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The forerunner of
the Belgian Air Force, the Compagnie des Aviateurs (Flying Corps) was
formed by a royal decree of 16 April 1913. The Escadrille I (Squadron I)
was the first of its four initial units, which were all based at
Brasschaat, north of Antwerp. Initially, Escadrille I was equipped with
four Farman-Jero HF.16 and HF.20 aircraft and flew its first operational
missions on 26 May 1913 during a large-scale army exercise at the Camp of
Beverlo, Leopoldsburg. At the outbreak of the 1st World War, the unit was
attached to the 3rd Artillery Division of General Gérard-Mathieu Leman and
was stationed at Ans, a municipality not far from the strategic city of
Liège. Escadrille I flew its first war missions on 4 August 1914. They
consisted of reconnaissance flights in the region of Liège. The rapid push
of the German invaders and the fall of Liège forced the Belgian troops to
retreat. Escadrille I first moved back to Wilrijk, then via Oostende to
Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, near the French city of Dunkerque, where it arrived on
12 October 1914 to join two other flying units that had retreated to that
location earlier. Unlike the other squadrons, Escadrille I did not stay in
France for long as only five days later it left for Sint-Idesbald, near
Koksijde, to be closer to the frontline.
In
March 1915, the Compagnie des Aviateurs became the Aviation Militaire
Belge (Belgian Military Aviation). It was credited with a first official
aerial victory on 17 April 1915 when Captain Fernand Jacquet and his
observer Lieutenant Hans Vindevogel of Escadrille I shot down a German
Albatros. They were flying a Maurice Farman MF.11.
Farman MF.11bis of the Aviation Militaire
Belge in flight
The decision to
create a fighter unit within the Aviation Militaire Belge was taken on 18
January 1916 and Escadrille I became the first genuine Belgian fighter
squadron on 22 February 1916 under the designation 1ère Escadrille de
Chasse (1st Fighter Squadron). It was equipped with Nieuport 10 Bébé
fighters. Due to continuous shelling by German troops at Sint-Idesbald,
the 1ère Escadrille de Chasse returned to the airfield of De Moeren in
June 1916. It was from this airfield that it executed the bulk of its war
missions, flying successively the Nieuport models 11, 16 and 17 and from
August 1917 onwards the Hanriot-Dupont HD.1, supplemented with a number of
Sopwith Camels in December of that year.
During the
reorganization of the Aviation Militaire Belge of February 1918, the 1ère
Escadrille de Chasse was renamed the 9ème Escadrille de Chasse (9th
Fighter Squadron) to form the Groupe de Chasse (Fighter Group) of
Capitaine-Commandant Fernand Jacquet with Nos. 10 and 11 Squadrons. The
Groupe de Chasse continued to operate from the main fighter base of the
Aviation Militaire belge at De Moeren until it started to follow the
moving frontline from late October 1918 onwards. The by then named Thistle
Squadron ended the Great War with 66 confirmed victories, the majority of
which were won by famous aces like Willy Coppens, André de Meulemeester,
Jan Olieslagers and Fernand Jacquet.
The unit’s badge,
the Scottish Thistle or Chardon d’Ecosse, appeared for the first time on
the Hanriot-Dupont HD.1s delivered to the 1ère Escadrille de Chasse in
1917. The original design was from the hand of pilot André de Meulemeester
and consisted of a slim stalk with a number of dentate leaves and an
inflorescence resembling the cork of a bottle of Champaign. Willy Coppens
later redesigned the badge, giving it much more detail, especially to the
flower. Inspiration for the thistle design was probably found in a
nearby-stationed unit of the Regiment of Scots Guards. The motto was
British too. Nemo me impune lacessit (no man provokes me with impunity)
was the motto of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Order of the Thistle,
formed in 1687 by King James II.
N° 1 Squadron's motto "Nemo
me impune lacessit" (no man provokes me with impunity) painted behind the
cockpit of Hanriot HD-1 N° 78 now preserved at the Aeronautical department
of the Royal Army Museum in Brussels.
During the
interbellum, the Thistle Squadron saw numerous changes in equipment and
designation. After the war, it resided for a short period of time at
Sint-Agatha-Berchem, near Brussels, but was soon stationed at Schaffen,
near Diest. At first, it flew former-German Fokker D.VIIs and Spad XIIIs.
Later on, it was equipped with the Nieuport-Delage Ni-D.29, the Avia BH.21
and the Fairey Firefly. Finally, on the eve of the Second World War, it
received the more potent Hawker Hurricane Mk.1. In 1924, the 1ère
Escadrille was renamed 2ème Escadrille of the IVème Group (2/IV). When the
Régiments Aéronautiques (Aeronautical Regiments) were formed in 1926 the
2ème Escadrille was disbanded, but its traditions were adopted by the 3ème
Escadrille / Ière Group / 2ème Régiment Aéronautique (3/I/2Aé). With the
reform of the Military Aviation in 1929, the unit’s designation once more
changed into 2ème Escadrille (2/I/2Aé).
