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No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron RAF
Active	15 May 1925 – 25 May 1945 10 May 1946 – 10 March 1957 September 2013 - present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Part of	RAF Bomber Command (1925–1938,1946) RAF Coastal Command (1938–1945) RAF Fighter Command (1947–1957)
Garrison/HQ	Aldergrove Flying Station
Nickname(s)	Ulster
Motto(s)	Latin: Nihil timeo (Translation: "I fear nothing")
Battle honours	Atlantic, 1939–44 Biscay, 1941–44 Channel & North Sea, 1942–45 Dieppe Baltic, 1944–45 These honours are all emblazoned on the squadron standard
Commanders
Honorary Air Commodores	Lord Londonderry Viscount Brookeborough
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	A red hand erased The red hand is taken from the arms of Ulster, 502 being the Ulster Auxiliary Squadron. The hand is erased though, instead of couped.
Squadron Codes	KQ (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939) YG (Sep 1939 – Feb 1943) V9 (Jun 1944 – May 1945, 1949–1953) RAC (May 1946–1949)

No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force that was reformed in September 2013, and is the oldest active reserve squadron, having been formed in 1925. The squadron took park in anti-submarine patrols and bombing sorties in the Second World War.

History

Formation and early years

No. 502 squadron was originally formed on 15 May 1925 as No. 502 (Bomber) Squadron, a Special Reserve squadron at RAF Aldergrove, and it was composed of a mixture of regular and reserve personnel. On 1 December 1925 the name No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron was adopted. The squadron operated in the heavy night bomber role and as such it was initially equipped with Vickers Vimys from June 1925, re-equipping with Handley Page Hyderabads in July 1928. Vickers Virginias arrived in December 1931, but in October 1935 the squadron was transferred to the day bomber role for which it received Westland Wallaces, Hawker Hinds arriving in April 1937. Shortly after this, on 1 July 1937, it was transferred to the Auxiliary Air Force, the Special Reserve being disbanded.

In Coastal Command

On 28 November 1938, No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron became part of RAF Coastal Command, and was re-equipped with Avro Anson, a twin-engine, multi-role aircraft, in January 1939. When war broke out, the squadron was used to fly maritime patrols in the Atlantic Ocean off the Irish Coast. From October 1940, the Squadron flew with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, a twin-engined medium bomber. It was reported that on 30 November 1941 the squadron became the first Coastal Command unit to make a successful attack on a U-boat with air-to-surface-vessel radar, sinking U-boat U-206 in the Bay of Biscay. This report has been countered with newer information that the U-206 was more probably sunk by the minefield, "Beech," laid there by the British after August 1940, and that the squadron's attack was actually on U-71, which escaped without loss.

In January 1942, the squadron officially moved to both Norfolk (RAF Docking) and Cornwall, where a maintenance station was set up at RAF St Eval. Until 1944 the squadron's main role was to carry out anti-submarine patrols. In January 1943 conversion to Handley Page Halifax GR.Mk.II, a British four-engined heavy bomber, began, with the first patrol by this type being flown on 12 March. In addition to anti-submarine patrols, now also attacks on enemy shipping off the occupied French coast were made. In September 1944, with the French coast back in Allied hands, the squadron moved to RAF Stornoway in Scotland, to carry out attacks on German shipping off the Norwegian coast, remaining there until the end of the war. It was disbanded on 25 May 1945.

Into the jet age

With the reactivation of the Auxiliary Air Force, No. 502 was reformed on 10 May 1946, again at RAF Aldergrove, but now as a light bomber squadron, equipped with de Havilland Mosquito B.25 from July 1946. In December night fighter de Havilland Mosquitoe replaced the bomber variant, but in June 1948 the units of the by now Royal Auxiliary Air Force all converted to the day fighter role, 502 receiving Supermarine Spitfire F.22 fighter aircraft for the purpose. Jet conversion began in January 1951 with the arrival of de Havilland Vampire FB.5, which were supplemented by the FB.9 variant in July 1954. The squadron continued to fly both types until, along with all the flying units of the RAuxAF, it was disbanded on 10 March 1957.

Reformation at Aldergrove

It was confirmed in September 2013 that No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron has reformed at Aldergrove Flying Station. As a general Squadron its mission is to provide fully trained Royal Auxiliary Air Force personnel, across a wide spectrum of roles, to support current and future worldwide commitments. No. 502 is the oldest of the reserve squadrons, having been formed in 1925, and in 2019, a new standard was awarded to the squadron as the old standard had been awarded in 1939 and was worn out.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

Notable personnel

• Clive Beadon
• John Burrough (rower), killed 26 November 1944.
• William Maxfield (cyclist), killed 27 December 1943.
• Michael Oser Weizmann, son of Chaim Weizmann, who was shot down and reported missing in 1942.

