View source for Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Fighter Squadron 1/2 Cigognes
| native_name = Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes
| image = [[File:Mirage-060808-F-6489S-011.jpg|250px]]
| alt =
| caption = [[Dassault Mirage 2000]]-5F of the 1/2 seen during [[exercise Red Flag]] at [[Nellis AFB]].
| dates = November 1945 - present
| country = {{flagicon|FRA}} [[France]]
| countries =
| branch = [[File:Roundel of France.svg|23px]] [[French Air and Space Force|Armée de l'air et de l'espace]]
| type = [[Fighter aircraft]]
| role = Air Defense
| size =
| command_structure = [[2e Escadre de Chasse|2<sup>e</sup> Escadre de Chasse]]
| garrison = BA 116 [[Luxeuil - Saint-Sauveur Air Base]]
| garrison_label =
| nickname =
| patron =
| motto =
| colors = <!-- or | colours = -->
| colors_label = <!-- or | colours_label = -->
| march =
| mascot =
| anniversaries =
| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| battles =
| decorations =
| battle_honours =
| battle_honours_label =
| disbanded =
| flying_hours =
| website =
<!-- Commanders -->
| current_commander =
| commander1 =
| commander1_label =
| commander2 =
| commander2_label =
| commander3 =
| commander3_label =
| commander4 =
| commander4_label =
| commander5 =
| commander5_label =
| commander6 =
| commander6_label =
| commander7 =
| commander7_label =
| notable_commanders =
<!-- Insignia -->
| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_label =
| identification_symbol_2 =
| identification_symbol_2_label =
| identification_symbol_3 =
| identification_symbol_3_label =
| identification_symbol_4 =
| identification_symbol_4_label =
<!-- Aircraft -->
| aircraft_attack =
| aircraft_bomber =
| aircraft_electronic =
| aircraft_fighter =[[Dassault Mirage 2000]]-5F
| aircraft_helicopter =
| aircraft_helicopter_attack =
| aircraft_helicopter_cargo =
| aircraft_helicopter_multirole =
| aircraft_helicopter_observation =
| aircraft_helicopter_transport =
| aircraft_helicopter_trainer =
| aircraft_helicopter_utility =
| aircraft_interceptor =
| aircraft_patrol =
| aircraft_recon =
| aircraft_trainer =
| aircraft_transport =
| aircraft_tanker =
| aircraft_general =
}}
'''Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes''' (Fighter Squadron 1/2 Cigognes) is a [[French Air and Space Force]] (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) [[Fighter aircraft|fighter]] [[squadron (aviation)|squadron]] currently stationed at BA 116 [[Luxeuil - Saint-Sauveur Air Base]], [[Haute-Saône]], France {{airport codes||LFSX}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/activites/unites-aeriennes/escadrons-de-chasse/escadron-de-chasse-01.002-cigognes|title=Escadron de chasse 01.002 " Cigognes "|publisher=French MoD|accessdate=15 December 2015|language=French }}</ref>
It inherits the traditions of three notable [[World War I]] units: ''[[Escadrille 3|SPA 3]]'' of the famous ace [[Georges Guynemer]], ''[[Escadrille 26|SPA 26]]'', ''[[Escadrille 103|SPA 103]]'' of [[René Fonck]], and ''[[Escadrille 12|SPA 12]]''.<ref name=CigsAF>[http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/au_coeur_de_la_defense/unites_aeriennes/chasse/escadron_de_chasse_01_002_cigognes French Air Force web site] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090426040143/http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/au_coeur_de_la_defense/unites_aeriennes/chasse/escadron_de_chasse_01_002_cigognes Archived] 2009-09-03) (fr).</ref>
Heir to [[Escadrille 3]] (the "Cigognes" Escadrille), EC 1/2 Cigognes was created in November 1945, by reorganizing [[No. 329 Squadron RAF]], which was constituted by pilots of the '''Groupe de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes''' after the armistice of 1940. The latter was deployed to [[French Indochina]], and flew combat missions on [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s, with Escadrille SPA 3 stationed in [[Saigon]] and the SPA 103 stationed in [[Hanoi]]. Upon its return to mainland France, the squadron converted to the [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]] in 1948.