Nieuport Delage NiD.29 C.1 N49 seen at
Schaffen-Diest
Fairey Firefly IIM of 2/I/2Aé seen at
Schaffen Diest in July 1939
When the Germans
invaded Belgium in the early morning of 10 May 1940, the Luftwaffe
immediately attacked all airfields in the country. In Schaffen, 9 out of
11 serviceable Hurricanes of 2/I/2Aé were destroyed. The two surviving
aircraft escaped to Beauvechain, where they were joined later that day by
a third aircraft that had survived the German attack in a maintenance
hangar. The Thistle Squadron was disbanded the next day after the Germans
destroyed two of its last three Hurricanes. Some of the unit’s pilots
evaded to England and joined the Royal Air Force to continue their fight
against the German invader.
On 1 November 1946,
No. 351 Squadron was created as third Belgian Spitfire XIV unit to
complement the Nos. 349 and 350 Fighter Squadrons, which were formed
during the war as RAF Squadrons. It soon adopted the pre-war emblem of the
Scottish Thistle and received the squadron letter code 3R. On 10 January
1948, No. 351 Squadron was renumbered and became No. 1 Fighter-Bomber
Squadron. It is said that Baron Willy Coppens de Houthulst himself
requested to carry through this re-designation.
N° 351 Squadron was
based at Florennes from mid 1947 onwards as part of the 161st Day Fighter
Wing and later on as No. 1 Thistle Squadron it formed together with the N°
2 Comet and N° 3 Holly Leaf Squadrons the 2nd Wing all equipped with the
Supermarine Spitfire XIV.
Spitfire FR.14 SG-102
3R-C (RAF RN116 still visible) was delivered to N° 1 Squadron at Florennes
on 12 October 1949.
In June 1951, the
Spitfire gave way to the fighter-bomber Republic F-84E/G Thunderjet
arriving from Karup in Denmark. This change of equipment not only meant
the transition from prop driven aircraft to fast jets but also a change
from the well established RAF way of thinking and organising to the more
radical American way of managing. Already on 10 August 1955 the first
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak a further development of the Thunderjet is
delivered to N° 1 Squadron at Florennes.
A N° 1 Squadron F-84G
Thunderjet being prepared for a flight.
An N° 1 pilot ready for
take-off in Republic F-84F FU-1/3R-L from snow covered Florennes on 20
April 1956 (real winters then...).
On 30 June 1971,
No. 1 Squadron moved to Bierset Air Base where it received its first
Dassault Mirage VBA in January 1972. It stayed there until the General
Dynamics F-16 began to replace the Mirage from March 1989 onwards.
Defence Minister
François-Xavier de Donnea, Lt. Col. J-P Sparrenberg (OSN 3W TAC), N° 1 Sq. CO Maj. Pierre Léonard and squadron pilots at Dyarbakir (Turkey) during an
AMF South (Allied Mobile Force) deployment after the ministers flight in a
Dassault Mirage 5BD on 14 June 1987.
The
introduction of this new aircraft brought the Thistle Squadron back to
Florennes on 15 March 1989, where it still is based today. In 2000, the
unit was also officially declared operational in the role of tactical
aerial reconnaissance. In the past decennium, pilots of the Thistle
Squadron participated in a number of international peacekeeping and air
policing operations: Joint Guardian / Joint Forge (Bosnia, 1998),
Deliberate Forge / Allied Force (Kosovo, 1998-1999), Eastern Eagle
(Afghanistan, 2005) and NATO Baltic Air Policing (2004, 2006-2007).
* * *
To commemorate the
90th anniversary of the creation of its Thistle badge, No. 1 Squadron of
the 2nd Tactical Wing at Florennes Air Base decorated the tail fin of
Lockheed Martin F-16AM FA-101 with pictures of some of its most famous
aircraft. The starboard side is adorned with a painting of a World War I
era Hanriot-Dupont HD.1, the type on which the Thistle emblem appeared for
the first time in 1917. On the port side figure the Spitfire XIV, F-84F
Thunderstreak and Mirage VBA, three of the major types with which No. 1
Squadron was equipped after World War II. The name Stingers was also
adopted as the unit’s radio call sign.
* * *
Text and pictures by
©
Jos Schoofs & Daniel Brackx
(June
2006)
Last updated
21/06/07 18:28 Daniel
Brackx
daniel.brackx@telenet.be
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