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782 Naval Air Squadron

Summary

782 Naval Air Squadron (782 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It initially formed in October 1939 as an Armament Training Squadron but disbanded in November to provide personnel for 774 Naval Air Squadron. In December 1940 it reformed at HMS Merlin, RNAS Donibristle, as the Northern Communications Squadron, providing links between the Naval Air Stations in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Shetland and Orkney islands. It finally disbanded in October 1953.[1]

782 Naval Air Squadron
782 NAS badge
Active23 October 1939 - 10 November 1939
1 December 1940 - 9 October 1953[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role
  • Armament Training Squadron
  • Northern Communications Squadron
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Insignia
Squadron BadgeGreen, a horse's head erased and with wings elevated white gorged with a chaplet of roses thistles and shamrocks proper (1949)[2]
Identification MarkingsMERLIN plus individual numbers (1941-46)
B8A+ (from ~1945 to 1946)
201-205 & 801-815 (from 1946 to 1953)[3][2]
Tail CodesDO (1946 to 1953)[2]
de Havilland DH.89 Dominie, an example of the type 782 NAS used

History of 782 NAS edit

Armament Training Squadron (1939) edit

782 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Ford (HMS Peregrine) on 23 October 1939 as an Armament Training Squadron, but before it’s intended aircraft could be delivered the squadron disbanded on 10 November,[4] its personnel being amalgamated with those of 815 Naval Air Squadron to form 774 Naval Air Squadron.[2]

Northern Communications Squadron (1940 - 1953) edit

782 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 1 December 1940, out of an unnumbered communications flight, at RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin), in Fife, Scotland, as the Northern Communications Squadron. It operated connecting the Royal Navy's naval air stations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Northern Isles and to and from RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), in Hampshire, England. Squadron personnel were former Jersey Airways ground and aircrews. Aircraft were also ex-airline and the squadron was equipped with de Havilland Flamingo, a twin-engined airliner and communications aircraft and de Havilland Express, a four-engined passenger aircraft, as well as Percival Proctor, a radio trainer and communications aircraft.[5] The squadron provided a Flight at Inverness Airport to enable a connection with trains from London.[2]

Additional aircraft were soon acquired and included Beech Expeditor, a 6- to 11-seat trainer, transport and utility aircraft, Airspeed Oxford, a twin-engine trainer aircraft and Beech Traveller, a utility aircraft. Handley Page Harrow were also acquired, designed as a bomber-transport hybrid, some of these aircraft were modified to carry aero engines and other larger freight items.[5] Identification markings comprised the air station name Merlin and an individual number on most of the aircraft.[2]

When 781 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 31 July 1945, 782 NAS took over part of its role and had detached Flights of de Havilland Dominie, a short-haul biplane airliner, being by then stationed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), in Hampshire, England, RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), in County Down, Northern Ireland and Inverness In the Scottish Highlands.[5] Around this time the squadron mainly supported the Flag Officer, Flying Training (FOFT) headquarters and it was equipped with Fairey Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft, Supermarine Seafire, a navalised version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft and Hawker Sea Fury, a fighter aircraft. In July 1953 the FOFT moved to RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), in Somerset, England, which meant the squadron’s tasks were reduced and it eventually disbanded on 9 October 1953.[2]

Aircraft operated edit

The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft, including:[1][6]

 
North American Harvard III
 
Fairey Firefly FR.1
 
Hawker Sea Fury T.20

Naval Air Stations edit

782 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy and other airbases, including for detachments, in the United Kingdom:[4][6]

1939

1940 - 1953

Commanding Officers edit

List of commanding officers of 782 Naval Air Squadron with day, month and year of appointment:[5][6]

  • Lieutenant Commander(A) A. Goodfellow, RNVR, from 1 December 1940
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) W.T.D. Gardner, RNVR, from 21 March 1941
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) G.H.G.S. Rayer, OBE, RNVR, from 7 December 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) J.K.N. Evans, RNVR, from 27 July 1945
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) G.P. Barlass, MBE, RN, from 28 December 1945
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) H. Whitaker, RNVR, from 1 October 1946
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) T.E. Sargent, RN, from 2 December 1947
  • Lieutenant Commander C.C. Thornton, RN, from 26 October 1949
  • Lieutenant Commander V. Barrington, RN, from 1 April 1953
  • disbanded 9 October 1953

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 105.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 85.
  3. ^ Wragg 2019, p. 137.
  4. ^ a b "Ford". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Wragg 2019, p. 134.
  6. ^ a b c Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 86.

Bibliography edit

  • Ballance, Theo; Howard, Lee; Sturtivant, Ray (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.
  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
  • Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.

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