No. 261 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the

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 ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was involved in the defence of

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 lies ...

from August 1940 till May 1941 and the campaign in Burma.

History

Formation and World War I

The squadron first formed officially on 20 August 1918 at

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. H ...

from Nos. 339, 340 and 341 flights of the former

RNAS 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 t ...

, and continued to operate their

Felixstowe F.3 The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat, successor to the Felixstowe F.2 designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe. Design and development In February 1917, the first pro ...

flying-boats on anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols. After the armistice it was officially disbanded on 13 September 1919.Jefford 2001, p. 82.

Reformation and World War II

The squadron was reformed on 2 August 1940 to combine the two flights operating in the defence of

, the two flights Malta Fighter Flight operating the

Gloster Sea 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 ...

and No. 418 Flight RAF operating

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 ...

s. Among the inherited aircraft were the two survivors of the three Gladiators supposedly named ''Faith'', ''Hope'' and ''Charity'', Charity had been shot down the week before the squadron formed. The squadron suffered badly from attacks by both

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

aircraft and when a relief squadron ( No. 185 Squadron) arrived in Malta the squadron was disbanded and the remnants were absorbed into No. 185 Squadron between 12 and 21 May 1941.

Reformed again

The squadron was reformed at RAF Habbaniya,

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

on 12 July 1941 by renumbering No. 127 Squadron and again was equipped with Gladiators and Hurricanes. The main role was the defence of the oil ports, when fighting in Iraq ended the squadron sent detachments to Palestine and Cyprus. The squadron moved to Haifa, Palestine in January 1942. Re-equipped with the Hurricane IIB the squadron moved to the far east in early 1942 to join the campaign in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. The first action was February 1943 when the squadron was used in the ground attack role. It also undertook escort duties to the

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

operating supply missions. The squadron re-equipped with the Republic Thunderbolt in 1944 and returned to action in September 1944 to join an attack on

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. It fought to the end of the Burma campaign and it had moved to India to re-group ready to join the action in Malaya as the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

ended. The squadron was disbanded on 26 September 1945 at RAF Tanjore, India.

Aircraft operated

Surviving aircraft

The fuselage of Gladiator ''Faith'' is on display at the Malta War Museum,

Fort St Elmo Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 ...

.http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Malta%20WWII/Faith%20Hope%20&%20Charity.htm Faith in the Malta War Museum

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. ''Squadron Codes, 1937–56''. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. . * Crawford, Alex. ''Gloster Gladiator''. Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2002. . * Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. ''Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. . * 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. . * The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), Orbis Publishing, UK.

External links

{{Royal Air Force 261 No. 261 Military of British Ceylon 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations of Ceylon in World War II Military units and formations in Mandatory Palestine in World War II Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945