List of officially accredited Battle of Britain squadrons

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A Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire trails smoke after attacking a German Heinkel He 111 bomber during the Battle of Britain. Spitfire and He 111 during Battle of Britain 1940.jpg
A Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire trails smoke after attacking a German Heinkel He 111 bomber during the Battle of Britain.

This is a list of the officially accredited Battle of Britain units with their aircraft types, code letters, call signs and casualties.

Battle of Britain Air campaign between Germany and the United Kingdom during WWII

The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as The Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians do not accept this subdivision and regard the battle as a single campaign lasting from July 1940 to June 1941, including the Blitz.

Contents

On 9 November 1960, the Air Ministry published Air Ministry Order N850 which officially defined the qualifications for aircrew to be classified as having participated in the Battle of Britain. The AMO also defined the squadrons that were deemed to have fought in the battle under the control of RAF Fighter Command between 0001 hours on 10 July and 2359 hours on 31 October 1940; the official beginning and end of the battle.

Air Ministry former department of the British Government

The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State for Air.

RAF Fighter Command

RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned great fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940, when the Few held off the Luftwaffe attack on Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories; defence and attack. The defensive force became Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and the offensive force became the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Air Defence of Great Britain was renamed back to Fighter Command in October 1944 and continued to provide defensive patrols around Great Britain. It was disbanded for the second time in 1968, when it was subsumed into the new Strike Command.

A total of 71 squadrons and other units from Fighter Command, Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm are listed. [1]

Fleet Air Arm aviation branch of the British Royal Navy

The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. and is responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm recently started operating the F-35 Lightning II in a Maritime Strike Role, the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin in both Commando and Anti-Submarine roles, and the BAE Hawk. Helicopters such as the Lynx and Westland Wasp were previously deployed on smaller vessels since 1964, taking over the roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish.

Accredited squadrons

Squadron Squadron Code Radio call sign Aircraft Type Number of Casualties
No. 1 (Cawnpore) Squadron RAF JX ACORN Hurricane 7
No. 3 Squadron RAF QO Hurricane 1
No. 17 Squadron RAF YB EDEY Hurricane 5
No. 19 Squadron RAF QV LUTON Spitfire 6
No. 23 Squadron RAF YP LUTON Blenheim 8
No. 25 Squadron RAF ZK LUTON Blenheim, Beaufighter 5
No. 29 Squadron RAF RO Blenheim 8
No. 32 Squadron RAF GZ JACKO Hurricane 2
No. 41 Squadron RAF EB MITOR Spitfire 11 [2]
No. 43 (China-British) Squadron RAF FT Hurricane 14
No. 46 (Uganda) Squadron RAF PO ANGEL Hurricane 14
No. 54 Squadron RAF KL RABBIT Spitfire 6
No. 56 (Punjab) Squadron RAF US BAFFIN Hurricane 8
No. 64 Squadron RAF SH FREEMA Spitfire 7
No. 65 (East India) Squadron RAF YT Spitfire 8
No. 66 Squadron RAF LZ FIBIUS Spitfire 8
No. 72 (Basutoland) Squadron RAF RN TENNIS Spitfire 9
No. 73 Squadron RAF TP Hurricane 4
No. 74 Squadron RAF ZP DYSOE Spitfire 12
No. 79 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF NV PANSY Hurricane 4
No. 85 Squadron RAF VY HYDRO Hurricane 7
No. 87 (United Provinces) Squadron RAF LK SUNCUP Hurricane 7
No. 92 (East India) Squadron RAF QJ GANNIC Spitfire 14
No. 111 Squadron RAF JU WAGON Hurricane 11
No. 141 Squadron RAF TW Boulton Paul Defiant 10
No. 145 Squadron RAF SO PATIN Hurricane 13
No. 151 Squadron RAF DZ Hurricane 11
No. 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF UM MAIDA Spitfire 14
No. 213 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF AK BEARSKIN Hurricane 15
No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAF FK Blenheim, Beaufighter 6
No. 222 (Natal) Squadron RAF ZD KOTEL Spitfire 9
No. 229 Squadron RAF RE KETA Hurricane 5
No. 232 Squadron RAF EF Hurricane –
No. 234 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF AZ CRESSY Spitfire 5
No. 238 Squadron RAF VK Hurricane 17
No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron RAF LE LORAG Hurricane 5
No. 245 (Northern Rhodesia) Squadron RAF DX Hurricane 2
No. 247 (China – British) Squadron RAF HP Gloster Gladiator –
No. 249 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF GN GANER Hurricane 8
No. 253 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF SW VICEROY Hurricane 11
No. 257 (Burma) Squadron RAF DT ALERT Hurricane 11
No. 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron RAF HE Hurricane, Westland Whirlwind 1
No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF PS Boulton Paul Defiant 18
No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF UO Spitfire 7
No. 421 Flight RAF L-Z Hurricane, Spitfire 1
No. 422 Flight RAF – Hurricane –
Fighter Interception Unit – Hurricane, Blenheim, Beaufighter –
Auxiliary Squadrons
No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron AuxAF SD MANDREL Hurricane 19
No. 504 (City of Nottingham) Squadron AuxAF TM Hurricane 6
No. 600 (City of London) Squadron AuxAF BQ Blenheim, Beaufighter 9
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron AuxAF UF WEAPON Hurricane, Spitfire 14
No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron AuxAF LO VILLA Spitfire 5
No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron AuxAF XT VIKEN Spitfire 13
No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron AuxAF NG TALLYHO Blenheim, Beaufighter 3
No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron AuxAF UP TURKEY Hurricane 8
No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron AuxAF AF Hurricane 9
No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron AuxAF PR SORBO Spitfire 7
No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron AuxAF DW DOGROSE Spitfire 11
No. 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron AuxAF FY CHARLIE Spitfire 2
No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron AuxAF KW PANTA Hurricane 6
No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron AuxAF QJ [3] RADPOE Spitfire 6
Commonwealth and Allied squadrons
No. 1 Squadron RCAF (Canadian) YO CARIBOU Hurricane 3
302 (City of Poznan) Squadron (Polish) [4] WX CALEB Hurricane 6
303 (Warsaw – Kosciuszko) Squadron (Polish) [5] RF APANY Hurricane 7
No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron (Czech) NN CALLA Hurricane 4
No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron (Czech) DU SILVO Hurricane 1
Coastal Command Squadrons
No. 235 Squadron RAF QY Blenheim 9
No. 236 Squadron RAF FA Blenheim 10
No. 248 Squadron RAF WR Blenheim 16
Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Squadrons
No. 804 Squadron FAA 5- Gloster Sea Gladiator/Grumman Martlet –
No. 808 Squadron FAA 5- Fairey Fulmar [6] –

