No. 684 Squadron RAF was a

photo-reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of imagery ...

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 ...

from 1943 to 1946.

History

The squadron was formed on 29 September 1943 at RAF Dum Dum near

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, (then)

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

from the twin-engined elements of No. 681 Squadron RAF. It operated in the photo-reconnaissance role with first the de Havilland Mosquito and the

North American Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

, and later also with the Bristol Beaufighter and the Supermarine Spitfire. The squadron performed long range photo-reconnaissance in support of the Burma Campaign. Near the end of the war the squadron also performed high-speed courier flights. It was disbanded on 1 September 1946 at RAF Seletar,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

by being renumbered to

No. 81 Squadron RAF No 81 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It flew Fighter aircraft during the Second World War, and reconnaissance aircraft in the Far East after the war and was disbanded in 1970. History First World War No. 81 Squadron Royal Flyin ...

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

No 671 – 1435 Squadron Histories

History of 684 Squadron
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 684 Squadron Raf Military units and formations established in 1943 Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1946

684 __NOTOC__ Year 684 ( DCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 684 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...