==History==
[[File:Guynemer en 1916 par le Petit Journal.jpg|thumb|left|150px|10 September 1916 cover of Le Petit Journal showing Georges Guynemer]]
[[File:Le Petit Journal - René Fonck.jpg|thumb|right|150px|25 April 1918 cover of Le Petit Journal showing René Fonck]]
===Before and during World War I===
Following a decision taken by the French Army General Council,<ref>[http://www.ba102.fr/LIEUX-HISTOIRE/BA-102/1912-Debuts-Maladiere.htm Law of 29 March 1912] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225093007/http://ba102.fr/LIEUX-HISTOIRE/BA-102/1912-Debuts-Maladiere.htm |date=25 December 2008 }}. "Military aeronautics is charged with the study, the acquisition or the construction and the putting into a working state, of aerial navigation devices useable by the Army, such as balloons, aeroplanes and kites." This was not strictly, the founding of the French Air Force but it was an effective step in that direction. Accessed 2009-08-30.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225093007/http://ba102.fr/LIEUX-HISTOIRE/BA-102/1912-Debuts-Maladiere.htm Archived] 2009-09-03.</ref> in June 1912, the first flights of the French air arm were formed. One of these was established at the army camp of [[Avord Air Base|Avord]], in [[Cher (department)|Cher]]. Its designation, BL 3, arose from the aircraft type with which it was equipped, the [[Blériot XI]]. Once established, the flight moved eastward, towards [[Alsace]]. The sight of this 'migration' led to comparison with the storks which are harbingers of spring in Alsace. So the name 'Cigogne' came to be associated in people's minds with BL 3.<ref name="Squadron site">Squadron site</ref> Alsace had been part of France until [[Franco-Prussian War|1871]] but was under German control as of 1912. The association therefore touched French pride.
It was not until 1916, under the pressure of the [[World War I|Great War]] in which aircraft numbers grew rapidly, that the association between the emblem and the unit became official. So that aircrews should be able to recognise other members of their own flight, in order to regroup after dispersal during fighting, the command of the Somme Combat Group, of which Escadrille 3 was then a part, ordered that clear symbols be painted on aircraft. By this time, the flights had been grouped into squadrons. The squadron's commanding officer, Commandant [[Felix Brocard]], chose to make reference to the Alsatian storks by using a white stork with lowered wings as the emblem on the [[Nieuport]]s of Escadrille 3. He then ordered the other flights of the squadron to choose emblems using storks in other postures.<ref name="Squadron site"/> The modern emblem of the squadron bears three storks at three points in the wing-beat cycle. They represent respectively Flight 3 (wings low), Flight 103 (wings high) and Flight 12 (wings spread).<ref>The three emblems may be seen separately at the foot of [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/au_coeur_de_la_defense/unites_aeriennes/chasse/escadron_de_chasse_01_002_cigognes the squadron's page] in the Air Force site. While the squadron's emblem has all three birds in black and white, the individual emblem of No. 12 Flight is in black and silver. Accessed 2009-08-30.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20090426040143/http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/au_coeur_de_la_defense/unites_aeriennes/chasse/escadron_de_chasse_01_002_cigognes Archived 2009-09-03].</ref>
See also ''[[Escadrille 3]]'', ''[[Escadrille 26]]'', ''[[Escadrille 103]]'', ''[[Escadrille 12]]''
===World War II===
Having distinguished itself during the [[Battle of France]] in 1940, the squadron was disbanded in August. However, it was reformed in July 1941 and equipped with [[Dewoitine D.520]]s. In 1942, it was sent to North Africa where it took its opportunity, with other units, to join the [[Free French Forces]] and was shipped to [[RAF Ayr]], in Scotland. There it was given the British designation [[No. 329 Squadron RAF|No. 329 (GC I/2 'Cicognes') Squadron RAF]]. On 6 June 1944, it took part in the [[Normandy landings]] and from 19 August, was again based in France, at [[Sommervieu]], Normandy, under Captain Ozanne. During this period, it specialised in ground attack but aerial combat was still part of the job and in December 1944, the squadron was faced with its first jet-propelled opposition. In July 1945, 15 aircraft of the squadron took part in the victory fly-past.<ref name=CigsAF />
===Post World War II===
[[File:Mirage IIIC 2-EQ.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Dassault Mirage III|Mirage IIIC]] of the 1/2 Cigognes.]]
