page_title: No. 74 Squadron RAF
section_title: First World War
hierarchical_section_title: No. 74 Squadron RAF / History / First World War
caption_attribution_description: SE5A Replica - Shuttleworth Spring Airshow 2009
context_page_description: Number 74 Squadron, also known as "Tiger Squadron" from its tiger-head motif, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated fighter aircraft from 1917 to the 1990s, and then trainers until its disbandment in 2000. It was the Royal Air Force's member of the NATO Tiger Association from 1961 until the squadron's disbandment, it has since been replaced by No. 230 Squadron.
  Forming in 1917 as No. 74 Squadron, the unit began life as a training squadron. Sent to the Western Front in 1918 as No. 74 Squadron, the unit quickly developed a fierce reputation during the First World War due to its pilots having an aggressive 'Tiger' like spirit. With many aces amongst its ranks, Mick Mannock, Taffy Jones and Sydney Carlin, No. 74 Squadron managed 225 victories in only 7 months at the Front. Disbanding shortly after the war, 'the Tigers' returned during the 1935 Abyssinia Crisis, being reformed by the combination of numerous squadron detachments who were aboard a troopship heading to Malta. In the Second World War, No.
context_section_description: No. 74 Squadron was first formed at Northolt on 1 July 1917, as No. 74 (Training Depot) Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), before relocating to the aerodrome at London Colney 9 days later. Beginning life as a training unit, the Squadron initially flew the Avro 504Ks, among other types, before working-up to a fighter squadron. In February 1918, Mick Mannock became the flight commander of the Squadron as it reached front-line status, becoming No. 74 (Fighter) Squadron. 
  On 20 March 1918, the Squadron received its first operational fighters, the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a. On 30 March, the Squadron was sent over to the RFC headquarters in Saint-Omer, France. No. 74 (F) Squadron saw its first action on 12 April when it engaged in a dogfight near Merville against the German Luftstreitkräfte, with Mannock scoring 'the Tigers' first kill – an Albatros Scout. Within 70 days of being on the continent, No. 74 (F) Squadron had notched 100 enemy kills to just one loss. The Squadron served in France from April until February 1919, when it returned home to RAF Lopcombe Corner, Hampshire where it was disbanded on 3 July 1919.
  During its 7-month-long wartime service, it was credited with 140 enemy planes destroyed and 85 driven down out of control, for 225 victories. Seventeen aces had served in the squadron, including Victoria Cross winner Major Edward "Mick" Mannock, Ira "Taffy" Jones, Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith, future Air Commodore Keith Caldwell, Andrew Kiddie, Frederick Stanley Gordon, Sydney Carlin, Frederick Hunt, Clive Glynn, George Hicks, Wilfred Ernest Young, Henry Dolan, Harris Clements, George Gauld, and 
  Frederick Luff.
caption: A replica Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, similar to what No. 74 (F) Squadron operated in 1918 and 1919.
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