[1][2] Up until its disbandment in October 2009, it operated the Boeing Sentry AEW1 Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.

23 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Fort Grange, Gosport on 1 September 1915, commanded by Louis Strange and equipped with a mixture of types.

A detachment of Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C's were deployed to Sutton's Farm to act as night fighters to oppose raids by German Zeppelins, but no successful interceptions resulted.

The squadron used the FE2b on close-escort duties and to fly standing patrols to engage hostile aircraft wherever they could be found, helping to establish air superiority in the build-up to the Battle of the Somme.

[9] It numbered 19 aces among its ranks during the war, including: William Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick; Douglas U. McGregor; James Pearson; Clive W. Warman; Frederick Gibbs; Conn Standish O'Grady; Herbert Drewitt; James Fitz-Morris; Harold Albert White; Alfred Edwin McKay; Harry Compton; and Arthur Bradfield Fairclough, MC.

[10] The squadron was re-formed on 1 July 1925 at RAF Henlow with the Sopwith Snipe,[11] under command of the First World War air ace Raymond Collishaw.

[13][14][15] The squadron moved to RAF Biggin Hill in September 1932 and by April 1933, was fully equipped with Hart fighters, which by then were known as Hawker Demons.

[12] In December 1938 the squadron replaced its obsolete Demon biplanes with the Bristol Blenheim twin-engine monoplane, another bomber converted to a fighter.

[20] In 1957 the squadron converted to the Gloster Javelin all-weather fighter, beginning a long period operating in the air defence role.

Flying a majority of control and surveillance sorties over the Balkans, the unit received a battle honour for its direct support during the Kosovo campaign.

Air Officer Commanding Sir Peter Wykeham was credited with shooting down at least 15 hostile aircraft at various theatres of World War II.

Andrew George Walton flew with the squadron in Tornados and Phantoms, and rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal, receiving a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the process, before retiring in 2010.