33 Squadron RAF Anniversary Dinner

On Saturday 17 January I was honoured to be a guest at the 33 Squadron Association’s celebration of the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Squadron. The Squadron has been affiliated with Worshipful Company of Founders since 2002.

Bring the 33rd Company in the order of precedence, it is entirely appropriate that our RAF affiliation is with 33 Squadron. It is a venerable squadron, being formed on 12 January 1916 at Filton, in Bristol. It was no coincidence, therefore, that the celebration took place at Filton, 500 yards from where it was formed.

What made the occasion extra special was that the dinner took place under the last Concorde to fly.

Concorde was built at Filton (and Toulouse) which is why it is now on display as part of Bristol Aerospace. This was particularly poignant for me as my maternal grandparents lived in Bristol and their next-door neighbour worked at Filton, almost certainly on Concorde. I recall seeing Concorde in the summer of 69 when our class visited the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust established by Peter Scott. On our departure, Concorde was on a test flight in the area. Later, when it came into service, it flew over us in Reading twice a day, the morning flight stopping lessons with its roar. To the end, it was always a plane which made people stop, look up and admire its elegant, aerodynamic shape.

The 33 Squadron Association and the celebration dinner was the brainchild of Sgt Paul Davies. It was wonderful to have present at the dinner members of the squadron ranging from a pilot who last flew in 1957 to those who have recently won their wings. Paul made sure that those 134 members of the Squadron who had lost their lives were not forgotten. In the middle of the tables was one laid up but not used. The Roll of Honour was open in the middle of the table. This very powerful memorial was underlined by each guest having a brief history of one of the 134, the first of whom lost his life only 4 months after the Squadron was formed.

The Association President is Air Commodore Paul Lyall, a very popular former CO of the Squadron spoke eloquently about absent friends, the current lodging of the Colours and (to a mighty cheer) the anticipated return of the Squadron within about 18 months.

33 Squadron has had many different roles in its 110-year history as its battle honour will show:

Those marked with an * are on the squadron standard.

• Home Defence (1916–1918)*

• Palestine (1936–1939)

• Egypt and Libya (1940–1943)*

• Greece (1941)*

• El Alamein*

• France and Germany (1944–1945)*

• Normandy (1944)*

• Walcheren*

• Rhine*

• Gulf (1991)*

• Iraq (2003–2011)*

Having lodged its standard in January 1970, the squadron reformed on 14 June 1971 at RAF Odiham, Hampshire as the RAF's first Westland Puma squadron. On 13 June 1997 it relocated to RAF Benson where it continued to fly Puma helicopters until they were taken out of service in March 2025. The squadron had previously flown, amongst others, the Spitfire IX during Operation Overlord and beyond and the de Havilland Venom in the 1950s.

The Squadron formally ‘Lodged’ their Colours at RAF Cranwell on 25 October 2025. This has happened at least twice in the last 110 years. The Squadron will be returning as soon as a new helicopter for the RAF is commissioned.

The Worshipful Company of Founders will continue to support 33 Sqdn Association until the Squadron itself rises again like a phoenix (or helicopter!). “Loyalty” is the Squadron motto. Loyalty is what the Squadron will have from us.