No. 37 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron of the First and Second World Wars. History First World War No. 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Orfordness, Suffolk, on 15 April 1916 as an experimental squadron, but it was disbanded a month later when it was absorbed back into the experimental station at Orfordness. On 15 September of that year, it was re-formed, with its headquarters at Woodham Mortimer, and detachments at Rochford, Stow Maries and Goldhanger, all in Essex. The squadron operated a mixture of aircraft, including B.E.2s, B.E.12s and F.E.2bs. Its responsibilities included defending London against aerial attack, both by German Zeppelins at night and by aircraft during the day. As a result of the start of large-scale attacks by German Gotha bombers, the squadron received several Sopwith 1½ Strutters in May 1917, with better performance than its existing aircraft, which struggled to catch the Gothas, and Sopwith Pup fighters were also received to counter the Gothas, although by August, the Pups had been withdrawn to form new Home Defence squadrons. On the night of 16/17 June 1917, one of the squadron's B.E.12s, flown by Lieutenant Pierce Watkins, attacked the Zeppelin L48, which caught fire and crashed. While the airship was also attacked almost simultaneously by an F.E.2 and a DH.2 from the Orfordness experimental station, Watkin was officially given sole credit for shooting down L48. In August the squadron (together with 50 Squadron) experimented with using radio equipped B.E.12s to report on the movements of enemy aircraft, to allow the daytime Gotha raids to be tracked. The squadron became part of the new Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. As it was assigned to patrol to the north of London where attacks were less likely, it retained its obsolete B.E.12s well into 1918, receiving its first modern S.E.5s in May. In October 1918, the squadron re-equipped with Sopwith Camels and in December replaced these by Sopwith Snipes. The squadron moved to Biggin Hill in March 1919 and in July 1919 it was renumbered as No. 39 Squadron RAF. Bomber squadron In April 1937, the squadron was re-formed as No. 37 (Bomber) Squadron at RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, East Anglia from a nucleus provided by No. 214 Squadron RAF, equipped with the Handley Page Harrow heavy bomber. It re-equipped with Vickers Wellingtons in May 1939, retaining them at the outbreak of