No. 237 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 ...

aircraft squadron. 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 ...

the unit was formed from No. 1 Squadron Southern Rhodesian Air Force for operations in North Africa.

History

No. 237 Squadron was formed at RAF Cattewater in August 1918 from Nos 420, 421, 422 and 423 flights of the Royal Naval Air Service. The squadron operated the

Short 184 The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It ...

on coastal and anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel until it was disbanded at the end of the First World War on 14 May 1919. By 3 September 1939 the Southern Rhodesia Air Section under Squadron Leader M. Maxwell had arrived at

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

in the

Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...

. It was then renamed as No. 1 Squadron S. Rhodesian Air Force. 237 Squadron was re-formed as No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron on 22 April 1940 when No. 1 Squadron Southern Rhodesia Air Force was taken into Royal Air Force control. It operated a number of Hawker biplanes and was based on the Abyssinian border as an active unit of the East African Campaign, initially to defend British East Africa against the anticipated movement of Italian troops down from their bases to the North. In the Autumn of 1940 the squadron moved into Sudan for operations in Eritrea, and

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

s and

Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...

s were added to its strength. In May 1941 the squadron moved into Egypt and was re-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 ...

, being tasked with tactical reconnaissance duties in the Western Desert. In May 1942 the squadron was deployed to Iraq, as a defence against any German invasion, and then to Libya in an air defence role. The squadron was re-equipped with 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 ...

(Mark VCs first, then Mark IXs) and was moved to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

to fly operations over Southern France and Northern Italy. It eventually moved to Italy, where it operated until it was re-numbered as 93 Squadron before being disbanded on 1 January 1946.

Notable members

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

, who was later Prime Minister of Rhodesia, was assigned to the squadron during his

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

in World War II, and was shot down over Italy.

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Nos. 236–240 Squadron Histories
{{Royal Air Force Fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations established in 1918 237 Squadron 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations of Southern Rhodesia in World War II