No. 68 Squadron RAF

No. 68 Squadron RAF
Active
  • 30 Jan 1917 – 28 Jan 1919
  • 7 Jan 1941 – 20 Apr 1945
  • 1 Jan 1952 – 20 January 1959
Country United Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Type inactive
Role Fighter
Motto(s) Czech: Vždy připraven
(Always ready)
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry A tawny owl's head couped[1]
Squadron Roundel
Squadron Codes WM (1943–1944)[2]

The name No. 68 Squadron has been used for two quite different units, only one of which was strictly a unit of the Royal Air Force. "No. 68 Squadron RFC" was for a time the official British military designation for No. 2 Squadron Australian Flying Corps.

World War I

A DH.5 aeroplane of No. 2 Squadron, AFC (AKA "68 squadron RFC")

No. 2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps was formed at Heliopolis, Egypt in 1916.[3] For a while it was known to the British military as "No. 68 Squadron RFC" - according to some accounts in order to avoid confusion with No. 2 Squadron, RFC. This designation was never accepted by the squadron or the Australian Imperial Force, and was in fact officially dropped by the British by early 1918, before the formation of the RAF.

Initially equipped with Airco DH.5 aircraft, the unit's main role with these aircraft was the strafing of hostile trenches. In January 1918 the unit was re-equipped with S.E.5a fighters, which it retained for the rest of the war. The squadron claimed 77 enemy aircraft destroyed;[4] it remained in Europe until 28 February 1919 when it was disbanded.

World War II

During World War II, a new No. 68 squadron (the first RAF squadron to actually bear the number) was formed at RAF Catterick on 7 January 1941 as a night fighter squadron equipped with Bristol Blenheims and became operational on 7 April before moving to High Ercall. In May 1941 No. 68 converted to Bristol Beaufighters and in March 1942 they went to RAF Coltishall in Norfolk. In July 1944 the Squadron converted to de Havilland Mosquitoes. From July 1941, No. 68 Squadron always had a strong element of Czechoslovak pilots in exile with up to eight flying crews consisting entirely of Czechoslovak personnel. These ties and the squadron's night fighter activities were recognized in 1944 when Air Chief Marshal Charles Steele presented a crest to No. 68 Squadron that displayed an owl's head and had the Czech motto Vždy připraven – "Always prepared" or "Always ready".[1][5]

The poet James Farrar was a Pilot Officer of 68 Squadron. He was killed on the night of 25/26 July 1944 when, on patrol over the Thames (as navigator of a Mosquito piloted by Fred Kemp), he was ordered to intercept a V1 flying bomb.[6]

No. 68 Squadron was deactivated on 20 April 1945 with the personnel joining various other units including No. 125 Squadron RAF.

1950s

On 1 January 1952, the squadron reformed as a night-fighter squadron at RAF Wahn in West Germany and flew Gloster Meteors until renumbered as No. 5 Squadron RAF on 20 January 1959.

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 "68 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "No 67 – 69 Squadron Aircraft & Markings". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Molkentin, 2010 pp.178-180
  4. ↑ Molkentin, 2010 p, 44
  5. ↑ Croft 1994, pp. 2–11
  6. ↑ Croft 1994, p. 12
Works cited
  • Molkentin, Michael Fire in the Sky:The Australian Flying Corps in the First World War. Sydney:Allen & Unwin, 2010 ISBN 978-1-74237-072-9
  • Croft, Peter L. (1994). "A History of No. 68 Squadron RAF" (PDF). Royal Air Force Museum Laarbruch-Weeze. Retrieved 16 February 2013. 

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