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Come in number 9, your time (in Germany) is up
Tuesday 17 July saw the return of 9 Squadron (IX(Bomber) Squadron) to the UK mainland after a fifteen year spell at Bruggen in Germany. The third squadron to leave Bruggen, it is the first of two to re-locate to RAF Marham in Norfolk, sister squadron 31 will follow in mid-August.
IX(Bomber) Squadron’s arrival at Marham signifies the base’s
elevation to the biggest operational RAF station in England, only
matched in personnel numbers by Lossiemouth in the Moray Firth of
Scotland. With eventually five active front-line squadrons including
the Canberras of 39(1 PRU) Squadron, it will also be one of the busiest,
although at any one time at least one squadron may be deployed overseas.
This expansion at Marham has meant much new infrastructure has been
recently constructed, including refurbishment of some of the taxiways
and hardstanding areas. Two of the The biggest challenge the new squadrons will find in relocating to rural Norfolk will be to find a local pub - they have all shut in Marham village in the last few years! Robin - to the Batcave! IX (Bomber) Squadron - a short history Formed on 8 December 1914 at St Omer as Number 9 (Wireless) Squadron, the Squadron was in the forefront of aviation using wireless telegraphy to assist ground artillery. Serving with distinction at some 23 bases during the First World War, armistice saw the Squadron disband after only five years of existence. Reformed in 1924, the Squadron's task was night bombing, adopting the bat badge in 1917 along with the motto "Per Noctem Volamus" or "We Fly By Night". This motto was given the Royal Seal in 1937, when King Edward VIII approved the Number IX (Bomber) Squadron badge, one of the very few squadron crests to be approved him. More firsts were added to the Squadron's battle honours when it became the first to equip with the Vickers Wellington and then the first to attack Axis forces, bombing shipping at Brunsbettl on 4 September 1939.
Initially assigned to the Tiger Force, the collapse of Japan allowed the Squadron to fly home ex-POWs until converting to the Lincoln in 1946 and later to the Royal Air Force's first jet bomber, the Canberra, in 1953. In 1962, the Avro Vulcan became the Cold War equipment for IX (Bomber) Squadron, serving in the deterrent and attack roles at Royal Air Forces Coningsby, Cottesmore, Akrotiri and later Waddington where the aircraft were retired in preparation for another ‘first’ in 1982. On 6 April, the Squadron became the Royal Air Force’s and NATO’s first operational Tornado squadron at Honington, moving to Bruggen, Germany in 1986.
IX (Bomber) Squadron is now firmly established as the lead Squadron for the Royal Air Force in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) role. For their role in refining and defining tactics for the employment of ALARM, IX (Bomber) Squadron were awarded the Wilkinson Battle of Britain Memorial Sword for tactical development by the Chief of the Air Staff in November 1995. Along with laser guided and conventional bombs, operational and reconnaissance sorties over Iraq and Kosovo, the Squadron continues to live up to its motto "We Fly By Night".
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Guy
Harvey
reports from RAF Marham
Led
by the OC, Group Captain Greg Bagwell, nine Tornado GR4s arrived overhead
Marham at exactly mid-day in diamond formation, signifying the change-over
of control from Bruggen to the Norfolk base. It was a return to East
Anglia as IX(Bomber) Squadron was previously based at RAF Honington
in Suffolk, being the first RAF squadron to occupy a NATO-sponsored
Hardened Aircraft Shelter (HAS) complex, which soon became dubbed
‘Gotham City’ after the unit’s bat insignia. IX(Bomber)
Squadron left Honington in 1986 to become the first Tornado unit in
West Germany.
pre-war
‘C’ type hangars have been refurbished with new administration
blocks to accept the two ex-Bruggen squadrons, IX(Bomber) Squadron
will occupy number one hangar and 31 Squadron number two hangar. The
squadrons will return to operating a flightline, as opposed to operating
from HASs, on the main Aircraft Servicing Platforms once occupied
by the Victor tanker fleet. The existing recce squadrons, 2 and 13
Squadrons, will continue to use their respective HAS 
complexes
on the south side of the airfield while 39(1 PRU) will continue to
operate off the main ASP by number four hangar. It is planned to replace
the existing Victor gate guardian with a Tornado in the near future
- amazingly some of the older airframes are now twenty years old!
After initial trials
with the Manchester, in 1942 IX (Bomber) Squadron was equipped with the Avro Lancaster,
flying these aircraft throughout the rest of the war, Along with 617 Squadron, IX (Bomber)
Squadron was chosen to use the 12,000 lb "Tallboy" bomb, culminating in the
attack against the German battleship "Tirpitz" in Tromso Fjord in November 1944.
At the end of the war in Europe, members of the Squadron had earned many distinctions,
among them the first DFM of the war and a Victoria Cross won by Flight Sergeant George
Thomson for rescuing his mid-upper and tail gunners from their burning turrets in January
1945. 
Following the invasion of
Kuwait on 2 August 1990, six IX (Bomber) Squadron crews and fifty groundcrew deployed to
Dhahran in Saudi Arabia in January 1991 and, from the outset of the Gulf War, flew over
200 missions dropping over 300 1,0001b bombs with no casualties. In 1993, IX (Bomber)
Squadron became the first Royal Air Force squadron to he equipped with the British
Aerospace ALARM anti-radiation missile.