503 ( City of Lincoln ) Squadron RAuxAF
503 Squadron Handley Page Hinaidis at RAF Waddington early 1930s
No. 503 (City of Lincoln) Squadron RAuxAF was an auxiliary squadron of the RAF which operated as a bomber squadron in the 1920s and 1930s and was disbanded before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The squadron was formed on 5 October 1926 at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire as No. 503 (Bombing) Squadron of the Special Reserve composed of part-time volunteers.
Robert Oxland
Initially it was under the command of S/L Robert Oxland and equipped with the two seat Fairey Fawn light day bombers. In 1929 the Squadron was re-equipped with the Handley Page Hyderabad heavy night bomber. In 1933 these were replaced by the more modern and improved Handley Page Hinaidi which was a far more robust machine.
In October 1935 the Squadron changed role again to become a day bomber squadron equipped this time with the Westland Wallace. These were in turn replaced by the Hawker Hart in June 1936 and in July 1938 these were replaced by the updated Hawker Hind. However before the full allocation of Hinds was received in 1938 it was decided to switch the role of the Auxiliary Air Force to that of air defence and on 1 November 1938 503 Squadron was disbanded by renumbering it to 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron at RAF Doncaster.
During WW2 616 served with great distinction equipped with various Marks of Spitfires. In July 1944 they were the first RAF Squadron to be equipped with the new Gloster Meteor jet fighter
As noted above in its short history 503 was equipped with a variety of aircraft :-
October 1926 - June 1929 - Fairey Fawn - Mks.II & III
February 1929 - January 1934 - Handley Page Hyderabad
October 1933 - November 1935 - Handley Page Hinaidi
October 1935 - September 1936 - Westland Wallace - Mk.I
November 1935 - September 1936 - Westland Wallace - Mk.II
June 1936 - November 1938 - Hawker Hart
June 1938 - November 1938 - Hawker Hind
Compiled by David Fell with photos from my archive and TTE
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