at different times on different squadrons during the early 50's; indeed 74 Squadron continued with code letters for a time even when they first got the Mk.8 Meteors in October 1950. The major differences between the Mk.3 and Mk.4 Meteors were, of course, the much larger engine nacelles and the clipped wings of the 4. 74 spent all of their time with Mk.4's at Horsham St. Faith, where they had moved to in August 1946 with the Mk.3's (they spent a brief period at Lubeck, Germany, in July/August 1947).
Gloster Meteor F Mk 8 in 74 Squadron markings. Gloster Meteor F. Mk. 8 This Meteor 8 shows the return of the Tiger stripe markings on 74 Squadron's a/c. When first received in October 1950 code letters were still in use as they had been on the F.4's, and the 8's were also 'silver' all over, the correct official name for the colour was High Speed Silver which was actually a 50/50 mixture of aluminium and clear (transparent) cellulose dope paints. Post-war RAF silver aircraft were all painted with this finish and not in natural metal with the one exception of the Lightning. The best way I found to reproduce this finish on models is to airbrush firstly with aluminium paint and then with a coat of gloss varnish over the top. Anyway to get back to the Meteor 8's, the Tiger markings were introduced while the a/c were still in the silver colour, with black individual letters on the fins. These aircraft had the earlier type of cockpit canopy with the metal rear end. As I mentioned before, camouflage was reintroduced on the upper surfaces from around 1954, consisting of Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey; the undersurfaces remained in silver. The profile shows a later style of all clear cockpit canopy, and the full set of under wing and under fuselage fuel drop-tanks, with their prominent safety and trestle markings and stripes on them.
Hawker Hunter F. Mk. 4 In March 1957 74 Squadron was re-equipped with the beautiful Hunter Mk.4. As you can see, the basic camouflage is the same as for the Meteor 8. In fact the only change to the colours was the movement of the Squadron marking to the nose (something which was done by many Hunter units) with the Tiger's Head badge in the centre. The only other things worthy of mention for modellers are to note the various whip aerials (on top of the wings, two side-by-side on top of the fuselage, and one below the nose); and also the gun gas ejector chutes above the cartridge link collectors (Sabrinas) on the nose. There was a problem with the very early Hunters in that these gases used to collect inside the nose when the guns were fired, and on one occasion the front of the nose actually exploded and blew off on a test flight; the pilot was fortunately able to make it back to base and land safely. Incidentally for anyone who does not know it, the link collectors were universally nicknamed Sabrinas in the RAF because at that time there was a well-known TV blonde bombshell called Sabrina who had a very large bust measurement!
Hawker Hunter F. 6 74's re-equipment with Hunter F.6's started in November 1957, though the F.4's remained until January 1958; even so the 4's only lasted for somewhat less than a year. The colour scheme remains the same on the F.6. I have drawn one with the four drop tanks that this mark could carry (the Mk.4 could only carry the two inboard ones). Modellers should also note that some Hunter drop tanks had fins while others did not. Note that this a/c has the blast deflector plates on the gun muzzles and also the whip aerials are painted yellow to prevent accidents. The Mk.6 also has the more powerful Avon engine with enlarged jet pipe of course, and also the saw-tooth wing leading edge. 74 Squadron moved to Coltishall on 8 June 1959, preparatory for it's re-equipment with the Lightning in June 1960.
English Electric Lightning F.1 74 Sqn became the RAF's first Mach 2 fighter squadron in June 1960 when it received Lightning F.1's at Coltishall. It was to be the only front-line unit to operate the Mk.1, which it did until April 1964. I have drawn the colour scheme as they first appeared, namely just plain natural metal overall with tiger stripe on the nose and badge on the white disc on the fin. This one also has the Squadron Commander's pennant below the cockpit screen, together with his name and that of the Crew Chief (hence 'C.T.' Rye for Chief Tech.). The Squadron was designated as the official RAF aerobatic team The Tigers to replace the all blue Hunters of 92 Sqn The Blue Diamonds. The markings soon became more colourful: firstly the entire fins and rudders were painted black (retaining the badge on the white disc); and this black painting was soon extended to cover the whole spine up to the cockpit canopy - as can be seen on the F.3 version immediately below. Squadron Leader Howe was a South African, the first of his nationality to command 74 since the famous "Sailor" Malan way back in 1940-41 on Spitfires.
English Electric Lightning F.3 Here's the F.3 Lightning I mentioned. 74 Squadron re-equipped with this mark in April 1964, having moved to Leuchars in Scotland (near to St Andrews and its famous golf course for those interested in these things) on 2 March 1964. The Squadron continued with the same colour scheme as finally used on the Mk.1's, only slightly altered to fit the shape of the different fin. Also some of the various warning and stencil markings were different. This style of very colourful markings on the fins and fuselage spines was popular on the Lightning squadrons at this time for only a few years before Fighter Command banned them all. This ban, however, only applied to those based in the UK so, as you will see from the next profile of the Mk.6, 74 Squadron were able to get away with reinstating their black fins on the later Mk.6's after they moved to Singapore in June 1967. The F.3 remained with the Squadron until January 1967, re-equipment with the 6's commencing in November 1966.
BAC Lightning F.6
Here's the F.6 Lightning, with the black fin. As stated above, the Squadron received these originally at Leuchars from November 1966 and Moved to Tengah in June 1967. Their last task with the Lightnings was to fly them to Akrotiri in Cyprus to replace the F.3's of 56 Squadron, 74 Squadron being disbanded at the same time, August 1971. Note that only the fins were black on the 6's and the fin flash is back to the original style; also the white disc with tiger head is a bit smaller than on the previous F.3's. 74 Squadron was not reformed again until October 1984, when it received the ex-US Navy/Marines F-4J's that were purchased for the RAF for UK air defence to replace the Phantoms of 23 Squadron that had been sent to the Falkland Islands after the war with Argentina.
McDonnel Phantom F-4J(UK) 74 Squadron was reformed with the 2nd-hand ex-USN/USMC Phantom F-4J(UK) in October 1984. At first all but the Squadron Commander's aircraft had just grey fins but fairly soon they all acquired black ones as shown. As you can see the Tiger Head appears both on the fin and the nose. As regards the camouflage colours, these aircraft were slightly different in shades of grey from normal RAF colours since they were repainted as part of their refurbishment in the USA, using the nearest equivalent FS595a shades. So, the undersurfaces were FS 36440; upper surfaces of fuselage and outer wing panels Flint Grey FS 36314; and upper surfaces of inner wing panels FS 36270. A few of the F-4J's were repainted shortly before retirement with the normal RAF greys but not many. In service the American paints tended to change colour quite a lot, one which I saw about 1989 having gone a very greenish shade! In early 1991 74 gave up the F-4J and shared Phantom FGR.2's with 56 Squadron, its sister Squadron at Wattisham, but this only lasted until 1st October 1992 when 74 became a Reserve Squadron flying Hawks with 4 Flying Training School.
Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 This is the last of the 74 Squadron a/c. On 1st October 1992 74 became 74 (Reserve) Squadron of 4 Flying Training School. This particular Hawk T.1 was painted specially for display purposes. It was actually repainted like this in September before 74 officially reformed. The Squadron still flies its Hawks from Valley, and all black has, of course, since become the official colouring of all RAF training aircraft. However this one pre-dates that era and hence the roundels are not outlined in white; also the Squadron markings on this particular one only were much more profuse and larger than the usual, in particular the huge Tiger on the fin and the number 74.
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