("Fear nothing")
, colors =
![RAF 501 Sqn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/RAF_501_Sqn.svg)
, colors_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles =
, anniversaries =
, decorations =
, battle_honours = France & Low Countries, 1940
Battle of Britain, 1940
Home Defence, 1940–45
Fortress Europe, 1940–44
Channel & North Sea, 1940–44
France & Germany, 1944
Normandy, 1944
All these honours are emblazoned on the squadron standard
, commander1 =
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...
, commander1_label =
Honorary Air Commodore
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, commander3_label =
, notable_commanders =
Christopher Frederick "Bunny" Currant Joseph Berry
, identification_symbol = A boar's head couped
The boar's head is taken from the arms of Gloucester; the animal is also noted for its courage
, identification_symbol_label = Squadron Badge heraldry
, identification_symbol_2 = ZH (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939)
SD (Sep 1939 – Apr 1945
and 1949 – 1951)
RAB (May 1946 – 1949)
, identification_symbol_2_label = Squadron Codes
No. 501 Squadron was the 14th of the 21 flying units in the
Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the volunteer reserve part of the British
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) an ...
. The squadron won seven
battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military t ...
s,
flying
Hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
,
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
Tempest
Tempest is a synonym for a storm.
'' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare.
Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film
* ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...
fighter aircraft during
World War II
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 opposing ...
, and was one of the most heavily engaged units in
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 near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...
. In particular, the Squadron saw extensive action during the
Battle of France and
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. At present the unit is not flying any more and has a logistics role as part of
No 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing.
History
Formation and early years
The squadron was originally formed as a day-bomber unit named No 501 (City of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
) Squadron
as part of the Special Reserve squadrons on 14 June 1929, made up of volunteers and regulars, flying
D.H.9As, which were later replaced with
Westland Wapiti
The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service.
First flying in 1927, the Wa ...
s and later still with
Westland Wallace
The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland as a follow-on to their successful Wapiti. As the last of the interwar general purpose biplanes, it was used by a number of frontl ...
s. In 1936 it became "No 501 (
County of Gloucester
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Glouce ...
) Squadron", changing the name to embrace a larger area of recruitment.
On 1 May 1936 it was transferred to the
Auxiliary Air Force
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...
and in July of that year the squadron converted to
Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...
s. In March 1938 these were exchanged for
Hawker Hind
The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931.
Design and development
An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...
s, but at the end of 1938 No. 501 squadron was transferred from
RAF Bomber Command to
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 near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...
,
and
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 b ...
s began to arrive in March 1939.
Second World War
When war was declared in September 1939, 501 Squadron was based at
RAF Filton
Royal Air Force Filton or more simply RAF Filton is a former Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) station located north of the city centre of Bristol, England.
Throughout its existence, RAF Filton shared the airfield with the Bri ...
, near Bristol.
On 10 May 1940, with the attack on France, the Squadron became part of the
Advanced Air Striking Force
The RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) comprised the light bombers of 1 Group RAF Bomber Command, which took part in the Battle of France during the Second World War. Before hostilities began, it had been agreed between the United Kingdom a ...
and moved to France where it saw extensive action, stationed at airfields as
Bétheniville
Bétheniville () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in ...
,
Anglure,
Le Mans and
Dinard
Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France.
Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this ...
. Sgt
J.H. "Ginger" Lacey of 501 Squadron shot down three enemy aircraft in a single day to win the Croix de Guerre. (He later returned to England with five victories.) After the retreat from France through
Saint Helier
St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...
,
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
, its battle-hardened pilots were reorganised at
RAF Croydon
Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main airpo ...
and then moved on to
RAF Middle Wallop
Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a pe ...
and later
RAF Gravesend
Gravesend Airport, located south-east of Gravesend town centre, Kent and west of Rochester. It was operated from 1932 until 1956. It was initially a civil airfield, and became a Royal Air Force station known as RAF Gravesend during the Second W ...
(now
Gravesend Airport
Gravesend Airport, located south-east of Gravesend town centre, Kent and west of Rochester. It was operated from 1932 until 1956. It was initially a civil airfield, and became a Royal Air Force station known as RAF Gravesend during the Second ...
). It subsequently served at
RAF Kenley
The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britai ...
, south London, commanded by S/L Harry Hogan, until 17 December 1940 by which time the squadron had claimed 149 enemy aircraft destroyed. Success came at a high cost; in addition to the heavy losses suffered in France, the squadron lost 19 pilots killed during the Battle of Britain,
more than any other squadron.
The squadron re-equipped with the
Supermarine Spitfire in April 1941 and the squadron moved to Northern Ireland in October 1942. In April 1943 the squadron returned to Tangmere for bomber escort work – some pilots being issued with the Spitfire Mk IXc. Between November 1943 and October 1944 the squadron formed part of
Air Defence of Great Britain
The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was a RAF command comprising substantial army and RAF elements responsible for the air defence of the British Isles. It lasted from 1925, following recommendations that the RAF take control of homeland air ...
(ADGB). For
Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of Normandy) it flew the
Spitfire V LF operating from
RAF Friston in
ADGB, though under the operational control of
RAF Second Tactical Air Force
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...
.
