No. 80 Squadron RAF was a

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and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II.

Establishment and early service

Founded on 1 August 1917 at RAF Montrose, equipped with the Sopwith Camel and intended as a fighter squadron, 80 Squadron was sent to France to serve on the Western Front in January 1918, acting initially in a fighter role.Rawlings ''Air Pictorial'' December 1962, p. 392. However, German offensives in March of the same year resulted in 80 Sqn being reallocated in a ground-attack role, still with Camels. It continued this duty until the end of the war. As a result, the squadron had only one ace,

Harold Whistler Group Captain Harold Alfred Whistler, (30 December 1896 – March 1940) was an English fighter pilot and flying ace in the First World War. Early life Alfred Harold Whistler was born in 1896 in Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire, the son of Alfred J ...

, although it claimed approximately 60 aerial victories. The Camels were replaced with Sopwith Snipes in December 1918 and in May the following year the squadron moved to Egypt, where it served for a short period of time before being amalgamated into

No. 56 Squadron RAF Number 56 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Firebirds'' for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful Squadron (aviation), squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of ...

Reinstatement and World War II

The squadron was reformed in March 1937 again as No. 80 Squadron, now equipped with Gloster Gauntlet fighter. However, by now the Gauntlet was considered by many to be outdated, and as a result the Gauntlets were replaced by the Gloster Gladiator just two months later. In 1938, the squadron again returned to Egypt as an 'air defence unit'. After Italy's declaration of war on Britain on 10 June 1940, No. 80 Squadron was moved to the Egyptian-Libyan border but was subsequently one of the units sent to aid the Greeks during the Greco-Italian War, initially flying Gladiators and then re-equipping with the Hawker Hurricane from February 1941. The Squadron lost most of its aircraft during the Greek and Crete actions and reformed at RAF Aqir in Palestine in May 1941 before deploying detachments to Nicosia in Cyprus and 'A' Flight to

RAF Haifa 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 ...

. The Squadron moved totally to Cyprus in July 1941, before returning to Syria the next month, and then joining the fighting in North Africa two months later. During the Battle of El Alamein it was responsible for defending communications lines. It remained in that area until early 1944, when it returned to Britain to prepare for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

(the Allied invasion of Europe). It was equipped with the Spitfire IX F operating from RAF Detling in Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), though under the operational control of RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF). When 2nd TAF began moving to Normandy after D-Day, the squadron remained in ADGB, re-equipping with Hawker Tempest aircraft on anti- V-1 flying bomb duties as part 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 of ...

. After this threat diminished, No. 80 Squadron moved on to the continent and resumed a fighter role until the end of the war in Europe.

Post-World War II and disbandment

As part of the European occupation forces,

British Air Forces of Occupation 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, ...

, the squadron continued its patrol and reconnaissance duties from Wunstorf in Germany, until it relocated to Hong Kong in July 1949 (the Tempests having been replaced by Supermarine Spitfire F.24s in 1948). During the Chinese Civil War, No. 80 Squadron's main duty was to defend Hong Kong from perceived Communist threats. The Spitfires departed in 1951, replaced by the de Havilland Hornet, and the squadron remained in Hong Kong until being disbanded on 1 May 1955. However, two months later it was reformed as a reconnaissance unit at

RAF Laarbruch Royal Air Force , more commonly known as RAF ICAO EDUL (from 1 January 1995 ETUL) was a Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located in Germany on its border with the Netherlands. The Station's motto was (). The site now operates a ...

. Equipped with Canberra PR.7s, it moved to Brüggen in June 1957 from then until 28 September 1969, when it was disbanded.Rawlings 1982, p. 92.

Notable members

David Coke David Arthur Coke, DFC, ( ;The family name was pronounced in the same way as the name "Cook". 4 December 1915 – 9 December 1941) was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War, and is credited with ...

Nigel Cullen Richard Nigel Cullen, (5 June 1917 – 4 March 1941) was an Australian fighter ace of World War II. Serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF), he was credited with as many as sixteen aerial victories before being killed in action d ...

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

William Vale William "Cherry" Vale, (3 June 1914 – 29 November 1981) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He was credited with 30 enemy aircraft shot down, shared in the destruction of three others, and claimed 6 ...

Pat Pattle Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle, (3 July 1914 – 20 April 1941), usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born English Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace (an aviator credited with the destruction of five or more enem ...

Tap Jones Air Marshal Sir Edward “Tap” Gordon Jones, (31 August 1914 – 20 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent biplane Gladiator fighters during the Greek Campai ...

* Robert (Peter) Spurdle

Aircraft operated

Jefford 2001, p. 52.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Ken Delve, ''D-Day: The Air Battle'', London: Arms & Armour Press, 1994, . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988''. 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, 1988 (second edition 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. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1969 (second edition 1976). . * Rawlings, J. D. R. "History of 80 Squadron".'' Air Pictorial'', December 1962, Vol. 24, No. 12. pp. 392–394. * Shores, Christopher. ''Strike True: The Story of No. 80 Squadron Royal Air Force''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1986. . *

External links

RAFWeb page
{{DEFAULTSORT:80 Squadron Raf 080 080 Military units and formations established in 1917 Military of Hong Kong under British rule 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in Mandatory Palestine in World War II