During the First World War, the squadron had many aces amongst its ranks such as James McCudden, Albert Ball, Reginald Hoidge and Arthur Rhys-Davids, developing a fierce reputation for the unit.

In the 1960s, the squadron had their own aerobatic display team, 'The Firebirds', which consisted of nine English Electric Lightning F.1As, which participated at many airshows.

[6] On 13 March 1917, the squadron became the first unit in the entire RFC to be equipped with the then brand new Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 fighter.

[7] The squadron did shoot down and kill Richthofen's nearest 1917 rival Leutnant Werner Voss in an epic dogfight, on 23 September 1917 by Lieutenant Arthur Rhys-Davids.

Captain James McCudden, eventual highest scoring pilot of the squadron, joined on 13 August.

Rhys-Davids made his final sortie on 27 October 1917, taking off for a routine patrol he chased after a group of Albatros fighters after which he was never seen again.

McCudden was sent back to England on 5 March, where he was promoted to Major and received the Victoria Cross, he died on 9 July in an accident while on his way to take command of No.

[14] The same month saw the squadron convert to the Gloster Grebe Mk.II, flying them until they were exchanged for Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk.IIIas in September 1927.

[5] The squadron finally settled at RAF North Weald in October 1927, where it remained until the end of 1939 and the start of the Second World War.

[17] Two pilots of the squadron were shot down and one, P/O Montague Hulton-Harrop, was killed, becoming the RAF's first casualty in the defence of the UK.

It was heavily involved in the fighting in the south of England during August, although the squadron moved to RAF Boscombe Down on the 1 September.

[13] It was one of the few fighter squadrons to remain based in the south of England continuously through the battle, scoring 59 kills by the end.

In the latter months of the war, the Firebirds were deployed to several airfields in Europe: including Volkel, in the Netherlands; Copenhagen; and numerous bases in Germany.

[7] The squadron evaluated both Swift variants up until March 1955 when the F.1 and F.2s were withdrawn from service due to their poor performance.

[5] On 10 July 1958, the squadron moved to RAF Wattisham, where they would spend some 35 years defending UK airspace, intercepting Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" aircraft.

[20] In December 1960, the squadron began to convert to the English Electric Lightning F.1A, with their last Hunters disbanding in January 1961.

56 (F) Squadron formed a display team called "The Firebirds", flying nine red and silver Lightnings.

[29] On 6 June 1963, the display team suffered an accident at RAF Wattisham during preparations for the 25th Paris Air Show.

56 (F) Squadron deployed to RAF Luqa, Malta, to participate in an Armament Practice Camp (APC).

[33] The following October, the Firebirds deployed once more to Luqa, this time to participate in an air defence exercise alongside Avro Vulcans, English Electric Canberra PR.9s and No.

[35] A detachment of four Lightnings deployed to Luqa between 11 and 20 December 1971 to carry out scrambles, night flying and practise in-flight refuelling with a Handley Page Victor K.1A of No.

56 (F) Squadron flew extensive top cover over Cyprus during the 1974 Cypriot coup d'état and the subsequent Turkish invasion of the island.

[7] It wasn't until 29 June that the Lightning F.6s were disbanded and the Squadron Standard was formally handed over to RAF Coningsby.

56 (F) Squadron's Phantom FGR.2s which used Rolls-Royce Spey engines, UK MOD Radar systems and other RAF modifications.

[44] Plans had originally been for the RAF to retain both Phantom squadrons but under the Options for Change defence review in 1990 the decision was made to withdraw both units.

On 13 June 1992, the Firebirds and the Tigers participated in Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday flypast, flying over Buckingham Palace with a 16-ship diamond formation, which was made up of eight Phantoms from each squadron.

229 OCU) conducting training of Ab initio crew and aircrew converting from other aircraft types to the Tornado F.3.

43 (F) Squadron as part of the Tornado F.3 force draw down, with the Fighting Cocks taking over the OCU role.

56 (R) Squadron disbanded on 18 April 2008 at RAF Leuchars, with the occasion marked by a diamond nine formation flypast over Eastern Scotland.

[51] On 10 June 2018, the Firebirds paraded through the village of North Weald, where the squadron was based between 1927 and 1941, after being awarded the 'Freedom of the District' by the local council.