See also

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No. 33 Squadron RAF

No. 33 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Puma HC.2 from RAF Benson, Oxfordshire.

No. 488 Squadron RNZAF

488 Squadron was the name given to two distinct Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons during the Second World War. Both were formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme and served under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.

No. 56 Squadron RAF

Number 56 Squadron, nicknamed the Firebirds for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both World War I and World War II.

No. 92 Squadron RAF

Number 92 Squadron, also known as No. 92 Squadron and currently as No. 92 Tactics and Training Squadron, of the Royal Air Force is a test and evaluation squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps at London Colney as a fighter squadron on 1 September 1917. It deployed to France in July 1918 and saw action for just four months, until the end of the war. During the conflict it flew both air superiority and direct ground support missions. It was disbanded at Eil on 7 August 1919. Reformed on 10 October 1939, the unit was supposed to be equipped with medium bombers but in the spring of 1940 it became one of the first RAF units to receive the Supermarine Spitfire, going on to fight in the Battle of Britain.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) had included personnel from outside the United Kingdom from before the beginning of the Second World War and many served in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Many were volunteers from the British Empire, refugees and exiles from German-occupied Europe, and American emigrants.

No. 501 Squadron RAF

No 501 Squadron was the fourteenth of the twenty-one flying units in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the volunteer reserve part of the British Royal Air Force. The squadron won seven battle honours, flying Hurricane, Spitfire and Tempest fighter aircraft during World War II, and was one of the most heavily engaged units in RAF Fighter Command. In particular, the Squadron saw extensive action during the Battle of France and Battle of Britain. At present the unit is not flying any more and has a logistics role as part of No 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing.

No. 665 "Air Observation Post" Squadron, RCAF was formed in England during the Second World War. It was manned principally by Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) personnel, with select British artillery pilots briefly seconded to assist in squadron formation. Numbers 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with Army units in artillery spotting and liaison. A further three of these squadrons – Nos. 664, 665 and 666 – were RCAF AOP squadrons manned by Canadian and British personnel.

No 88 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed at Gosport, Hampshire in July 1917 as a Royal Flying Corps (RFC) squadron.

No. 601 Squadron RAF

No. 601 Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron battle honours most notably include the Battle of Britain, and the first Americans to fly in the Second World War were members of this squadron. Reactivated in 2017, it is a specialist squadron "tapping into the talents of leaders from industry, academia and research to advise and shape and inspire [the RAF]".

Operation Donnerkeil

Unternehmen Donnerkeil was the codename for a German military operation of the Second World War. Donnerkeil was designed as an air superiority operation to support the Kriegsmarine's Operation Cerberus, also known as the Channel Dash.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Ramsay, 1989, pp.252–255
  2. ↑ 41 Squadron’s Battle of Britain pilots comprised 49 men aged from 18 to 32. Forty-two were British, three Irish, two were Canadian and two were New Zealanders. Casualties were sustained by almost half the men: eleven (22.5%) were killed and twelve (24.5%) were wounded, and one of the squadron’s ground crew was killed in the Blitz.
  3. ↑ Note: The squadron code letters QJ were the same as those of 92 Squadron. The codes changed to YQ in 1941
  4. ↑ Poznański
  5. ↑ Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki
  6. ↑ in normal naval use flown with a navigator, these were flown solo
Bibliography
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