No. 164 Squadron RAF

No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron was a fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was a donation squadron presented by 500 volunteers from Argentina.

Background

a group of volunteer Argentine pilots stood out who formed an important squadron within the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and had an outstanding participation on D-Day, during the famous landing in Normandy.
On September 3, 1939, the United Kingdom and other European countries called on young people around the world to unite in their fight against Nazi Germany and the Axis forces. Around 500 Argentines, mostly descendants of the British, French and Belgians, responded to the request and from 1941 they enlisted and set sail on different ships that took them to the Old Continent or Canada.

The number of Argentine volunteers in England was so great that the need arose to group them into an RAF unit. Thus, on April 6, 1942, the 164th British-Argentine Squadron was created , which was represented with the image of a lion in front of a rising sun, under which the motto was read: "Firm we fly".
The squadron made its base of operations on the east coast of Scotland and was equipped with the versatile Spitfire fighters. In January 1943 they moved to South Wales and added Hurricane fighter-bombers to the unit . Finally, in June the 164th begins to go into action.

No. 164 Squadron RAF was originally founded on 1 June 1918, but never received aircraft and was disbanded on 4 July 1918. The squadron was reformed at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, on 6 April 1942, as a fighter squadron initially equipped with Spitfire Mk VAs, becoming operational in early May.

His first raids were against enemy ships and German coastal targets. In 1944, after gaining experience and having passed through different bases of operations, the squadron received the Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib planes , faster, more robust fighter-bombers with greater firepower than the Hurricanes.
During the Battle of Normandy, which began on June 6, 1944, better known as D-Day, the 164th was among the first attack units .

Over the course of the landing, the 164th flew several missions supporting and attacking the German defense on the ground. After successfully breaking through the defense line in France, the squadron continued to operate through northern France and over Belgium in support of the British 21st Army Group.
After the surrender of Germany, the squadron returned to the United Kingdom, which in 1946 changed its name to number 63. It is not known precisely how many Argentines marched to war. The identities of many Creoles were hidden behind their European surnames . But it is estimated that around 500 compatriots voluntarily marched to fight in humanity's greatest war, and thus leave their mark on history

In January 1943 the squadron moved to South Wales to train as a ground-attack unit, where it was equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. Operations against enemy shipping and coastal targets began in June 1943. Squadron Leader Percy Beake was put in charge of the Squadron in May 1944.

After providing support for the landing forces from southern England, using Hawker Typhoons, the squadron moved to France in July 1944. During the Battle of Normandy, No.164 used its rockets against enemy armour in the battle area and after the breakout moved forward through northern France and Belgium in support of the 21st Army Group.

The squadron was renumbered No. 63 Squadron RAF on 31 August 1946.

Service

See also

* List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Further reading

*
*

External links

{{Royal Air Force

164 Squadron
Argentina–United Kingdom relations