Escadron de Chasse 1/12 'Cambresis'

Callsign :

Nato Tiger Association status : disbanded member

EC 1/12 “Cambrésis” was formed on 15 May 1952 on Base Aérienne 118 Mont de Marsan (Air Base) and moved on 1 September of that year to BA 103 Cambrai-Épinoy.

It consisted of two Escadrilles (flights) that took up the traditions of SPA 162 “La Guêpe” and SPA 89 “Tigre”.

Squadron N162 (N because of its Nieuport aircraft) was created on 28 January 1918 by splitting Squadron N152.   It became SPA 162 (SPA because of the SPAD aircraft) in May 1918 when it received its first SPAD aircraft, Spad VII and XIII.  It ended the war with 5 certified victories.  During 1919, it was sent to Poland as part of the “Blue Army ”.  The Blue Army (they wore blue French uniforms) or Haller's Army (named after General Józef Haller von Hallenburg), was a Polish military contingent created in France during the latter stages of World War I.  It was formed on 4 June 1917, and was made up of Polish volunteers serving alongside allied forces in France.  After fighting on the Western Front, the army was transferred to Poland, where it joined other Polish military formations fighting for the return of Poland’s independence.  SPA 162 was dissolved in 1919.

SPA 89, created as N89 on 17 March 1917, took its current name on 3 March 1918.  It obtained 9 aerial victories during the conflict.  It was dissolved on 29 July 1919.

To complete EC 12 the “Cambresis” was followed by the creation of EC 2/12 “Picardie” (SPA 172 "Le Perroquet" and SPA 173 "L'oiseau de Paradis") on 27 May 1954 and EC 3/12 “Cornouaille” (Escadrilles ‘Scorpion’ and ‘Dogue’) on 1 December of the same year.

EC 1/12 was the first Frecnh squadron that became operational on a French designed jet: Dassault MD450A “Ouragan”.

After the transfer of its aircraft to Israel in 1955, the squadron switched to Dassault MD454 IVA “Mystère” in 1955, followed by the Dassault B2 “Super Mystère” in April 1959.

In 1960, it became one of the founding units of the NATO Tiger Association.

After 17 years on “Super Mystère”, EC 1/12 was operational on Dassault Mirage F1C from January 1978.  With this new aircraft came also the benefit of Air to Air refuelling.

It was engaged in Chad as part of Operations Manta and Épervier (French military intervention, during the Chadian–Libyan conflict) between 1983 and 1984.  Since then, EC 1/2 has actively participated in the various operations in which France is involved.  External deployments continued, like enforcing the No-Fly zones over Iraq and Bosnia and Mirage 2000 support in Djibouti.

The squadron was transformed to Dassault Mirage 2000C and 2000RDI in the early 90s, being declared operational on this aircraft in July 1992.

At home they were responsible for Air Defence over their part of French territory and QRA (Quick Reaction Alert).

In September 1996, EC 1/12 received a third flight which took over the traditions of SPA 166 "Tarn d'Or".  SPA 166 was created on 16 August 1918.

On 11 June 2010, during the 92nd anniversary of Spa 162, EC 1/12 returned to Chad with Fighter Squadron 2/5 “Île-de-France”.  They thus replaced the last remaining Mirage F1s on the African continent.

In 2011 1/12 "Cambrésis" was dissolved and SPA 162, the only flight of 1/12 to survive, was transferred to 1/7 "Provence".  The squadron was de-activated on 30 March 2012.  SPA 162 is currently part of EC 3/30 "Lorraine" and so the Tiger Tradition was saved.

(all aircraft are to scale, not all drawings show an aircraft in 1/12 markings)

Aircraft

Dassault MD450A Ouragan (1952-1955)

Dassault MD454 IVA Mystère (1955-1959)

Dassault B2 Super Mystère (1959-1978)

Dassault Mirage F1C (1978-1994)

Dassault Mirage F1C (1978-1994)

Dassault Mirage 2000C (1992-2012)

Dassault Mirage 2000RDI (1992-2012)

12 Escadre de Chasse

12 Escadre de Chasse

Escadron de Chasse 1/12  "Cambresis"

Escadron de Chasse 1/12  "Cambresis"

Escadron de Chasse 2/12 "Picardie"

Escadron de Chasse 3/12 "Cornouaille"

Escadron de Chasse 2/5 “Île-de-France”

Escadron de Chasse 1/7 "Provence"

SPA 89  “La Guêpe” (The Wasp)

SPA 162 “Tigre” (Tiger)

SPA 166 "Tarn d'Or" (Golden Crested Hawk)

SPA 172  "Le Perroquet" (The Parrot)

SPA 173 "L'oiseau de Paradis" (The Bird of Paradise)

Escadrille “Dogue” (Dog)

Escadrille “Scorpion” (Scorpion)

Base Aérienne 103 de Cambrai-Épinoy (Mystère era)

Base Aérienne 103 de Cambrai-Épinoy

Base Aérienne de 118 Mont de Marsan

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text & picture sources : own collection & library + the world wide web / No copyright infringement intended : drawings, photos, etc. belong to the rightful owners.