[6] No 7 Squadron deployed to France in April 1915, flying Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5s for reconnaissance and Vickers Gunbuses as escort fighters.

Captain John Aidan Liddell of 7 Squadron won the Victoria Cross for his actions on 31 July 1915, when he continued his reconnaissance mission over Belgium after the aircraft was hit by ground fire, the aircraft being badly damaged and Liddell suffering a broken thigh.

[7][10] It re-formed at RAF Bircham Newton on 1 June 1923 with the Vickers Vimy as a night heavy bomber squadron, continuing in this role with a succession of types through the inter-war period.

[13] In 1927 it moved to RAF Worthy Down, commanded by Charles Portal, later to become Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War.

[15] By this time, the elderly Virginia was obsolete and in April 1935 they were replaced by the more modern Handley Page Heyford, with which the squadron won the Lawrence Minot trophy yet again in 1935.

[17][18] On the outbreak of the Second World War, it continued to be used for training bomber crews, disbanding on 4 April 1940 when it merged with 76 Squadron to form No.

[17] On 1 August 1940 it reformed, becoming the first squadron to equip with the new Short Stirling heavy bomber, the first RAF squadron to operate four engined bombers during the Second World War, flying the first bombing raids with the Stirling against oil storage tanks near Rotterdam on the night of 10/11 February 1941.

Based at RAF Upwood, the Lincoln was for several years the front line Cold War bomber aircraft.

[26] On 2 June 1994, a 7 Squadron Chinook HC.2 (ZD576) crashed into the Mull of Kintyre while carrying 25 senior members of the British security forces from RAF Aldergrove, Belfast to Inverness.