FIRST IN THE INDIAN SKY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 41, 22 January 1943, Page 4

FIRST IN THE INDIAN SKY

Proud record, of No. 31 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (Indian Wing) is that it. was the first ever" to fly in India. And for 27 years'' until the present day it has been flying without break in this country. The. first flight of this famous squadron arrived at Nowshera in 1915, at the request of the Viceroy, for work on the North West Frontier. Thej r adopted for their crest the five-pointed star of India, and the motto: "In Caelum lodicum Primus"—"First into the. Indian Skies." Another "first" the Squadron can claim is that it flew in co-opera-tion with the Army in N.W. Frontier engagements in 1916, the first time any unit of the Royal Air Force—then hhe Royal Flying Corps —took part in operations in India. Afterwards it was employed on many occasions on the N.W. Frontier and in the 3rd Afghan War. Flights of the Squadron have flown in all parts, of India. The 31st Squadron is also jjroud of yet another "first." Its first R.A.F. Commanding Officer was Squadron Leader A. T'. Harris, now Air Marshal A. T. Harris G. 8., o.B' E., A.F.C., hard-hitting chief of the R.A.F.'s Bomber Command which is pounding at the heart of Germany with such devastating feet.