 no. 216 squadron was a squadron of the royal air force and, before disbandment operated the lockheed tristar k1, kc1 and c2 from raf brize norton, oxfordshire. ==history== ===first world war=== 216 squadron was formed at raf manston by re-numbering no. 16 squadron rnas when the raf was established in 1918. initially with the handley page o/100 bomber and later with the handley page o/400. ===between the wars=== between the two world wars the squadron used vickers vimy, vickers victoria and vickers type 264 valentia aircraft on transport duties around the middle east. ===second world war=== during the second world war, with a few exceptions, such as the attacks from 17 to 21 june 1940 by single aircraft of no. 216 squadron on the airfields of el adem and tobruk,playfair, vol. i, page 113. the unit was principally a transport squadron, operating the vickers type 264 valentia, bristol bombay, vickers wellington, lockheed hudson and douglas dakota. it spent a lengthy time deployed to greece from october 1944 to august 1946 as the primary transport unit for british forces involved in the greek civil war. ===postwar===  in 1949 the dakotas were replaced by vickers valletas and handley page hastings transport aircraft; in 1955 the squadron moved to raf lyneham from raf fayid in egypt to operate the dh comet jet airliner until 1975. the squadron reformed at raf honington in 1979 as a maritime strike squadron assigned to saclant with twelve buccaneer s2raf nuclear front line order-of-battle 1980 aircraft transferred from the fleet air arm's 809 naval air squadron formerly embarked on hms ark royalraf nuclear front line order-of-battle 1977â78 until flying off for the last time in november 1978 for a delivery flight from the carrier in the mediterranean to raf st athan. the ex-naval b
Royal_Air_Force_aircraft_squadrons