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100 YEARS AGO - September 1917 Ward pic

Major G.B. Ward, MC & bar

On 21 September 1917 the Officer Commanding No 10 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, was killed in action whilst carrying out a photo-recce mission over the German lines. The Squadron was then based at Chocques, near Bethune, in the Pas de Calais.

Major George Bernard Ward MC, who had been OC10 since December 1916, died when his FK8 'Big Ack' aircraft was attacked by four German fighters. His aircraft crashed behind British lines after his observer, 2nd Lt William Archibald Campbell who died of wounds later that day, had attempted to land the aircraft.

Both Ward and Campbell are buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Chocques.

Ironically Major Ward was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross, just five days after his death: his earlier MC having been awarded for previous actions whilst serving on 2 Sqn prior to his 10 Sqn command.

He is remembered in his home Essex village of Foxearth, where the village hall is now named after him and, 100 years after his death, an aircraft of the RAF aerobatic team, The Red Arrows carried his name on the tail of the lead aircraft 'Red 1'. On 25 and 26 August 2017 the Red Arrows, whilst en route to the Clacton Air Show, were able to fly over Foxearth where the villagers had assembled to honour Major George Bernard Ward, MC & bar: - the first of only two OC10s ever to be killed in action.

See: 'Name on a plane' and 'George Bernard Ward' for further reading.

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WELCOME TO THE 10 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

A warm welcome to the 10 Squadron Association website. The Association was created 31 years ago with the aims of preserving the spirit and comradeship formed during service on the unit and developing a close relationship with the present day Squadron. Membership is open to all who have served, or continue to serve, on 10 Squadron and also to relatives and friends of former Squadron members.

Our membership includes those from the Whitley and Halifax days, through the Dakota, Canberra, Victor and VC10 eras and now the new A330 Voyager.

Voy mini

Based at RAF Brize Norton, as part of the AirTanker Hub, 10 Squadron operates the magnificent Voyager aircraft in the AT (Air Transport), AAR (Air-to-Air Refuelling) and VVIP roles and is co-located with the second unit to fly the type, No 101 Squadron. The two squadrons employ a joint manning strategy on flying tasks, without losing a strong sense of individual unit identity. This close relationship between the squadrons can be traced back to 1984 when 101 Squadron reformed at Brize Norton to fly VC10 tankers alongside 10 Squadron's VC10 transport aircraft. Between 2005 and 2011, whilst 10 Squadron was disbanded, 101 Squadron was still operating the VC10 and the Association was privileged to be hosted by the unit during our annual visits to the station.

The Association organizes two main events during the year. We hold a reunion at Brize Norton held over two days each May, to promote a strong fellowship amongst our members. In November a Remembrance Day Service takes place at the 10 Squadron Memorial located near the entrance to the former RAF Melbourne in Yorkshire, where the Squadron was based in WW2. The ceremony preserves the memory of the personnel who sacrificed their lives when serving on the Squadron. All are welcome to attend.

10 Squadron was formed at Farnborough on 1 January 1915 and the comprehensive Centenary celebrations in 2015 included a parade at RAF Brize Norton on 30 January, during which HRH The Princess Royal presented the Squadron with a new Standard.

Please browse through our website which is administered by Dick King, a former VC10 captain on the Squadron. As a potential Association member, the committee hopes you enjoy reading the information on this site. After joining the Association, access to the Members' Area, where many past records and other items of interest await and will then be made available to you.

Michael Westwood

Chairman The 10 Squadron Association

This website is primarily for the interest of current, paid-up members of

The 10 Sqn Association.

Please Note that we have no research facilities for non-Association members.

The front page and Obituaries are available to all viewers but the second level will require registration and a log-in to enable access to the more detailed aspects of the site, once you have joined the 10 Squadron Association.

Joining details may be found in the "How to Join" menu at the top of this page. Should you write to us, by email using the "Contact Us" section, you should achieve a reply within a day or so.

We are always interested to hear from past Squadron members : aircrew, groundcrew and admin staff.

See also our past Newsletters that have been compiled since the Association was formed in 1984.

( MEMBERS ONLY) - Click on the image above for the last paper version Newsletter before being discontinued in the Spring of 2014, in favour of adding latest news into the Crewroom or Events Menus on this website.

By joining the Association you will also be able to view past Squadron Operations Record Books which have been collected in our Archives Project 540 section.

In this age of identity theft and other nasties, we endeavour never to pass on personal and private information to anyone accessing either level of the site without the owner's specific permission being given to one of the site's listed administrators.

The information on this website has been compiled from various sources both privately and from the internet.

It is not our intention to deliberately omit acknowledging those whose information we may have used.

We will be only to pleased to publish such credits if we are so requested by the original sources via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

AIMS OF THE 10 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION

■ To preserve the spirit of comradeship founded during RAF service with 10 Squadron

■ To encourage and sustain a special relationship between 10 Squadron and its Association

■ To provide a focus for maintaining contact with former Squadron colleagues, by encouraging attendance at the Annual Reunion and Remembrance Day Service at the 10 Squadron Memorial

■ To encourage the collection and preservation of documents, photographs, anecdotes and memorabilia with which the Squadron's history may be enhanced

WERE YOU ON 10 SQN?

The website would greatly appreciate stories from your time on the Squadron and photos too, if you have any. We owe it to our successors to keep the memories alive.

Regrettably we do not have research facilities for Family History enquiries but you may find information for your research in our past Newsletters, Archives or Links to other websites page.

For all membership queries email the Secretary to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.