RAF Patch j 45 Squadron Royal Air Force Tornado Weapons TWCU b

RAF Patch 45 Squadron Royal Air Force Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit TWCU Black Sword Blade Patch 1986 RAF Honington Uniform removed Woven merrowed edge 108mm by 108mm four and one quarter inches by four and one quarter inches.

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Badge A winged camel approved by King Edward VIII in October 1936 The badge commemorates the Camel aircraft used for a large part of World War I and the Squadrons long association with the Middle East. 

Motto Per ardua surgo Through difficulties I arise 

Squadron History 1945 2015 

Following its WWII service in India and Burma 45 Squadron with its Mosquito moved to RAF Negombo Ceylon on 31 May 1946 and reequipped with Beaufighter ground attack strike aircraft in December 1946. The Squadron deployed a detachment to Malaya and commenced participation in Operation Firedog counter insurgency combat missions during the Malayan Emergency. The Squadron relocated to RAF Kuala Lumpur on 16 May 1949 and added three Brigand aircraft to its fleet for meteorological flights. The Squadron relinquished its Beaufighter and equipped with Brigands ground attack aircraft and moved to RAF Tengah Singapore on 5 December 1949. 45 Squadron reequipped with Hornet ground attack aircraft in February 1951. The Squadron relocated to RAF Butterworth Malaya on 1 April 1955 before converting to jet fighters with Meteor T 7 and Vampire T 11 jet trainers in May 1955 until it received Vampire FB 9 fighter bombers in August 1955. The Squadron began upgrading to Venom FB1 fighter bombers in September 1955 with the last Vampire FB 9 relinquished in March 1956.   

45 Squadron relocated to RAF Coningsby on 1 November 1957 to convert to Canberra B1 bombers returning to RAF Tengah on 15 November 1957. The Squadron engaged in operations in North Borneo to quell unrest and following upgrading to Canberra B 15 bombers in 1962 participated in the Brunei Revolution and the subsequent Indonesian Confrontation campaign before its resolution in 1966. 45 Squadron disbanded on 13 January 1970 on the RAFs withdrawal from east of the Suez.  

45 Squadron reactivated at RAF West Raynham on 29 September 1972 equipped with Hunter FGA 9 ground attack aircraft responsible for ground attack training and moved to RAF Wittering ion 29 September 1972. The Squadron disbanded in July 1976 with ground attack training transferred to Tactical Weapons Unit.  

The Squadron was reactivated in January 1984 as 45 Reserve Squadron the Shadow Squadron for Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit TWCU at RAF Honington. TWCU was maintained at front line readiness assigned to SACEUR for conventional and nuclear strike with WE 177 nuclear weapons and in the event of war it would use its Shadow Squadron identity in action. 15 Reserve Squadron replaced 45 R Squadron as the Shadow Squadron for TWCU in July 1992.

At the same time the 45 R Squadron identity was transferred to the Jetstream equipped Multi Engined Training Squadron METS at 6 FTS RAF Finningley. The Squadron relocated to RAF Cranwell reassigned to 3 Flying Training School in October 1995. The Squadron reequipped with B 200 King Air aircraft maintained by Serco in 2003. 45 Squadron METS reequipped with Embraer Phenom T 1 aircraft in 2018. 

This patch dates from 19856