[[File:NATO aircraft at Bitburg AB 1959.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A [[Dassault Mystère IV|Mystère IVA]] of EC 1/2 appears in this collection of NATO aircraft taken at Bitburg in 1959.]]
In November 1945, EC 1/2 Cigognes was re-established as a unit of the French Air Force. In June 1946 it left for [[French Indochina]] where it flew the [[Supermarine Spitfire]], with the SPA 3 flight stationed at [[Saigon]] and SPA 103 at [[Hanoi]]. On its return to metropolitan France in 1948, it was reequipped with [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]]s.
In 1949, EC 1/2 Cigognes moved to [[Dijon Air Base|Dijon-Longvic]], at the same time reequipping with [[De Havilland Vampire]] jets, followed by the [[Dassault MD 450 Ouragan]], then [[Dassault Mystère IV]]As. It was in this aircraft that the squadron was engaged during the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956. Notably, it became the first unit of the French Air Force to deploy an indigenous Mach-2 fighter, the new [[Mirage IIIC]], on 7 July 1961.<ref name=md>{{cite journal|title=Memories of a Mirage driver|journal=Aircraft|date=Sep 2011|author=Pierre-Alain Antoine|page=87|issn=2041-2150}}</ref> In 1968 these were replaced by [[Mirage IIIE]]s.
In 1984, the "Storks" transitioned to the [[Dassault Mirage 2000]]C. On September 9, 1994, EC 1/2 received a third flight: the SPA 12. At the end of the 1990s, the squadron transitioned to [[Dassault Mirage 2000]]-5Fs.
Escadrille SPA 12 was dissolved on September 3, 2009, and replaced by SPA 26 (a traditional escadrille of [[Escadron de Chasse 1/5 Vendée]], disbanded in 2007).
On Friday 29 July 2011, the squadron moved to [[Luxeuil - Saint-Sauveur Air Base]]. This put an end to the presence of the Cigognes on Aerial Base 102 Dijon-Longvic.
The squadron has played a role in [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO's]] response to the [[2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine]], providing a pair of Mirage 2000-5Fs (along with a pair of Mirage 2000C fighters from [[Escadron de Chasse 2/5 Île-de-France|EC 2/5]]) which arrived at Poland's [[22nd Air Base]] on 2 June 2014.<ref>{{cite journal |title=France Replaces Rafales with Mirages on Polish Det|date=August 2014|journal=[[Air Forces Monthly]]|page=11}}</ref>
== Designations and successive denominations ==
[[File:mirage2000-5cigognes.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Dassault Mirage 2000|Mirage 2000]] "Escadron/Squadron Cigognes".]]
The squadron has known during the course of history, the following designations:
* '''Groupe de Chasse I/2''' (GC I/2) with escadrilles SPA 3 and SPA 103 from 1 September 1933 until 20 August 1940, attached to the [[2e Escadre de Chasse|2<sup>e</sup> Escadre de Chasse]] between 1 September 1933 and 1 May 1939.
* '''Groupe de Chasse I/2''' with only one escadrille, SPA 3, from 1 July 1941 until 1 January 1944.
* '''No. 329 Squadron''' was attached to the [[Royal Air Force]] between 1 January 1944 and 1 November 1945.
* '''Groupe de Chasse I/2 Cigognes''' (GC I/2 Cigognes) with escadrille SPA 3, from 1 November 1945 until 1 April 1946, attached to the [[2nd Fighter Wing (France)|2nd Fighter Wing]].
