AV600-74 No 74 Squadron English Electric Lightning F3 cover signed Air Commodore Dennis Caldwell, OC 74 Squadron 1969-71 No 74 Squadron have always lived up to their name of the 'Flying Tigers' most famously they were in the thick of the Battle of Britain based at Hornchurch and Biggin Hill tasked with the Defence of London. Post war they switched to jets and were the first RAF Squadron to be equipped with the Lightning - one of the most advanced fighters of its time and capable of Mach 2+.
Based as Coltishall the first Lightning F1s arrived in 1960 and No 74 Squadron provided a four-ship routine for the 1960 Farnborough Airshow and almost became a national institution, such was the fantastic performance. Nine aircraft replaced the four-ship routine in 1961 and the following year the squadron became the official RAF display team, known as the 'Tigers'.
The Squadron moved north to Leuchars in February 1964, F3s equipping the squadron in the April. In 1967 after converting to the longer range F6 the Squadron moved to Tengah, Singapore as part of the Far East Air Force. As the only air defence squadron in the Far East, they were kept very busy with practice scrambles and exercises with other military units and detachments to Australia were common.
We have selected to show English Electric Lightning F3 XP705 'K' of No 74 Squadron circa 1964 to appear on the artwork flying with afterbunners 'on' as she blazes across the sky. The painting was especially commission from Ross Wardle, who was one of the Matchbox Kits artists before the company dropped out of kit market. This cover has been handsigned by Air Commodore D.E. Caldwell, who was Commanding Officer of No 74 Squadron from 1969-71 flying Lightning F6s based at RAF Tengah, Singapore and during his tour completed four flight refuelled sorties from Singapore to Australia. He had previously been Flight Commander of No 19 Squadron flying Lightning F2s at RAF Gutersloh from 1965-67 The cover bears 1st Class Gold definitive stamp cancelled with our BFPS 2777 postmark for the 40th Anniversary of the Lightning F3 in RAF Service - No 74 Squadron - Flying Tigers 14 April 2004. (200 Signed, Numbered and Certified) This is a lovely piece of artwork and makes a visually stunning commemorative cover. The Squadron was reformed in unusual circumstances on 3 September 1935 when separate detachments from Nos 3, 23, 32, 56, 65 and 601 Squadrons en-route to Malta aboard the troopship Neuralia where combined to form No 74 Squadron. Ten months later, the unit and its Demons returned to the UK to form part of the newly created Fighter Command and re-equipped with Gauntlets. In February 1939, the Squadron began converting to Spitfires and these were used to carry out defensive patrols over southern England following the declaration of War in September and later the unit joined the air battles over Dunkirk as the British forces were forced to evacuate from France. No 74 was part of No 12 Group during the Battle of Britain and these battles extracted a heavy toll on both pilots and aircraft, and the Squadron was sent North to regroup. Shortly after moving to the Middle East in April 1942, the Squadron received Hurricanes and these were employed on shipping patrols, before the unit reverted to Spitfires 6 months later. No 74 returned home just in time to take part in the D-Day landings in June 1944, using its aircraft as fighter-bombers supporting the Allied liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. May 1945 saw the arrival of jet aircraft in the shape of the Meteor F3 and these survived until 1957 when Hunters replaced them. Following a move to Coltishall, the unit began working-up on the Lightning and these classic aircraft remained with the Squadron until disbanded on 31 August 1970, by which time the Squadron was based in Singapore. Despite many rumours, No 74 was not reformed until 1984, remarkably with Phantoms, albeit the hybrid F4J(UK), and these were amongst the last of this classic aircraft to fly in RAF service until retirement in October 1992 and the numberplate passed on to one of the Hawk training squadrons at RAF Valley before being disbanded in September 2000. We usually have lots of other items up for sale so why not have a look
No 74 Squadron Royal Air Force
For the six months following its formation at London Colney on 1 July 1917, No 74 Squadron was a training unit flying Avro 504Ks before commencing work-up as a fighter squadron with SE5As prior to moving to France in March 1918. After a short spell with the Army of Occupation, the Squadron returned to the UK in February 1919 and disbanded the following July. 