No. 520 Squadron RAF was a meteorological 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 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 opposi ...

History

The squadron was formed at

RAF Gibraltar RAF Gibraltar (also formerly known as North Front) is a Royal Air Force station on Gibraltar. No military aircraft are currently stationed there, but RAF, Commonwealth and aircraft of other NATO nations will periodically arrive for transient stop ...

on 20 September 1943 from 1403 Flight. Equipped with

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...

s, it was tasked with collecting meteorological data from both the Mediterranean and Atlantic. In February 1944 it was re-equipped with

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its orig ...

es and these were supplemented by Supermarine Spitfires, although the Spitfires were replaced with

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 a few months later. In September 1944 the squadron absorbed 1500 (BAT) Flight and its

Miles Martinet The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) that was in service during the Second World War. It was the first British aircraft to be designed specifically for target towing. Work o ...

s, which were used for target towing. The squadron also operated the Hudson again and also the

Vickers Warwick The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose twin-engined British aircraft developed and operated during the Second World War. In line with the naming convention followed by other RAF heavy bombers of the era, it was named after a British city or ...

. The squadron continued to serve for a while after the war was over, and was even given an

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people ...

task, using the Warwicks, but was disbanded at Gibraltar on 25 April 1946.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Squadron histories for nos. 500–520 sqn
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 520 Squadron Raf Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II 520 Military weather units and formations Military units and formations established in 1943