No . 55 Squadron RAF No . 55 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force . It was formed in 1916 at Castle Bromwich as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps . No . 55 Squadron was the last RAF Squadron to operationally fly the Handley Page Victor , in its Victor K . 2 in - flight refuelling tanker role . It was subsequently a navigator training squadron based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire . The squadron operated the Hawker Siddeley Dominie , a military version of the HS . 125 business jet , until January 2011 . History . First World War . No . 55 Squadron was formed at Castle Bromwich on 27 April 1916 . It initially operated as a training unit , flying a mixture of types , including the Avro 504 , Royal Aircraft Factory B . E . 2 and the Armstrong Whitworth F . K . 8 , but in January 1917 it changed its role to a day - bomber squadron and re - equipped with the Airco DH . 4 , being the first squadron to receive the new light bomber . It took these to France on 6 March that year as part of 9th Wing , flying its first bombing mission against Valenciennes railway station on 23 April 1917 in support of the Battle of Arras . It became part of the Independent Air Force as part of No 41 Wing based at Azelot , carrying out daylight strategic bombing missions against targets in Germany . 55 Squadron developed tactics of flying in wedge formations , bombing on the leader ' s command and with the massed defensive fire of the formation deterring attacks by enemy fighters . Despite heavy losses , 55 Squadron continued in operation , the only one of the day bombing squadrons in the Independent Force which did not have to temporarily stand down owing to aircrew losses . Following the Armistice on 11 November 1918 , 55 Squadron was briefly used to run airmail services to British forces , before returning to the United Kingdom and losing its aircraft in January 1919 , formally disbanding on 22 January 1920 . Between the Wars . The Squadron reformed on 1 February 1920 , when No . 142 Squadron , based at Suez and equipped with Airco DH . 9 s was renumbered . It started to receive more capable Airco DH . 9A s in June 1920 , and was equipped with a mixture of DH . 9s and DH . 9As when it transferred to Turkey in July to support British forces occupying Constantinople and the Dardanelles . It moved to Bagdhad in Iraq in September that year , discarding its remaining DH . 9s to standardise on the DH . 9A . It remained in Iraq for 19 years , flying " Air Policing " operations against rebelling tribemen when required . It moved to Mosul in March 1921 and to RAF Hinaidi in May 1924 . Its aging DH . 9As were replaced by Westland Wapiti s in February 1930 , which in turn were replaced by Vickers Vincent s in 1937 , taking these to RAF Habbaniya in September that year . It finally received modern monoplanes in March 1939 , when it received twin - engined Bristol Blenheim bombers , transferring to Egypt just before the outbreak of the Second World War . Second World War . No . 55 Squadron flew its Blenheims on shipping patrols over the Gulf of Suez until Italy declared war in June 1940 , when it switched to operations against targets in Libya . On 11 June 1940 the unit participated in the first attack by the RAF on the Italian air force base at El Adem , where 18 aircraft were destroyed or damaged on the ground , against the loss of three British aircraft from 3 squadrons . It was switched to anti - shipping operations in September 1941 , continuing these operations until it was withdrawn from operations in March 1942 for conversion to Martin Baltimore s , after which it returned to the bombing role . The squadron continued in support of the Eighth Army for the remainder of the North African Campaign . It flew its Baltimores on bombing raids in support of the Allied invasion of Sicily and the subsequent invasion of Italy . It re - equipped with Boston light bombers in October 1944 . The squadron moved to Greece in September 1945 , replacing its Bostons with de Havilland Mosquito s in June 1946 , disbanding in December that year . Victors . No . 55 Squadron did not reform until 1 September 1960 at RAF Honington , when it became part of the RAF ' s V bomber force , being the fifth squadron equipped with the Handley Page Victor when it received Victor B . 1As . When the Vickers Valiant was grounded in December 1964 owing to metal fatigue , the RAF lost its aerial refueling tanker force , and a rush programme was launched to convert Victor B . 1s to fill the tanker gap . From May 1965 when it moved to RAF Marham , 55 Squadron received six interim two - point Victor BK . 1A tanker conversions , allowing it to become operational in the tanker role in August 1965 . It had replaced the interim BK . 1As with the definitive three - point tankers ( Victor K . 1 and K . 1A ) by December 1966 , retaining them until 1975 , when they were replaced by the more powerful Victor K . 2 . 55 Squadron provided tanker support during the Falklands War in 1982 , including for the Operation Black Buck raids , where they refuelled Avro Vulcan bombers to allow them to reach the Falklands from Ascension Island . 55 Squadron ' s Victors went to war again in 1991 , when it was deployed to the Gulf as part of Operation Granby , Britain ' s response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait , refuelling coalition aircraft during Operation Desert Storm . It disbanded on 15 October 1993 , the last Squadron to operate the Victor . Training roles . On the same day as 55 Squadron disbanded as a Victor squadron , No . 241 Operational Conversion Unit RAF at RAF Brize Norton was renumbered No . 55 ( Reserve ) Squadron . This OCU was responsible for training Vickers VC10 and Lockheed TriStar crews , although it had no aircraft of its own . Disbanding again on 31 March 1996 , it reformed at RAF Cranwell on 1 November 1996 when the Navigation Squadron of No . 3 Flying Training School , flying Hawker Siddeley Dominie , Weapon Systems Officer and Weapon System Operators trainers , adopted its identity . The Dominie was withdrawn from service when WSO and WSOp training ended on 20 January 2011 .