No. 263 Squadron

"Ex ungue leonem", By his claws one knows the lion"

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History:

27. September 1918

No. 263 Sqn formed at Otranto, Italy

16. May 1919

No. 263 Sqn disbanded at Otranto, Italy

20. October 1939

No. 263 Sqn reformed at RAF Filton

28. August 1945

No. 263 Sqn disbanded at Hildesheim, Germany

29. August 1945

Reformed at RAF Acklington by renumbering No. 616 Sqn.

1. July 1958

Disbanded at RAF Stradishall by renumbering No. 1 Sgn.

1. June 1959

No. 263 Sqn reformed at RAF Watton

30. June 1963

No. 263 Sqn disbanded at RAF Watton

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Aircraft:
 

 

 

Sep. 1918 - May 1919
Sopwith Baby
   
 

 

 

Sep. 1918 - May 1919
Hamble Baby
     
 

 

 

Sep. 1918 - May 1919
Short 184
   
 

 

 

Sep. 1918 - May 1919
Short 320
   
 

 

 

Sep. 1918 - May 1919
Felixstowe F.3
   
.
 

 

 

Oct. 1939 - Jun. 1940
Gladiator I & II
   
 

 

 

Jun. 1940 - Jul. 1940
Hurricane I
 
 

 

 

Jul. 1940 - Dec. 1943
Whirrlwind
 
 

 

 

Dec. 1943 - Aug. 1945
Typhoon Ib
     
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Aug. 1945 - 1948
Meteor F.3
   
 

 

 

1948 - 1950
Meteor F.4
 

 

 

1950 - Feb. 1955
Meteor F.8
 

 

 

Feb. 1955 - Oct. 1957
Hunter F.2 & F-5
 
 

 

 

Oct. 1957 - Jul. 1958
Hunter F.6
 
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Jun. 1959 - Jun. 1963
Bloodhound 1
   
