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No.216 Sqn RAF Founded : 1st April 1918 Country : UK Fate : The squadron was disbanded on 20 March 2014. Known Aircraft Codes : HM, SH, VT CCXVI dona ferens - 216 bearing gifts Number 216 Squadron can trace its roots to 'A' Squadron, RNAS, which formed at Manston on 5 Oct 1917 with four Handley Page 0/100s. After moving to Ochey in France as a strategic night bomber squadron, it was redesignated No. 16 Squadron, RNAS, on 8 Jan 1918. When the RAF was formed on 1 Apr 1918 was renumbered No. 216 Squadron, and soon afterwards became part of the Independent Force under Major General Trenchard flying Handley Page 0/400s. Between the two world wars the squadron used Vickers Vimy, Vickers Victoria and Vickers Type 264 Valentia aircraft on transport duties around the Middle East. During the Second World War, with a few exceptions, such as the attacks from 17 to 21 June 1940 by single aircraft of No. 216 Squadron on the airfields of El Adem and Tobruk,[1] the unit was principally a transport squadron, operating the Vickers Type 264 Valentia, Bristol Bombay, Vickers Wellington, Lockheed Hudson and Douglas Dakota. deployed to Greece from October 1944 to August 1946 as the primary transport unit for British forces involved in the Greek Civil War he Dakotas remained on strength until late 1949 when they were replaced by Valettas, and a move to Lyneham in 1955 was followed by introduction of the Comet jet transport in to RAF service a year later. Later versions of the Comet were flown until the Squadron was disbanded (for the first time) on 30 June 1975. After a brief reformation as a maritime strike squadron with Buccaneers in 1979-80, No. 216 Sqn was 'reactivated' (it was never officially disbanded) in its current form on 1 November 1984 at Brize Norton with Tristars. As a dual role tanker/transport squadron, No. 216 has been part of many of the UK's subsequent operations, and took a leading role in Operation Allied Force with three aircraft based in Italy in support of NATO aircraft. In 1984 the RAF purchased a further three Tristar 500s from Pan-Am. Of the three ex-Pan Am aircraft one was stored and the remaining two formed the backbone of the air trooping service to the Falkland Islands as Tristar C2s, carrying 267 passengers in an airline configuration. The stored aircraft was upgraded with military radios and avionics, becoming the C2A. No. 216 Squadron has deployed the Tristar fleet in support of many high profile missions including the Gulf War (for which it received a desert paint scheme,) Operation Allied Force (Kosovo,) Operation Veritas and Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) and Operation Telic (Iraq 2003), Operation Ellamy (Libya). The squadron was disbanded on 20 March 2014.

No.216 Sqn RAF

No.216 Sqn RAF Artwork Collection Click the images below to view the fantastic artwork we have available to purchase!

Clipped Signature - William Hall.

Global Support by Robert Tomlin.

Aircraft for : No.216 Sqn RAF
A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.216 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Squadron	Info
Bombay Click the name above to see prints featuring Bombay aircraft.	Bombay Full profile not yet available.
Dakota Click the name above to see prints featuring Dakota aircraft. Manufacturer : Douglas Production Began : 1941 Retired : 1970	Dakota DOUGLAS DAKOTA, Transport aircraft with three crew and can carry 28 passengers. speed 230-mph, and a altitude of 23,200 feet. maximum range 2,100 miles. The Douglas Dakota served in all theatres of world war two, The Royal Air Force received its first Douglas Dakota's in April 1941, to 31 squadron which was serving in India. These were DC2, later DC3 and eventually C-47 Dakotas were supplied. The Douglas Dakota was developed from the civil airliner of the 1930's. The Royal Air Force received nearly 2,000 Dakotas, But many more than this served in the US Air Force and other allied countries. The last flight of a Douglas Dakota of the Royal Air Force was in 1970. You can still see Douglas Dakota's in operational and transport use across the world.
Valentia Click the name above to see prints featuring Valentia aircraft.	Valentia Full profile not yet available.

Signatures for : No.216 Sqn RAF
A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name.
Name	Info
Pilot Officer Bill Leckie, AEM, KW Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Pilot Officer Bill Leckie, AEM, KW	Pilot Officer Bill Leckie, AEM, KW Bill Leckie was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 23rd June 1921, joined the Royal Air Force in June 1941 and went to St Johns Wood on the 15th of September 1941. Bill Leckie started his flying training on the 4th of April 1942 at Stoke Orchard near Cheltenham in Tiger Moths. He went to Canada on the 26th of May 1942 at Monkton for further training until June before going on to Detroit and on to Pensacola, Florida on the 1st October 1942, flying Stearman and Catalina Flying boats until 31st March 1943 when Bill went to Prince Edward Island for further training. Back in the UK, Bill was expecting to join a Coastal Command squadron flying Catalinas but was transferred to Bomber Command and a conversion course on to Whitleys at Kinloss Scotland on the 22nd of February 1944, and joined 77 Squadron at Full Sutton on the 19th July 1944 on Halifaxes, flying 6 bombing missions, one being the bombing of the Flying Bomb Factory at Russesheim, before transferring to 148 Special Duties squadron on the 19th of August 1944 and going to Brindisi. Pilot Officer Bill Leckie was involved in the dropping of supplies (guns, ammunition and food) to the Polish during the Warsaw uprising. This was a costly mission and many aircraft were lost. (Bill was flying Halifax JD319 (FS - G). For his efforts in air-dropping supplies during this period, Bill Leckie was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour (KW). Pilot Officer Bill Leckie was also the Pilot for Operation Ebensburg on Sunday 8th April 1945. Halifax B.II Series 1 (Special) JP254 of 148 Special Duties Squadron carried out the misison to drop four SOE agents and their equipment near Alt Aussee salt mine in the Austrian Alps. Thier mission was to secure and protect 6,755 items of the worlds greatest works of art that had been looted and stored by the Germans as they swept across Europe. With the allied forces closing in, the Germans had planned to blow up the entire store to prevent the artworks from falling into the hands of the liberators. Once on the ground, the four agents linked up with local resistance fighters and the mine and its valuable contents were eventually secured, the explosives made safe and the entire cache taken into the safe keeping of the 80th US Infantry Division as the German occupation of Europe crumbled. Bill Leckie stayed with 148 Squadron until 18th May 1945 when he was posted to Cairo with 216 Squadron (Dakotas) of Transport Command and on 1st January 1946 to 78 Squadron flying Dakotas again until 1st June 1946 , finally leaving the RAF on the 18th September 1946.