* '''Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes''' (EC 1/2 Cigognes) with Escadrilles SPA 3 and SPA 103 from 1 April 1950 until 9 September 1994, part of the 2nd Fighter Wing.
* '''Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes''' (EC 1/2 Cigognes) with Escadrilles SPA 3, SPA 103 and SPA 12, from 9 September 1994 until 3 September 2009.
* '''Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes''' (EC 1/2 Cigognes) with Escadrilles SPA 3, SPA 103 and SPA 26 as of 3 September 2009. The Escadron/Squadron was attached again to the [[2e Escadre de Chasse|2<sup>e</sup> Escadre de Chasse]] on 3 September 2015.
===Flights===
As of 2015, Escadron 1/2 Cigognes was composed of three escadrilles:
* SPA 3 Cigognes, known as [[Georges Guynemer|Guynemer]]'s
* SPA 26 Cigognes, known as (dite) Saint-Galmier
* SPA 103 Cigognes, known as [[René Fonck|Fonck]]'s
Escadrille SPA 12 Cigognes was attached to the 1/2 Cigognes between 9 September 1994 and 3 September 2009.
==Bases==
[[File:Dassault Mirage IIIE, France - Air Force AN1192145.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Dassault Mirage III|Mirage IIIE]]s of the squadron in 1978.]]
* BA 702 [[Avord Air Base]] (formation 1912)
* [[Châteauroux-Centre "Marcel Dassault" Airport|Châteauroux-Déols Air Base]] (1941–1942)
* North Africa (1942–1943)
* 1944-1945 see Free French Forces [[No. 329 Squadron RAF#RAF service|RAF service]]
* [[Koblenz]] (1948–1949)
* BA 102 [[Dijon Air Base]] (1949-2012)
* BA 116 [[Luxeuil - Saint-Sauveur Air Base]] (2012-)
{{clear}}
==Aircraft==
{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|
* [[Blériot XI]] (1912)
* [[Nieuport]] two-seaters (1912)
* [[Breguet Aviation|Breguet]] (1914)
* [[Voisin (aircraft)|Voisin]] (1914)
* [[Morane Saulnier]] (1915)
* Nieuport Scouts (1915)
* [[Nieuport 11]] (1915)
* [[Nieuport 12]] (ca 1915 - 1916)
* [[Nieuport 16]] (ca 1915 - 1916)
* [[Nieuport 17]] (ca 1915 - 1916)
* [[Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés|Spad]] (1917 - 1918)<ref>{{cite book |title= Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918 |page= 89&ndash;90; 103&ndash;104 }}</ref>
* [[Dewoitine D.520]] 1939-1944
* 1944-1945 see Free French Forces [[No. 329 Squadron RAF#Aircraft|RAF service]]
* [[Supermarine Spitfire]] (1945–1947)
* [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]] (1948–1949)
* [[de Havilland Vampire]] (1949–1953)
* [[Dassault Ouragan]] (1953–1956)
* [[Dassault Mystère IV]]A (1956–1961)
* [[Dassault Mirage III]]C (1961–1968)
* [[Dassault Mirage III]]E  (1968–1984)
* [[Dassault Mirage 2000]]C (1984–1999)
* [[Dassault Mirage 2000]]-5F (since 2000)
}}
==See also==
* [[List of French Air and Space Force aircraft squadrons]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal |last1=Coste|first1=Alain|first2=Philippe|last2=Bernard|name-list-style=amp |title=Courrier des Lecteurs |journal=Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire |date=April 2002 |issue=109 |pages=2–3 |trans-title= Readers' Letters |language=fr |issn=1243-8650}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081116015531/http://escadron1.2cigognes.free.fr/histo.php The history page of the squadron's web site] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20081116015531/http://escadron1.2cigognes.free.fr/histo.php Archived] 2009-09-03) (fr)
* ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. {{ISBN|0-948817-54-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-948817-54-0}}.
{{DEFAULTSORT:01.002 Fighter Squadron Storks}}
[[Category:Fighter squadrons of the French Air and Space Force]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1916]]