("Always ready") , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles=

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 ...

Invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

, anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= , commander1= , commander1_label= , commander2= , commander2_label= , commander3= , commander3_label= , notable_commanders=

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared p ...

Alan Eckford , identification_symbol= A moose's head erased
At the time that the badge was awarded, many of the air crew serving with the squadron were Canadian. , identification_symbol_label= Squadron Badge heraldry , identification_symbol_2= LE (Feb 1940 – Dec 1941,
Apr 1942 – Nov 1944)
KY (Nov 1944 – 1948) , identification_symbol_2_label= Squadron Codes No. 242 Squadron RAF 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) an ...

(RAF) squadron. It flew in many roles during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 opposi ...

and Cold War. During the Second World War, the squadron was notable for (firstly) having many pilots who were either

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

personnel or

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

s serving in the RAF – to the extent that it was sometimes known, unofficially, as "242 Canadian Squadron" – and (secondly) for being the first squadron to be commanded by

History

In World War I

No. 242 Squadron was formed on 15 August 1918Jefford 2001, p. 79. from the numbers 408, 409 and 514 Seaplane Flights at Newhaven Seaplane Base, and continued using 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 ...

from there and the nearby airfield at Telscombe Cliffs on anti-submarine patrols over the English Channel until the end of the

.Halley 1988, p. 311.

In World War II

The squadron was reformed at

RAF Church Fenton Royal Air Force Church Fenton or RAF Church Fenton was a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south east of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England and north west of Selby, North Yorkshire, near the village of Church Fenton. The station wa ...

on 30 October 1939 with

personnel. At first using the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

and

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and ...

, it converted to 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 b ...

in February 1940.

Battle for France

In May 1940 the squadron moved to

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006. It was a fighter airf ...

was posted to command the Squadron, as a

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 als ...

, at the end of June 1940, when the unit was mainly made up of Canadian pilots that had suffered high losses in the Battle of France and had low morale. Despite initial resistance to their new commanding officer, the pilots (including such aces as Willie McKnight) were soon won over by Bader's strong personality and perseverance, especially in cutting through red tape to make the squadron operational again. Upon the formation of No. 12 Group RAF, No. 242 Squadron was assigned to the Group while based at RAF Duxford.

Battle of Britain

In June 1940 it moved to

eastern England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

, as part of No. 12 Group RAF and was involved in the

. During this period 242 Squadron moved to

RAF Duxford Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the civil parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village. The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Mus ...

as part of the Duxford Wing, 12 Group's

Big Wing The Big Wing, also known as a Balbo, was an air fighting tactic proposed during the Battle of Britain by 12 Group commander Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Acting Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. In essence, the tactic involved meeting ...

formation. In 1941 it started offensive sweeps and bomber escorts and convoy patrols.

Dispersed at Java

In December 1941 the squadron moved to the

far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

arriving at RAF Seletar on 13 January 1942. The situation was desperate and it had to move to Palembang on Sumatra where the squadron collapsed through lack of spares and was dispersed by 10 March 1942. On 29 December 1941 Pilot Officer M. C. Blanchard (RCAF) was reported missing believed killed after a mid-air collision off the coast of Ghar Hassan, Malta, during an operational flight. The collision was between Hurricane BE343 (Blanchard) and Hurricane BE344 (Flight Lieutenant Andrews (RCAF) who was later found safe).

Reformed on Spitfires

On 10 April 1942 the squadron re-formed at

RAF Turnhouse Royal Air Force Turnhouse or more simply RAF Turnhouse is a former Royal Air Force Sector Station located in Edinburgh, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of G ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

with the Supermarine Spitfire and was involved in coastal patrols. In October it was deployed to North Africa defending Algiers. It fought into Tunisia then moved on to Malta and was involved in the

invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

and the Salerno beach-head operations. In 1944 it was moved to Syria for a rest period before moving to Corsica where it was part of the invasion of southern France and attacks on northern Italy. The squadron was disbanded in Italy on 4 November 1944.

In Transport Command

The squadron reformed again on 15 November 1944 at

RAF Stoney Cross Royal Air Force Stoney Cross or more simply RAF Stoney Cross is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Lyndhurst and west of Southampton. Opened in 1942 ...

as a transport squadron, training on the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...

then getting operational on the Short Stirling. By 1946 it had become an operator of the Avro York running scheduled freight services into India and to the Azores; in June 1946 it was located at

RAF Oakington Royal Air Force Oakington or more simply RAF Oakington was a Royal Air Force station located north of Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England and north-west of Cambridge. History Second World War Construction was started in 1939, but was affect ...

as part of No. 47 Group.1946 Confidential Air Force List via rafcommands.com In 1948 it became involved in the

Berlin Air Lift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

operating from

Wunstorf Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen ...

. After the air lift it returned to England and reequipped with

Handley Page Hastings The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings is a retired British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, ...

. The squadron was disbanded at

RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...

on 1 May 1950.

On missiles

On 1 October 1959 it was reformed at RAF Marham as a surface-to-air missile unit with the

Bristol Bloodhound The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of ...

. It was tasked to protect the V bomber bases until disbanded on 30 September 1964.

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Brickhill, Paul. '' Reach for the Sky''. London: Collins, 1954.(Bader biography) * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Halliday, Hugh. ''242 Squadron: The Canadian Years – Being the Story of the RAF's 'All-Canadian' Fighter Squadron''. Stittsville, Ontario, Canada: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1981. . * 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, 1998 (second edition 2001). . * Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1976). . * 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., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978). . * Robinson, Anthony. ''RAF Fighter Squadrons in the Battle of Britain''. London: Arms and Armour Press Ltd., 1987 (republished 1999 by Brockhampton Press, ). * David E. Fisher, ''A Race On The Edge Of Time''. New York, Athena Books 1989 .

External links

No. 242's actions between 10/05/1940 and 30/06/1940 on epibreren.com

* ttp://www.ghostbombers.com/SG4/242_2505.html No. 242 Squadron, 25 May 1944 {{DEFAULTSORT:No. 242 Squadron Raf Military units and formations established in 1918 242 Squadron Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in Mandatory Palestine in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1964