No. 205 Squadron RAF

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No. 205 Squadron RAF is a Royal Air Force unit with a long history dating back to the Royal Naval Air Service.

Origins and early RAF era
- The squadron began as No. 5 Squadron RNAS in August 1915 at Dover, formed from parts of No. 4 Squadron RNAS. It then became No. 5 (Naval) Squadron in December 1916.
- It flew Sopwith 1½ Strutters and later DH.4s, carrying out bombing raids on Belgian ports and German airfields.
- In February 1918 it joined the Royal Flying Corps, and on 1 April 1918 it became No. 205 Squadron RAF.
- It continued raids on ports and airfields until the end of World War I, was re-equipped with DH.9As in 1918, and counted aces like Euan Dickson, Charles Bartlett, and Walter Naylor among its pilots.
- After the war, the squadron moved to Belgium and then Hucknall in England and was reduced to cadre before disbanding on 22 January 1920.

Reformation and Singapore era
- The squadron reformed on 15 April 1920 at RAF Leuchars as a fighter–reconnaissance unit with Parnall Panthers, but it was disbanded again on 1 April 1923 and redesignated 441 Flight.
- On 8 January 1929, the RAF’s Far East Flight was redesignated No. 205 Squadron, making it the RAF’s first squadron permanently based in Singapore.
- Its motto, Pertama di Malaya (First in Malaya), reflected its new role. The squadron carried out survey flights with Supermarine Southamptons and later re-equipped with Short Singapores in 1935.
- Group Captain H. M. Cave-Browne-Cave led the squadron from 1929 to 1930.

World War II and the Pacific
- At the start of World War II, 205 Squadron patrolled the approaches to Singapore and the Indian Ocean, with outstations in Ceylon and the Nicobar Islands.
- It re-equipped with PBY Catalinas in 1941 and moved from Singapore to Java. One Catalina, piloted by Flying Officer Edwin Beddell, was the first Allied aircraft to be shot down by the Japanese in the war.
- As Japanese forces advanced, the squadron withdrew to Australia and was disbanded on 31 March 1942.

Reform, war in the Indian Ocean, and the Shackleton era
- The squadron reformed on 23 July 1942 in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). From Koggala, its Catalinas carried out anti-submarine patrols and air-sea rescue for the rest of World War II.
- Catalina operations continued from Koggala until 1949, when the squadron switched to Sunderland flying boats and returned to Seletar, Singapore.
- During 1950–1951 it maintained detachments at Iwakuni in Japan and at Trincomalee, Kai Tak, and Changi.
- In March 1959 the squadron’s headquarters moved to Changi, and it began land-based maritime patrols with Avro Shackleton aircraft.
- The squadron flew the RAF’s last Sunderland mission from Seletar on 15 May 1959 and continued Shackleton patrols until it finally disbanded on 31 October 1971.