No. 229 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, and is an officially accredited Battle of Britain Squadron. It became

No. 603 Squadron RAF No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. On reforming on 1 October 1999, the primary role of 603 Squadron, was as a ''Survive to Operate'' squadron, as well as providing ...

in January 1945.

History

Formation and World War I

No. 229 Squadron RAF was formed on 20 August 1918 at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of ...

. It was made up from Nos 428, 429, 454 and 455 Flights of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps ...

. The squadron's role was to fly coastal patrols. It continued with this until the end of the war and was officially disbanded on 31 December 1919.

World War II

On 6 October 1939, 229 Sqn was reformed at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the ...

as a Fighter squadron and was equipped with Blenheims for a role protecting shipping. The squadron began convoy patrols on 21 December but also carried out night training and radar trials. In March 1940, the squadron was re-equipped with Hurricanes and soon after the German invasion of France in May 1940, sent one flight to reinforce the French-based fighter squadrons for eight days during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

. After flying defensive patrols over the East Coast, No 229 moved to

RAF Northolt ("Ready to carry or to fight") , pushpin_map = Greater London , pushpin_label = RAF Northolt , pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London , coordinates = , type = Royal Air Force station , code = , site_area = , height = , owner ...

in September and remained there for the rest of 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 defended ...

. ACM (then Sqn Ldr) Frederick Rosier was a flight commander on the squadron during this time. In December 1940 the squadron moved to Merseyside and in May 1941 left for the Middle East. The squadron's pilots were embarked in and flown off to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It li ...

where, after refuelling, they moved on to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medite ...

, two separate detachments being convoyed fifteen days apart by the carrier. On arrival the first detachment was attached to

No. 274 Squadron RAF No. 274 Squadron RAF existed briefly in 1918 and 1919 as a patrol and bomber squadron, and served in World War II as a fighter squadron. History The squadron began to form as a patrol squadron, intended to fly Vickers Vimys, at Seaton Carew in ...

to cover the evacuation of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

and the second detachment was divided between Nos. 6, 208 and 213 Squadrons. A flight was transferred from No. 274 to No.73 Squadron on 11 June as the latters C Flight, and remained detached in Egypt at the end of July. It was September before the squadron began functioning as an independent unit. Fighter sweeps were flown over

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

until the end of March 1942 when the squadron was transferred to Malta to reinforce the islands fighter defences. On 29 April 1942, it ceased to function, its surviving aircraft and pilots being absorbed by other units. On 3 August 1942, 229 Sqn reformed at

RAF Ta Kali Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in func ...

from No. 603 Squadron and flew Spitfires in Defence of Malta during the last months of the siege. In January 1943 the island's squadrons took the offensive, flying sweeps over Sicily, and in May 229 Sqn began to operate fighter-bombers. After covering the landings in Sicily, in July 1943, the squadron remained in Malta for defensive duties until January 1944, when it moved to Sicily. On 1 April 1944, it was withdrawn for transfer to the UK and re-assembled at

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The a ...

on 24 April. During

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

(the Allied invasion of Normandy) it was equipped with the Spitfire IX F, operating from

RAF Detling Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated above sea level, located near Detling, a village about miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent. It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS ...

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), 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 ...

(2nd TAF).Delve, p. 137. After providing escort missions over the Low countries it re-equipped with Spitfire XVIs in December, and then flew fighter-bomber sweeps until renumbered

on 10 January 1945.

Notes

References

* Ken Delve, ''D-Day: The Air Battle'', London: Arms & Armour Press, 1994, . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1981–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1978. . * Robinson, Anthony. ''RAF Squadrons in the Battle of Britain''. London: Arms and Armour Press Ltd., 1987 (republished 1999 by Brockhampton Press, .).

External links