XLI 41 SQUADRON ROYAL AIR FORCE SMALL WOODEN PLAQUE KING'S CROWN RAF

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay UK

A VINTAGE SMALL WOODEN PLAQUE (APPROX 2 X 3 INCHES) WITH A SMALL HOOK FOR HANGING. THE PLAQUE HAS A ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRON CREST WITH KING'S CROWN ON IT. WOULD LOOK WELL FRAMED WITH SOME OF THE OTHER SMALL PLAQUES I HAVE LISTED. XLI 41 SQUADRON RAF NOTE, POSTAGE COST (£1) WILL BE THE SAME NO MATTER HOW MANY PLAQUES ARE POSTED. . I HAVE 100 % POSITIVE FEEDBACK. ANY PROBLEMS, JUST LET ME KNOW. THANKS No. 41 (R) Squadron (also written as "No. XLI Squadron") of the Royal Air Force is currently the RAF's Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby , Lincolnshire . Its official title is "41(R) TES". The Squadron celebrates its 95th anniversary in 2011, and is one of the oldest RAF squadrons in existence. History First World War, 1916–1919 No. 41 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was originally formed at Fort Rowner, RAF Gosport, in mid April 1916 with a nucleus of men from 28 Squadron RFC . However, on 22 May 1916, the Squadron was disbanded again when it was re-numbered "27 Reserve Squadron RFC".41 Squadron was re-formed on 14 July 1916 with a nucleus of men from 27 Reserve Squadron, and equipped with the Vickers F.B.5 'Gun Bus' and Airco D.H.2 'Scout' . These were replaced in early September 1916 with the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 , and it was these aircraft which the Squadron took on their deployment to France on 15 October 1916. Eighteen aircraft departed Gosport for the 225-mile flight to St. Omer, but only 12 actually made it, the others landing elsewhere with technical problems. The 12 pilots spent a week at St. Omer before moving to Abeele, where the ground crews reached them by road, and the remaining six pilots by rail, minus their aircraft.The F.E.8 was already obsolete as a pure fighter, and No. 41 used theirs mainly for ground attack . On 24 January 1917, the Squadron claimed its first victories. These fell to Sgt. Plt. Cecil Tooms, who himself was killed in action only four hours later.The Squadron participated in the Battle of Arras (April–May 1917) and the Battle of Messines (June 1917), before being re-equipped with the DH 5 fighters in July 1917. By this time the unit had become the last "pusher" fighter squadron in the RFC. However, the DH.5 proved to be an inadequate fighter and was unpopular with the pilots, resulting in its replacement with the S.E.5a in October 1917.The Squadron provided distinguished service in the Battle of Cambrai (November 1917), and subsequently in the German Spring Offensive (March 1918), and the Battle of Amiens (August 1918). 41 Squadron claimed its final victory of the War two days prior to the cessation of hostilities.The unit was reduced to Cadre of just 16 men on 7 February 1919 and returned to the United Kingdom. Their new base was Tangmere , but they were moved to Croydon, Surrey, in early October and formally disbanded on 31 December 1919.During the War, the Squadron had two mascots. The first was a bulldog named ‘Woomf’, named after the sound made by the explosion of anti-aircraft shells in the air. The second was a mongrel found rummaging around in the trenches, which was named ‘Olive Byng’.During the war, some seventeen aces served with No.41, including William Gordon Claxton , Frederick McCall , William Ernest Shields , Eric John Stephens , Frank Soden , Russell Winnicott , Geoffrey Hilton Bowman , Roy W. Chappell , Alfred Hemming , Frank Harold Taylor , Malcolm MacLeod , Loudoun MacLean , future Air Vice-Marshal Meredith Thomas , and William Gillespie . The unit had a remarkable number of Canadian aces in it—ten out of the seventeen. [2 ]The Squadron's pilots and ground crews were awarded four DSOs, six MCs, nine DFCs, two MMs and four Mentions in Despatches for their World War I service with the unit. The pilots were credited with destroying 111 aircraft and 14 balloons, sending down 112 aircraft out of control, and driving down 25 aircraft and five balloons. Thirty-nine men were killed or died on active service, 48 were wounded or ... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.