13 Squadron of the RFC were grouped together at Fort Grange, Gosport to form the 5th Wing.

[1] In November 1915 the 5th Wing, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel W. G. H. Salmond, arrived in the Middle East.

In February 1916, 5th Wing HQ was at Ismailia, with auxiliary aerodromes for Nos 14 and 17 Squadrons (flying mostly BE2c aircraft) at Heliopolis, El Qantara and Suez.

14 Sqn was made self-sufficient by being given 80 camels to transport petrol, and a number of sand carts for hauling tents and aircraft spares.

Although the Martinsydes were the best fighting machines available, they were prone to overheating in the hot climate, and were inferior to the two German Halberstadts that had caused several casualties during the First Battle of Gaza.

In October 1917, before the Third Battle of Gaza, 5th Wing consisted of Nos 14 (16 BE2e) and 113 Sqn (8 BE2e, 5 RE8) and was now under the command of Palestine Brigade, RFC.

In September 1918, at the time of the victory of Megiddo, it comprised:[6][7] When hostilities ended the Fifth Wing was headquartered at RAF Ramleh in Palestine.

5 Wing was reformed on 1 April 1923 and its function was to control all RAF fighter squadrons north of the River Thames.