No . 118 Squadron RAF No . 118 Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Air Force . Originally formed in 1918 , it served as a fighter squadron in the Second World War , flying Spitfires and Mustangs . It flew jet fighters as part of RAF Germany in the 1950s , and Bristol Sycamore helicopters in Northern Ireland before finally disbanding in 1962 . Operational history . First World War . The squadron was formed as No . 118 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at Catterick Airfield , North Yorkshire , on 1 January 1918 with the intention of becoming a night bomber unit . It received mixture of aircraft for training , including Airco DH . 6 s , Royal Aircraft Factory B . E . 2 s and Royal Aircraft Factory F . E . 2 bs . The squadron moved to Netheravon on 15 April that year , and again to Bicester Airfield on 7 August , with the intention that it would receive Handley Page O / 400 heavy bombers before moving to France . A change of plans meant that it would wait for Vickers Vimy s instead of the O / 400s , but the squadron received none before being disbanded on 7 September 1918 . Second World War . On 20 February 1941 , No . 118 reformed at RAF Filton , near Bristol , as a No . 10 Group fighter squadron equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk . I fighters , soon supplementing them with Spitfire Mk . IIs . On 28 March , convoy patrols began and after moving to RAF Ibsley in April , it started to fly escort missions for anti - shipping strikes , as well as defensive patrols and fighter sweeps over northern France . The squadron re - equipped with Spitfire Mk Vbs in September 1941 , continuing to fly escort for anti - shipping strikes over the English Channel and for bombing raids . On 12 February it took part in the unsuccessful attempts to intercept the German battleships " Scharnhorst " , " Gneisenau " and heavy cruiser " Prinz Eugen " when they sailed through the Channel , escorting bombers searching for the German squadron . In August 1942 , the Ibsley - based fighter wing , including 118 Squadron moved to RAF Tangmere to support the Dieppe Raid . The squadron flew four missions during the day of the raid , claiming two Dornier Do 217 bombers destroyed . The squadron moved to RAF Zeals in Wiltshire on 24 August and to RAF Coltishall in East Anglia on 17 January 1943 , operating over Belgium , the Netherlands and the North Sea . A major task was escorting the light bombers of No . 2 Group RAF on raids over the Netherlands , often encountering heavy German opposition . A particularly violent engagement took place on 3 May 1943 , when the Spitfires of 118 , 167 and 504 Squadron s escorted the Lockheed Ventura s of No . 487 Squadron RNZAF on a raid against a power station in Amsterdam . The German defences had been alerted by a fighter sweep earlier that day , and the raid was met by over 70 German fighters . Although 118 Squadron claimed two Focke - Wulf Fw 190 s for the loss of one Spitfire , the escort could not keep the German fighters from the bombers of 487 Squadron , all but one of the Venturas being shot down . The Squadron moved to RAF Peterhead in Aberdeenshire on 20 September to carry out defensive duties over northern Scotland , with a detachment at RAF Skeabrae in the Orkney Islands , moving to RAF Castletown in Caithness in October . In February 1944 the Squadron , by now equipped with more modern Spitfire IXs , moved to RAF Detling in Kent where it became part of Second TAF , but on 10 March it moved back to Skeabrae , remaining in Orkney for four months . It moved south again in July 1944 , flying escort missions over Normandy from RAF Detling until August . The Squadron moved to RAF Westhampnett in Sussex at the end of August , and to RAF Manston in September , flying escort missions for Bomber Command ' s heavy bombers during daylight raids . The short range Spitfire was not ideal for the long - range escort missions now required , and in January 1945 the squadron , by now based at RAF Bentwaters , re - equipped with the longer - ranged North American Mustang , continuing these operations until the end of the war in Europe . In all it claimed 29 enemy aircraft destroyed during the war , with a further nine probably destroyed and 27 damaged . On 10 March 1946 , the Squadron was disbanded . Post war operations - Jets and helicopters . The squadron again reformed as a fighter - bomber squadron serving in RAF Germany on 10 May 1951 . It flew De Havilland Vampire s out of RAF Fassberg in Lower Saxony , close to the border with East Germany . The Vampire was obsolete however , and in November 1953 , the squadron received De Havilland Venom s . Even the Venom was outdated by 1955 , and so the squadron discarded its Venoms in March that year when it moved to RAF Jever , operating swept - winged Hawker Hunter s in the pure day - fighter role . It kept the Hunters until 22 August 1957 when it was disbanded as a result of the 1957 Defence Review . On 1 September 1959 , as a response to a campaign of attacks by the IRA , a detached Search and rescue flight of No . 228 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove equipped with three Bristol Sycamore helicopters was re - designated 118 Squadron on 1 September 1959 . It flew its Sycamores in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) carrying out short range transport and reconnaissance missions . Other duties of the squadron included experiments in traffic control . On 31 August 1962 , with the threat from the IRA ended by a ceasefire , the Squadron was disbanded . Aircraft operated . Source except where indicated .