During August 1944, the squadron began converting to the
Tempest Mk.V 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 Airpo ...
, for the purposes of
Operation Diver
Operation Diver was the British codename for countermeasures against the V-1 flying bomb campaign launched by the German in 1944 against London and other parts of Britain. Diver was the codename for the V-1, against which the defence consisted o ...
– the interception of
V-1 missile
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
s. On 23 August, a Tempest flight from the elite
Fighter Interception Unit
The Fighter Interception Development Unit RAF was a special interceptor aircraft unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was part of Air Defence of Great Britain and was previously the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU). ...
(FIU) was merged into 501 Squadron and S/L
Joe Berry of FIU was appointed commanding officer of the combined unit.
[The Hawker Tempest Page, 2014, ''Squadron Leader Joseph Berry (DFC**)](_blank)
' (4 December 2014)
The squadron was disbanded at
RAF Hunsdon at the end of the war on 20 April 1945. During World War II the pilots of No. 501 Squadron had flown 11,140 operational sorties, in which they shot down 201 enemy aircraft and at least 84 V-1s.
Notable squadron members
![Supermarine Spitfire Mk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Supermarine_Spitfire_Mk.Vb%2C_Private_JP6859844.jpg)
The squadron included several notable pilots of World War II, including Sergeant Pilot
Antoni (Toni) Głowacki VM,
CV and 3 bars,
DFC,
DFM, who shot down five German aircraft on 24 August 1940 to become the first of only two pilots to achieve
"Ace-in-a-day" status during the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. Among others who achieved
fighter ace status were
Ken Mackenzie,
"Ginger" Lacey,
Stanisław Skalski, DSO, DFC and two Bar,
Robert Dafforn,
Paul Farnes
Paul Caswell Powe Farnes, (16 July 1918 – 28 January 2020) was a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot and Second World War flying ace who flew during the Battle of Britain as one of " The Few". He flew the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Sp ...
DFM,
Kenneth Lee, and
Percy Morfill. Lacey was one of the highest scoring pilots in the Battle of Britain. Squadron Leader
Joseph Berry, DFC & 2 bars, was the top scoring
V-1 (flying bomb)
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany as ...
ace of the squadron, though he claimed only 10 of his 61 victories whilst flying 501 squadron In addition to these unmanned missiles he also shot down three enemy aircraft.
Into the jet age
The squadron was reformed on 10 May 1946 as an Auxiliary Air Force fighter squadron at
RAF Filton
Royal Air Force Filton or more simply RAF Filton is a former Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) station located north of the city centre of Bristol, England.
Throughout its existence, RAF Filton shared the airfield with the Bri ...
. In February 1957, Flt Lt John Crossley flew
Vampire FB.9 jet WR260 beneath the
Clifton Suspension Bridge
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge, the income from which provides f ...
, before a fatal crash into
Leigh Woods
Leigh Woods is a area of woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, within North Somerset opposite the English city of Bristol and north of the Ashton Court estate, of which it formed a part. St ...
.
This was the last recorded – and only jet aircraft – flight under that bridge. The Squadron was disbanded in March 1957, along with all the other Auxiliary units.
Present role
In June 2001 No. 501 squadron was reformed in the Force Protection role as 501 (Operational Support) Squadron in 2001 at
RAF Brize Norton
Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney.
The statio ...
. 501 Squadrons Gunners provide a reserve of trained manpower for 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, No 4 Force Protection Wing. In 2003, its personnel deployed as part of
Operation Telic, the
liberation of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. The squadron continues to deploy personnel on Force Protection duties in this region. In 2006 the first 501 Squadron Gunners deployed with 2 Squadron RAF Regiment to Afghanistan, carrying out force protection duties of Kandahar airfield and surrounding areas. This has been continued with members of both Regiment and FP roles mobilising with 1 Squadron RAF Regiment tour of the region (8 August to 9 March). Between November 2006 and April 2007 501 Squadron Gunners also deployed with the Queens Colour Squadron, 63 Squadron RAF Regiment to Basra Iraq.
Based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron has been newly re-formed to expand the RAF Reserves Logistics capability, recruiting Logistics Officers, Drivers and Suppliers as part of
No 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing of the RAF A4 Force.
Aircraft operated
*=Remained in service after replacement as main equipment
Squadron Stations
Commanding officers
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Darlow, Steve. ''Five of the Few: survivors of the Battle of Britain & the Blitz tell their story''. London; Grub Street, 2006. .
* Delve, Ken. ''D-Day: The Air Battle'', London: Arms & Armour Press, 1994, .
* Mackenzie, Wing Commander Kenneth William., DFC, AFC, AE. ''Hurricane Combat''. Grenville Publishing, 1990. .
* Ogley, Bob. ''Surrey at War''. Froglets Publications Ltd., 1995. .
* Wilkinson, Bill. ''One Pilots War'' published by Windsor book limited, 2010.
External links
Royal Air Force websiteARRSE-Pedia: The source for the otherwise unsupported facts that need additional citationsHawker Hurricane of 501 Squadron
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 501 Squadron Raf
501 Squadron
Military units and formations established in 1929
Fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
Military history of Bristol
Military units and formations in Gloucestershire
Military units and formations disestablished in 1957