No. 313 Squadron RAF was a
Czechoslovak-manned fighter squadron of the
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 ...
in 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 ...
.
History
The squadron was formed at
RAF Catterick
Royal Air Force Catterick or RAF Catterick is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Catterick, North Yorkshire in England. It is located alongside the A6055 road on the outskirts of Catterick Village.
Although initially a flying stati ...
on 10 May 1941. It was the last RAF squadron to be formed mostly of escaped Czechoslovak pilots. Its first commander was the British
Squadron Leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...
Gordon Sinclair.
On 29 July, Czechoslovak
fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...
Josef Jaške was appointed as joint commander of the squadron. The plan was for responsibility to be transferred gradually from Sinclair to Jaške.
The squadron was equipped initially with
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 ...
I fighters. On 30 June 1941 it moved to
RAF Leconfield
Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield (near Beverley), East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield or D ...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
. In August the squadron was re-equipped with the Spitfire IIA, and on 25 August it moved to
RAF Portreath
Remote Radar Head Portreath or RRH Portreath is an air defence radar station operated by the Royal Air Force. It has a coastal location at Nancekuke Common, approximately north east of the village of Portreath in Cornwall, England.
Its radar ( ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. In October the squadron was re-equipped with the Spitfire VB/C.
On 15 December 1941 Sqn Ldr Karel Mrázek succeeded Jaške as commanding officer and the squadron moved to
RAF Hornchurch
Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sut ...
in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. On 8 June 1942 the squadron moved to
RAF Church Stanton
Royal Air Force Culmhead or more simply RAF Culmhead is a former Royal Air Force station, situated at Churchstanton on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England.
It had three tarmac runways that are now in poor condition and the control towers a ...
in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
and on 26 June Sqn Ldr Jaroslav Himr succeeded Mrázek as commanding officer.
In 1943 the squadron moved to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, firstly on 28 June to
RAF Sumburgh
Royal Air Force Sumburgh or more simply RAF Sumburgh is a former Royal Air Force satellite station that was located on the southern tip of the mainland island of the Shetland Islands, and was home to half of No. 404 Squadron RCAF (Royal Canadia ...
"A" in
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, and shortly thereafter to
RAF Peterhead
Royal Air Force Peterhead or more simply RAF Peterhead is a former Royal Air Force sector station located east of Longside, Aberdeenshire and west of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
History
The airfield was built in 1941 and disbanded in ...
"B" in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
. The squadron briefly flew the Spitfire VI in June and July 1943. On 20 July it moved to
RAF Hawkinge
Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Ashford, north of Folkestone, Kent and west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. On 18 September it moved to
RAF Ibsley
Royal Air Force Ibsley or more simply RAF Ibsley is a former Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England. The airfield is near the village of Ibsley, about north of Ringwood and about southwest of London.
A perimeter track with three run ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
and on 24 September Sqn Ldr
František Fajtl
Lieutenant General František Fajtl (20 August 1912 – 4 October 2006) was a Czech fighter pilot of World War II. He was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron and wing commander and led a group of Czechoslovak fighter pilots who formed an ai ...
succeeded Himr as commanding officer.
On 1 February 1944 Sqn Ldr Václav Bergman succeeded Fajtl as commanding officer. Also in February the squadron was re-equipped with the Spitfire IX. This model was fitted with 190-
gallon
The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:
*the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...
"slipper" tanks to extend its range, enabling the squadron to escort bombers on raids deep into Germany.
On 20 February the squadron moved to
RAF Mendlesham
Royal Air Force Mendlesham, or more simply RAF Mendlesham, is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
History
RAF Fighter Command use
Mendlesham airfield was built during 1943 and opened in late Decem ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. On 14 March it moved again, to
RAF Rochford
London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the Charing Cross#Official use as central point, centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries b ...
in Essex.
![Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fighter Command CH12860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Fighter_Command_CH12860.jpg)
On 3 April 1944 the squadron moved to
RAF Appledram
RAF Appledram is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground southwest of Chichester, West Sussex and east of Portsmouth, Hampshire.
History
The airfield was an Advanced Landing Ground for Operation Overlord (the invasion of German-occup ...
in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. On 22 May Sqn Ldr Alois Hochmál succeeded Bergman as commanding officer. From 29 June the squadron spent a few days at
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...
, also in West Sussex. On 4 July it spent a week at
RAF Lympne
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 ...
in Kent.
On 11 July 1944 the squadron moved to
RAF Skeabrae
Royal Air Force Skeabrae or more simply RAF Skeabrae is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located in Orkney, Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, United Kingdom.
History
The following units were here at some point:
;Squadrons
;U ...
on
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
in Scotland. The squadron briefly flew the Spitfire VII in July and August 1944.
On 3 October 1944 the squadron moved 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 ...
in Essex. Also in October it reverted to the Spitfire IX, which it continued to operate until the end of its history as an RAF unit. On 1 September 1944 Sqn Ldr Karel Kasal succeeded Hochmál as commanding officer, and on 15 November Sqn Ldr
Otmar Kučera succeeded Kasal. On 29 December the squadron moved to
RAF Bradwell Bay
Royal Air Force Bradwell Bay or more simply RAF Bradwell Bay is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Maldon, Essex, England and south west of West Mersea, Essex.
History
The central area of the current airfield was first laid down ...
, also in Essex.
![Slessor inspects Czecho-Slovak personnel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Slessor_inspects_Czecho-Slovak_personnel.jpg)
From 27 February to 8 May 1945 the squadron was based at
RAF Manston
Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...
in Kent. On 3 August members of all of the RAF's Czechoslovak squadrons held a farewell parade at RAF Manston. Air Marshal
John Slessor
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth Slessor, (3 June 1897 – 12 July 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Air Staff from 1950 to 1952. A ...
inspected the parade, accompanied by A/M
Karel Janoušek. On 24 August 313 Squadron moved to
Ruzyně Airport
Ruzyně is a district of Prague city, part of Prague 6. It has been a part of Prague since 1960.
Václav Havel Airport is located in this district. Czech Airlines has its head office on the grounds of the airport. Travel Service Airlines and its ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. It became a squadron of the new
Czechoslovak Air Force
The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia c ...
, and on 15 February 1946 was officially disbanded as an RAF squadron.
Aircraft operated
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
313
Military units and formations disestablished in 1946
Military units and formations established in 1941
313 Squadron