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20 Squadron was formed on 1 September 1915 and deployed to France in January 1916 as part of the expansion of the Royal Flying Corps.

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20 Squadron in the First World War

20 Squadron was formed on 1 September 1915 and deployed to France in January 1916 as part of the expansion of the Royal Flying Corps.  It was attached to the British Second Army, whose operations were centred around the famous battlefields of Ypres.  Equipped with the FE2D and then Bristol F2B fighter, the Squadron undertook fighter sweeps, photographic reconnaissance and bombing missions, often far behind enemy lines.

20 Squadron was one of the most successful squadrons on the Western Front, with over 460 confirmed combat victories.  Lieutenant Woodbridge, a 20 Squadron observer, was the first allied airman to wound the famous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, in air combat; his shot glanced off Richthofen’s skull, and Richthofen was grounded for several months while he underwent multiple operations to remove bone fragments from the head injury.   As a result of their courage and skill, Squadron personnel were awarded a total of 71 gallantry awards.

Lt Cambray and Capt Stevens of 20 Squadron demonstrating the FE2B observer's firing position against hostile aircraft approaching from behind (1917) Imperial War Museum Q69650
Lt Cambray and Capt Stevens of 20 Squadron demonstrating the FE2B observer's firing position against hostile aircraft approaching from behind (1917). Imperial War Museum Q69650

Foremost amongst these was the Victoria Cross awarded to Acting Flight Sergeant Thomas Mottershead.  Having been attacked and set on fire by an ‘Albatros’ scout on 7 January 1917, with no thought of his own safety but only that of saving his observer, he brought the burning aircraft in to a controlled landing on the British side of the lines, even while he was on fire himself.  He died of his wounds on 12 January 1917 and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V, posted in the London Gazette on 12 February 1917.

Acting Flight Sergeant Thomas Mottershead VC DFM. Imperial War Museum Q58359
Acting Flight Sergeant Thomas Mottershead VC DFM. Imperial War Museum Q58359

Today’s 20 Squadron is honoured to remember our predecessors of the First World War; their accomplishments demonstrate skill, courage, service and commitment which are an example to us all.

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