72 Squadron started life in 1917 supporting the British Army during World War I on operations in the Middle East, being disbanded in 1919.

It was reformed in 1937, initially with Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters,[11] moving on to fly Supermarine Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.

For the remainder of World War II it served in a variety of theatres, ending up disbanded in Austria in 1946.

After the jets, it moved to RAF Odiham and from 1961 until 1 April 2002 the squadron flew helicopters in the transport role.

[3] In 1939, these were replaced by Supermarine Spitfires, which were used for air defence and convoy protection duties following the start of World War II.

Then, in May 1940, the squadron moved to RAF Gravesend[14] to provide air cover for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk.

13 Group, before moving south to RAF Biggin Hill during September to aid the main defence force.

[14] The squadron was then moved to North Africa to support the Tunisian campaign before being supplied with the updated Spitfire Mk.IX in 1942.

For the next thirty-eight years they continued to use these aircraft and in that time the squadron saw action in Malaya, provided post-disaster assistance following the Torrey Canyon tanker disaster in 1967 and supported the security forces in Northern Ireland from 1969.

207 (Reserve) Squadron, with both units operating the Short Tucano T.1 at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire.

[21] The final Tucano Basic Fast-jet Training (BFJT) course graduated on 25 October 2019, which was marked with a nine-ship flypast over the local area.