No. 121 Squadron was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) aircraft squadron that during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was one of the three

Eagle Squadron The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941. Wit ...

s manned by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

volunteers. The squadron today is part of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets in Nuneaton.

First World War

No. 121 Squadron

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(Royal Air Force from 1 April 1918) was formed at Narborough on 1 January 1918 as a day bomber squadron to operate the Airco DH.9. The squadron was equipped with

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Air ...

s for training, but due to delays with the DH.9 and the end of the war approaching, the squadron was disbanded on 17 August 1918 without becoming operational.

Second World War

RAF Service

The squadron was reformed on 14 May 1941 as No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron at

RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey Royal Air Force Kirton in Lindsey or more simply RAF Kirton in Lindsey is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. It's an RAF habit (inherited from the RFC) to name its bases after the nearest railway ...

, the second of three

s manned by American volunteers. Equipped with the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

, the squadron then converted to the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

and moved south to

RAF North Weald North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Stati ...

to begin operations on channel sweeps and ''

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...

'' operations. On 15 November 1941 the squadron claimed its first enemy aircraft destroyed. The squadron then upgraded to cannon-armed Spitfire VBs and carried out offensive operations over the channel and providing bomber escorts.

To the USAAF

In September 1942, the squadron moved to

RAF Debden Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden in North Essex, England History The airfield was opened in April 1937 ...

to be with the other Eagle squadrons. The squadron was transferred to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as the

335th Fighter Squadron The 335th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 4th Operations Group and stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The 335th was constituted on 22 August 1942 as an incorporation of the ...

and officially disbanded as a RAF unit on 29 September 1942. The new squadron became part of the

4th Fighter Group The 4th Fighter Group was an American element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force during World War II. The group was known as the Debden Eagles because it was created from the three Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Force: ...

of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Caine, Philip D. ''American Pilots in the RAF: The WWII Eagle Squadrons''. Brassey's, 1993. . * Childers, James Saxon. ''War Eagles: The Story of the Eagle Squadron''. Windmill Press, 1943. **Republished by Eagle Publishing in 1983, . Same as the 1943 edition, except it has an epilogue of the members in 1982. * Donahue, Arthur Gerald. ''Tally-Ho! Yankee in a Spitfire''. McMillan & Company, 1942. * Dunn, William R. ''Fighter Pilot: The First American Ace of World War II''. University of Kentucky Press, 1982. . * Franks, Norman. ''The Greatest Air Battle: Dieppe, 19 August 1942''. London: Grub Street, 1992. . * Fydenchuk, W. Peter. ''Immigrants of War: Americans Serving With the RAF and RCAF During World War II''. WPF Publications, 2005. . * Goodson, James A. and Norman Franks. ''Over-Paid, Over-Sexed and Over-Here''. Wingham Press Ltd., 1991. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Haughland, Vern. ''Caged Eagles: Downed American Fighter Pilots, 1940-45''. TAB Books, 1992. . * Haughland, Vern. ''The Eagle Squadrons: Yanks in the RAF, 1940-1942''. Ziff-Davis Flying Books, 1979. **Republished by TAB Books in 1992, , with all the photos different from the 1st edition. * Haughland, Vern. ''The Eagles' War: The Saga of the Eagle Squadron Pilots, 1940-1945''. Jason Aronson, Inc., 1982. . **Republished by TAB Books in 1992, , with all the photos different from the 1st edition. * Holmes, Tony. ''American Eagles: American Volunteers in the R.A.F., 1937-1943''. Classic Publications, 2001. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Kershaw, Alex. ''The Few''. Da Capo Press, 2006. . * Morris, John T. ''The Lives of an American Eagle''. Mulberry River Press, 1999. . * Nelson, Kenneth James, CD. ''Spitfire RCW: The Wartime Exploits of Wing Commander Royce Clifford Wilkinson OBE, DFM & Bar, C.de G.(France)''. Hignall Printing Ltd., 1994. * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978). . * Sweeny, Charles and Colonel James A. Goodson. ''Sweeny: The autobiography of Charles Sweeny''. Harrop Press Ltd., 1990. . *

External links

No 121 - 125 Squadron Histories

RAF Eagle Squadron
(historic video) *
''4th Fighter Group WWII'' Official WWII Association Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:121 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1918 121 Squadron 121 Squadron 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom Eagle Squadrons