| No. 278 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1 October 1941 – 15 October 1945 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Motto(s) | Latin: Ex mare ad referiendum (From out of the sea to strike again) |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | A seagull in front of a lifebelt |
| Squadron Code | MY (October 1942 – October 1945) |
No. 278 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as an air-sea rescue unit in World War II.
The squadron formed at RAF Matlaske on 22 December 1941 equipped with the Lysander, Walrus and then the Anson. Spitfires were then supplied for spotting downed aircrew. The area of operations of the squadron was the coast of East Anglia and North East England. There were also detachments in Scotland.
The Warwick was operated from April 1944 and the Sea Otter from May 1945. The squadron was disbanded at Thorney Island on 15 October 1945.
| From | To | Aircraft | Variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1941 | Feb 1943 | Westland Lysander | IIIA |
| Feb 1943 | May 1944 | Avro Anson | I |
| Apr 1944 | May 1944 | Supermarine Spitfire | IIA |
| Apr 1944 | Jan 1945 | Vickers Warwick | I |
| May 1944 | Feb 1945 | Supermarine Spitfire | VB |
| May 1945 | Oct 1945 | Supermarine Sea Otter | II |
835 Naval Air Squadron was a former squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm originally formed in February 1942 as a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance unit flying Fairey Swordfish. In June 1943, six Sea Hurricanes were added to the squadron as a fighter flight. The composite unit exchanged the Hurricanes in September 1944 for Grumman Wildcats, serving on until 1 April 1945, when the squadron disbanded.
No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, is the squadron number plate of RAF (Unit) Swanwick based at London Area Control Centre, Swanwick, Hampshire. The squadron was allocated the role in early 2021.
No. 211 Squadron RAF was a squadron in the Royal Air Force active from 1917 to 1919 and from 1937 to 1946. In World War I it operated as a bomber and later a reconnaissance unit on the Western Front. In World War II it operated as a medium bomber unit in the Middle East and Far East and later as a strike fighter unit in the Far East, equipped with, successively, the Bristol Blenheim, the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito.
No. 282 Squadron was a Royal Air Force air-sea rescue squadron during the Second World War.
No. 284 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron.
No. 356 Squadron RAF was a short-lived long-range bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force between 1944 and 1945.
No. 458 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force squadron that operated during World War II. It was formed in Australia under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The squadron flew various versions of Vickers Wellington bombers, first in Europe and later in the Middle East. It was disbanded in mid-1945, following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe.
No. 212 Squadron RAF is an inactive squadron of the British Royal Air Force.
No. 294 Squadron was a Royal Air Force air search and rescue (ASR) squadron active under RAF Middle East Command. During the second world war the unit operated rescue missions for Allied aircraft and aircrew over the eastern Mediterranean and later the Persian Gulf and Arabian sea.
No. 258 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron during the First and Second World Wars.
No. 221 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. Its motto was "From sea to sea".
Royal Air Force Thorney Island or more simply RAF Thorney Island is a former Royal Air Force station located on Thorney Island, West Sussex, England, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west of Chichester and 7.1 miles (11.4 km) east of Portsmouth, Hampshire.
No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part of RAF Coastal Command it served first in a maritime patrol role along the Western Approaches and later in an anti-shipping role in the English Channel. Ordered to the Far East in 1942, the squadron was retained for two months in Malta in an anti-shipping role, protecting Allied convoys, before moving to Ceylon to defend the approaches to India, serving in an anti-submarine and anti-shipping role. It was equipped and training for a strike role, when the war ended. In the postwar period, it served for five years in a maritime reconnaissance role, and then briefly in a support role for Operation Grapple, the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island.
No. 232 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was active in both World War I and World War II in a variety of roles, having seen action as an anti-submarine patrol, fighter and transport squadron.
No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force during World War II formed from the personnel of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service.
No. 137 Squadron RAF existed briefly as a day bomber unit in World War I but never became operational. During World War II it flew as one of the two Whirlwind squadrons before converting to Hurricane Mk.IV fighter-bombers and later the Hawker Typhoon in the same role. The squadron was disbanded in August 1945.
No 91 (Nigeria) Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force but is no longer operational. The name acknowledges the contribution made by Nigeria to the cost of the squadron's aeroplanes.
No. 276 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as an air-sea rescue unit in World War II.
880 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft carrier-based squadron formed in January 1941. The squadron served throughout the Second World War being embarked in the carriers HMS Furious, Indomitable, Argus and Implacable serving off East Africa, in the Mediterranean, off Norway and in the Far East. It was disbanded on 11 September 1945 at Schofields, Sydney, Australia.
The Avro Lancaster PA278 disappearance involved Avro Lancaster Mk.I PA278, "F for Freddie", operated by No. 103 Squadron RAF of Bomber Command just after the end of the Second World War.
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