References

Notes

1. ^ Hunt 1972, p. 396.
2. ^ Moyes 1964, p. 264
3. ^ Rawlings 1969, p. 458.
4. ^ Rawlings 1982, p. 227.
5. ^ Halley 1988, p. 390.
6. Hunt 1972, p. 394.
7. ^ Barrass, M. B. (2015). "No. 500–520 Squadron Histories". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
8. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 14.
9. Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 50.
10. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 117.
11. Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 121.
12. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 107.
13. Flintham & Thomas 2003, pp. 114, 158.
14. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 138.
15. Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 184.
16. ^ Moyes 1964, p. 265
17. Hunt 1972, p. 382.
18. Helgason, Guðmundur (2015). "U-206". uboat.net. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
19. Helgason, Guðmundur (2015). "U-71". uboat.net. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
20. ^ Halley 1988, p. 391.
21. ^ Jefford 1998, p. 96.
22. "502 (Ulster) Reserves". Royal Air Force. 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
23. "RAF Reserves come back to Aldergrove". Antrim Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
24. Williams, Simon, ed. (31 May 2019). "Oldest reserve squadron receives new Standard". RAF News. No. 1, 468. p. 17. ISSN 0035-8614.
25. McNeill, Ross (August 1999). "No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron RAF". RAF Commands. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
26. Hunt 1972, pp. 379–396.

Bibliography

• Bowyer, Michael J. F.; Rawlings, John Dunstan Richard (1979). Squadron Codes, 1937-56. P. Stephens. ISBN 978-0-85059-364-8.
• Flintham, Vic; Thomas, Andrew (2003). Combat Codes: A Full Explanation and Listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied Air Force Unit Codes Since 1938. Airlife. ISBN 978-1-84037-281-6.
• Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Air Britain Historians Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85130-164-8.
• Hunt, Leslie (1972). Twenty-one Squadrons: History of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1925–57. London: Garnstone Press. ISBN 978-0-85511-110-6.. (New edition in 1992 by Crécy Publishing, ISBN 978-0-947554-26-2.)
• Jefford, C.G. (1998). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84037-141-3. (second edition 2001)
• Moyes, Philip J.R. (1964). Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 978-0-354-01027-6. (new edition 1976)
• Rawlings, John D.R. (1982). Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7106-0187-2.
• Rawlings, John D.R. (1969). Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 978-0-354-01028-3. (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978)

External links

• 502 Squadron history on RAF site
• World War II bases at RAF Commands
• History of No.'s 500–520 Squadrons at RAF Web
• No. 502 Squadron aircraft and markings at RAF Web
• Ulster Aviation Society

v t e Royal Air Force flying squadrons
currently active	1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 41 42 45 51 54 56 57 60 70 72 78 80 84 92 99 101 115 120 201 202 206 207 216 230 617
inactive	5 15 21 26 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 55 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 71 73 74 75 76 77 79 81 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 98 100 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 116 117 118 119 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 203 204 205 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 353 354 355 356 357 358 360 361 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 547 548 549 550 567 569 570 571 575 576 577 578 582 586 587 595 597 598 618 619 620 621 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 635 639 640 644 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 679 680 681 682 683 684 691 692 695
Australian Flying Corps units attached to the RAF during the First World War	67 (1 Sqn AFC) 68 (2 Sqn AFC) 69 (3 Sqn AFC) 71 (4 Sqn AFC)
Article XV (Commonwealth) air force units attached to the RAF during the Second World War	Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467 Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) 485 486 487 488 489 490
squadrons formed from non-Commonwealth personnel during the Second World War	Argentine 164 Belgian 349 350 Czechoslovak 310 311 312 313 Dutch 320 (Netherlands) 321 (Netherlands) 322 (Dutch) French 326 327 328 329 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 Greek 13 335 336 Norwegian 330 331 332 333 334 Polish 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 315 316 317 318 663 United States 71 121 133 Yugoslav 351 352
Royal Auxiliary Air Force	Special Reserve 500 501 502 503 504 Auxiliary Air Force 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 622
Fleet Air Arm of the RAF (1924–1939)	712 715 718 800 801 802 803 810 811 812 813 814 820 821 822 823 824 825
Volunteer Gliding Squadrons (VGS)	current 611 615 621 622 626 631 632 637 644 645 661 former 612 613 614 616 617 618 623 624 625 633 634 635 636 642 643 662 663 664

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