47 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed at Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire on 1 March 1916 as a home defence unit, protecting Hull and East Yorkshire against attack by German Zeppelins, being equipped with a mix of aircraft, including Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s, FK.8s and Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12s.

When the German battlecruiser Goeben ran aground in the Dardanelles after the Battle of Imbros, three 47 Squadron aircraft were sent to attack the stranded ship.

47 Squadron, now divested of its fighters, and solely equipped with Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8s, was used mainly in the Corps Reconnaissance role, but were used to bomb the retreating Bulgarian forces following the Allied offensive of September 1918.

[5] One notable incident occurred on 30 July 1919, when, during an attack by C Flight DH.9s on Bolshevik gunboats at Tcherni-Yar, the DH.9 flown by William Elliot was shot down.

On seeing this, the DH.9 flown by Captain Anderson, despite itself receiving damage that required his gunner, Lt Mitchell to climb onto the wing and block a leaking fuel tank with his thumb, landed next to the stricken aircraft to rescue its crew.

[9][10] Anderson and Mitchell were recommended for the Victoria Cross for this action, but in the end they were awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

[15] Between 27 October and 19 November 1925, three aircraft, led by Squadron Leader Arthur Coningham (later an Air Vice Marshal and commander of the Western Desert Air Force during the Second World War), carried out the first RAF round trip flight between Egypt and Kano, Nigeria, covering 6,500 miles in 24 days, with 85 hours flying time.

[14][19] In June 1939 the squadron started to operate the Vickers Wellesley monoplane, retaining a flight of Vincents for Army co-operation purposes.

[21] 47 Squadron continued to bomb Italian forces in Eritrea until they surrendered in May 1941, and then flying operations in support of British and Commonwealth forces in Ethiopia, including dropping supplies to allied troops, until the final Italian surrender in Gondar in November 1941.

[6][22] The squadron moved with the Beaufighters to India in March 1944, re-equipping with de Havilland Mosquitos in October that year.

This was not a success as the Mosquito was almost immediately grounded owing to failures of the wooden structure due to the hot and humid Indian climate, and it re-acquired the Beaufighter in November.

The conversion process was rushed as the aircraft were needed to support the Berlin Airlift, with the Squadron moving to Schleswigland, near Kiel in West Germany on 1 November 1948.

The squadron also supported operations in Cyprus, Kuwait and East Africa and carried out mercy flights related to floods, droughts and natural disasters.

To make the trip from Ascension to the Falklands, several Hercules were given additional fuel tanks and fitted with refuelling probes.

47 Squadron also prepared to fly elements of the Special Air Service to Argentina for the aborted Operation Mikado.

47 Squadron held its disbandment parade at RAF Brize Norton, in a service led by the Princess Royal, ahead of its official stand down on 21 September 2023 due to the retirement of the Hercules.

[37] On 23 June 2023, at a farewell party for the Hercules at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, 47 Squadron's band performed in front of a Hercules rear cargo ramp, joined by vocalist Bruce Dickinson for songs by Dickinson's band Iron Maiden.