No. 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron is a British

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) and ...

squadron. It was first formed in 1936 and was disbanded in 1957 after seeing combat as a fighter unit during the Second World War. It was reformed as a reserve squadron in 2013.

History

Early years

The squadron was formed at

RAF Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

on 10 February 1936 as a day bomber unit. The squadron set up its permanent base at RAF Speke (now

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...

) on 6 May and began recruiting personnel from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and the surrounding area. Its first

Hawker Hart The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...

light bombers arrived in June, being replaced by

Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...

s from April 1938.

Wartime operations

On 1 January 1939, the unit became a fighter squadron, receiving its first

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

Mk.I's in May. The squadron left for

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 Muse ...

on 13 August, as part of the

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...

's No. 12 Group, After a period of defensive duties on the east coast, No. 611 became fully operational from its

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organi ...

base in Lincolnshire in May 1940, firstly over Dunkirk and then taking part in the

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 ...

campaign with the

Duxford Wing 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 Muse ...

, 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. The squadron commenced offensive sweeps over occupied northern France in January 1941, based at

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sut ...

, moving to

RAF Drem 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 ...

in Scotland for recuperation in November 1941. The unit moved south again in June 1942 to

RAF Kenley The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...

for deployment on shipping reconnaissance, escort and defensive missions. 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 Normandy) it was equipped with the Spitfire V LF as part of

Air Defence of Great Britain The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was a RAF command comprising substantial army and RAF elements responsible for the air defence of the British Isles. It lasted from 1925, following recommendations that the RAF take control of homeland air ...

, though under the operational control of

RAF Second Tactical Air Force 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, ...

. No. 611 provided covering patrols for the invasion from its base at

RAF Deanland RAF Deanland is a former Royal Air Force advanced landing ground located west of Hailsham, East Sussex and north east of Brighton, East Sussex, England History RAF Deanland was planned as an Advanced Landing Ground in order to provide support ...

. The squadron then moved to south-west England for a short period. Long-range escort missions began to be flown from

RAF Bradwell Bay Royal Air Force Bradwell Bay or more simply RAF Bradwell Bay is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Maldon, Essex, England and south west of West Mersea, Essex. History The central area of the current airfield was first laid down ...

, Essex, from late August 1944, until No. 611 moved to

RAF Skeabrae Royal Air Force Skeabrae or more simply RAF Skeabrae is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located in Orkney, Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, United Kingdom. History The following units were here at some point: ;Squadrons ;U ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

on 3 October. After converting to

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

powered

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H ...

Mk.IV's the squadron again moved south, this time to

RAF Hawkinge Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Ashford, north of Folkestone, Kent and west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal ...

in Kent and resumed escort duties for the rest of the war. The squadron disbanded as an RAF squadron on 15 August 1945 at

RAF Peterhead Royal Air Force Peterhead or more simply RAF Peterhead is a former Royal Air Force sector station located east of Longside, Aberdeenshire and west of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History The airfield was built in 1941 and disbanded in ...

Postwar operations

The squadron reformed again at Liverpool's Speke airport on 10 May 1946 as a fighter squadron within the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Because of growing airliner movements at Speke, the unit moved to

RAF Woodvale Royal Air Force Woodvale or RAF Woodvale is a Royal Air Force Station located next to the towns of Formby and Ainsdale in an area called Woodvale which is located to the south of Southport, Merseyside. Woodvale was constructed as an all-weathe ...

near

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

on 22 July 1946 equipped with Spitfire F.14's and from June 1948 with the higher performance Spitfire F.22.

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

F.4 jet fighters were received in May 1951, these requiring a move to the longer runways at

RAF Hooton Park Royal Air Force Hooton Park or more simply RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, is a former Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in the First World War. ...

on the Wirral on 9 July. Re-equipment with updated Meteor F.8's came in December 1951 and these were flown from Hooton Park until the squadron disbanded on 10 March 1957, together with all other RAuxAF flying units. 611 Squadron was reformed at RAF Woodvale during 2013 in line with the expansion of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force recommended by the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Commission and endorsed by the Air Force Board Standing Committee. The commission was set up by the Prime Minister in 2010 to examine the shape and role of the Reserve Forces as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The role of the squadron is to provide trained personnel to other RAF units.

Notable Pilots

Eric Lock Eric Stanley Lock, (19 April 1919 – 3 August 1941) was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. Born in Shrewsbury in 1919, Lock had his first experience of flying as a teenager. In the late 1930s ...

. July – November 1941 Top scoring British born pilot during the

and 26 confirmed victories during just six months of flying time. *

Barrie Heath Sir Barrie Heath, (11 September 1916 – 22 February 1988) was a Royal Air Force Spitfire pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom), Distinguished Flying Cross. Heath shot down fo ...

. Heath shot down four German aircraft between 1940 and 1941. After the war he went on to become the chairman of the engineering giant

GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

. * Roland "Bee" Beamont. Famous test pilot.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Brown,

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 also ...

Peter, AFC. ''Honour Restored: The Battle of Britain, Dowding and the Fight for Freedom''. Spellmount, 2005. * * * * * * * * * * * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'', (Part Work 1982–1985), Orbis Publishing, pp 4238/9

External links

611 RAUxAF

The Official 611 Squadron website

{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 611 Squadron Raf Fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II

611 __NOTOC__ Year 611 (Roman numerals, DCXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 611 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini ...

RAF squadrons involved in the Battle of Britain Military units and formations established in 1936