First World War

No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Deir el-Balah, Palestine, on 1 August 1917, under the command of Major Shekleton, with a mixed bag of single seat fighters as the first dedicated fighter squadron in the region.^[4] Its mission was to restrict enemy reconnaissance flights and challenge the German fighter presence over Suez. It was reinforced by Bristol F.2 Fighters in September, one of these claiming the first aerial victory for No. 111 Squadron on 8 October.^[5] The squadron began to receive the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a in October 1917. The same month also saw a change of command with Major Shekleton was replaced by Major Strent, after Shekleton became Commander of the 40th (Army) Wing.^[4] By December, No. 111 Squadron was based at Julis.^[4]

The squadron handed over its Bristol Fighters to No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps in February 1918, becoming completely equipped with single seat fighters.^[6] In Spring 1918, while based at Ramleh, Major Strent was replaced in command by Major Hereward de Havilland, younger brother of aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland.^[4] In September 1918, Treble One participated in the Battle of Megiddo, tasked with attacking the German airfield at Jenin.^[4] By the time the Armistice with Turkey ended the war in the Middle East in October, No. 111 Squadron had claimed 44 enemy aircraft destroyed and a further 13 forced down for the loss of two pilots killed in combat, one prisoner and three wounded.^[7] The squadron had produced four aces: Austin Lloyd Fleming, future Air Marshal Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond, Charles Davidson, and Arthur Peck.^{[8][better source needed]}

Inter-War

Treble One moved to Egypt after the War ended and then to Ramla in Palestine on 6 February 1919, re-equipping with the Bristol Fighter. On 1 February 1920, the squadron renumbered to No. 14 Squadron.^[7] On 1 October 1923, No. 111 Squadron reformed at RAF Duxford, equipped with a single flight of six Gloster Grebe fighters, the first Grebes to enter service with the RAF.^[7][9] These were supplemented by a second flight of First World War-vintage Sopwith Snipes in April 1924, and by a third flight of Armstrong Whitworth Siskins in June 1924, completely equipping itself with Siskins in January 1925.^[10] The squadron, tasked with defending London, replaced its Siskins with Bristol Bulldogs in January–February 1931, with its Siskins being passed on to No. 19 Squadron.^[11] The squadron moved to RAF Northolt in July 1934^[12] and re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets in May–June 1936. The squadron became the first Hawker Hurricane squadron in January 1938.^[11]

Second World War

Cold War

The squadron was not reactivated until 2 December 1953 when it received Gloster Meteor F.8s at RAF North Weald. The Meteors were soon replaced with Hawker Hunters and Treble One moved to RAF Wattisham, Suffolk. They achieved international acclaim with their 'Black Arrows' aerobatic display team using the Hawker Hunter, under the command of Squadron Leader Roger Topp.^[15]

The squadron received the all-weather English Electric Lightning fighter in 1962 which it operated for 12 years. In 1965, under Squadron Leader George Black (later AVM) and fully equipped with Lightning F3's, it was chosen to provide a combined display with the Red Arrows for the Paris Air Show in June of that year. During the 2 to 3 months workup of the Diamond Nine formation plus a solo aerobatics Lightning, the squadron fielded 10 aircraft per day, a remarkable achievement for what was a somewhat difficult aircraft to service. In 1974, the squadron moved from RAF Wattisham after almost 18 years and re-equipped with the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 at RAF Coningsby, before moving north to RAF Leuchars on 3 November 1975.

Tornado F.3 (1990–2011)

The squadron began to re-equip with the Tornado F.3 in 1990.^[14] Throughout its time at Leuchars the No. 111 (F) Squadron was tasked with the maintenance of Quick Reaction Alert, which involves keeping aircraft at a high state of readiness to intercept, identify and, should it be necessary, destroy hostile aircraft approaching UK airspace. The squadron was involved in Operation Deny Flight and Operation Deliberate Force over Bosnia, Operations Bolton and Resinate in the Middle East and regularly participated in major Air Defence exercises, both in the UK and abroad.

Led by Wing Commander Rob Birch, No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron was involved in Operation Telic where it formed the major part of the Tornado F3 Wing at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Following the disbandment of No. 43 Squadron in July 2009, Treble One was the sole RAF Tornado F3 unit.^[16][17] The squadron disbanded at RAF Leuchars on 22 March 2011.^[3]