page_title: No. 2 Squadron RAF
section_title: Foundation until WWI Armistice
hierarchical_section_title: No. 2 Squadron RAF / History / Foundation until WWI Armistice
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 (early version) two-seat general purpose biplane of the No. 2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Montrose. Scotland. This aircraft was built at the Royal Aircraft Factory in June 1912 and was rebuilt with new wings in August 1912. In May 1913 it was on the strength of No. 2 Squadron RFC in Montrose. On the 27th May 1913 the upper wing collapsed in flight resulting in the aircraft crashing, killing the pilot, Lieutenant Desmond Arthur.
context_page_description: Number 2 Squadron, also known as Number II Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It is currently equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4.
  No. 2 Squadron's traditional army co-operation role is reflected in the "AC" of its title, its motto Hereward, and the symbol of a Wake knot on its crest. Its unofficial nickname is "Shiny Two".
context_section_description: No. 2 Squadron was formed at Farnborough, Hampshire on 13 May 1912, on the founding of the Royal Flying Corps as one of the first three squadrons of the new force. It was formed from a detachment of No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company of the Royal Engineers Air Battalion. Both No. 2 Squadron and No. 3 Squadron were equipped with fixed wing aeroplanes, while No. 1 Squadron was equipped with airships. The Squadron's first commander was Major C J Burke. The Squadron was equipped with a mixture of aircraft types, including the prototype Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2.
  From 26 February 1913, the squadron was based at Montrose in Angus, Scotland, the first operational Royal Flying Corps base in the UK. This was established on the instructions of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, to protect the Royal Navy. At Montrose the ghost story of Desmond Arthur spread around the flying corps. In May 1914, when the Squadron was transferring south from Montrose, five aircraft crashed when they hit a bank of fog just south of the River Tees. Six of the aircraft had to land, with five of them crash landing, resulting in many injuries and two deaths (a Lieutenant and a First Class Mechanic) in a field near Hutton Bonville in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
  No. 2 Squadron was the first to fly the English Channel into France at the start of the First World War with H.D. Harvey-Kelly being the first pilot to land his aircraft. The squadron spent the war on reconnaissance duties in France flying, amongst other aircraft, the B.E.2.
  Although its principal role was not air-to-air combat, it still had one flying ace among its ranks in Arthur William Hammond. It also numbered the first aviation Victoria Cross winners in its ranks, in Second Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse and Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod.
caption: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 of No. 2 Squadron at Montrose, Scotland, 1913.
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