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Air Base Assingment

Otranto, Italy

27. Sep. 1918

16. May 1919

RAF Filton

20. Oct. 1939

Apr. 1940

Lesjaskog, Norway

Apr. 1940

May 1940

RAF Turnhouse

May 1940

Jun. 1940

Bardufoss, Norway

Jun. 1940

8. Jun. 1940

RAF Drem, East Lothian Scotland

10. Jun. 1940

28. Jun. 1940

RAF Grangemouth, Stirlingshire Scotland

28. Jun. 1940

2. Sep. 1940

RAF Drem, East Lothian Scotland

2. Sep. 1940

28. Nov. 1940

RAF Exeter, East Devon

28. Nov. 1940

24. Feb. 1941

RAF St Eval, Cornwall

24. Feb. 1941

18. Mar. 1941

RAF Portreath, Cornwall

18. Mar. 1941

10. Apr. 1941

RAF Filton, South Gloucestershire

10. Apr. 1941

7. Aug. 1941

RAF Charmy Down, Somerset

7. Aug. 1941

19. Dec. 1941

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

19. Dec. 1941

23. Dec. 1941

RAF Charmy Down, Somerset

23. Dec. 1941

28. Jan. 1942

RAF Colerne, Wiltshire

28. Jan. 1942

10. Feb. 1942

RAF Fairwood Common, Gower Pen. Wales

10. Feb. 1942

18. Apr. 1942

RAF Angle, Pembrokeshire Wales

18. Apr. 1942

15. Aug. 1942

RAF Colerne, Wiltshire

15. Aug. 1942

13. Sep. 1942

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

13. Sep. 1942

20. Feb. 1943

RAF Harrowbeer, Devon

20. Feb. 1943

15. Mar. 1943

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

15. Mar. 1943

Mar. 1943

RAF Predannack, Conwall

Mar. 1943

15. Apr.1943

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

15. Apr.1943

19. Jun. 1943

RAF Zeals, Wiltshire

19. Jun. 1943

12. Jul. 1943

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

12. Jul. 1943

7. Sep. 1943

RAF Manston, Kent

7. Sep. 1943

10. Sep. 1943

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

10. Sep. 1943

5. Dec. 1943

RAF Ibsley, Hampshire

5. Dec. 1943

5. Jan. 1944

RAF Fairwood Common, Gower Pen. Wales

5. Jan. 1944

23. Jan. 1944

RAF Beaulieu, Hampshire

23. Jan. 1944

6. Mar. 1944

RAF Warmwell, Dorset

6. Mar. 1944

19. Mar. 1944

RAF Harrowbeer, Devon

19. Mar. 1944

19. Jun. 1944

RAF Bolt Head, Devon

19. Jun. 1944

10. Jul. 1944

RAF Hurn, Dorset

10. Jul. 1944

23. Jul. 1944

RAF Eastchurch, Kent

23. Jul. 1944

Aug. 1944

St. Croix, France (B.3)

Aug. 1944

Sep. 1944

RAF Manston, Kent

Sep. 1944

Sep. 1944

Lille/ Vendeville, France (B.51)

Sep. 1944

Oct. 1944

Deurne, Belgium (B.70)

Oct. 1944

Jan. 1945

RAF Fairwood Common, Gower Pen. Wales

Jan. 1945

Feb. 1945

Mill, Netherland (B.89)

Feb. 1945

Apr. 1945

Drope, Germany B.105

Apr. 1945

Apr. 1945

Ahlhorn, Germany (B.111)

Apr. 1945

Jun. 1945

Hildesheim, Germany (R.16)

Jun. 1945

28. Aug. 1945

RAF Acklington

29. Aug. 1945

Sep. 1945

RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire

Sep. 1945

Jun. 1946

RAF Boxted, Essex

Jun. 1946

Sep. 1946

RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich

Sep. 1946

Oct. 1950

RAF Wattisham, Suffolk

Oct. 1950

Oct. 1957

RAF Stradishall, Suffolk

Oct. 1957

1. Jul. 1958

RAF Watton, Norfolk

1. Jun. 1959

30. Jun. 1963

 
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Commanding Officers:

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27. Sep. 1918

16. May 1919

Sqn/Ldr John W Donaldson, DSO, AFC

Oct. 1939

10. Jun. 1940

Sqn/Ldr H Eeles

10. Jun. 1940

Dec. 1940

Sqn/Ldr Munro

Dec. 1940

Feb. 1941

Sqn/Ldr Arthur Hay Donaldson, DFC, AFC

Feb. 1941

Aug. 1941

Sqn/Ldr Thomas P Pugh, DFC

Aug. 1941

Feb. 1942

Sqn/Ldr Robert S Woodward, DFC

Feb. 1942

11. Dec. 1942

Sqn/Ldr Geoffrey Berrington Warnes, DSO, DFC

11. Dec. 1942

Jun. 1943

Sqn/Ldr Ernest R Baker, DSO, DFC Bar

Jun. 1943

Dec. 1943

Sqn/Ldr Geoffrey Berrington Warnes, DSO, DFC

Dec. 1943

25. Feb. 1944

Sqn/Ldr Henri A C Gonay

25. Feb. 1944

Jun. 1944

Sqn/Ldr R D Rutter, DFC

Jun. 1944

Jan. 1945

Sqn/Ldr Marten T S Rumbold, DFC Bar

Jan. 1945

28. Aug. 1945

?

29. Aug. 1945

?

Sqn/Ldr R Aytoum

?

1956

Sqn/Ldr D. Fizgerald

1956

?

?

?

1. Jul. 1958

?

1. Jun. 1959

?

?

?

30. Jun. 1963

 
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History:

The squadron was formed at Otranto in Italy on 27. September 1918 from flights of the Royal Naval Air Service after that service's amalgamation with the Royal Flying Corps to form the RAF. It flew Sopwith Babys and Felixstowe F3s from Otranto reconnoitring for submarines escaping from the Adriatic Sea into the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron was disbanded on 16. May 1919.

No.263 Squadron was reformed on 2. October 1939 as a fighter squadron. Remarkably it was equipped with Gloster Gladiator biplanes, and took these aging aircraft with it to Norway in April 1940. After three days operating from a frozen lake (Lake Lesjaskog) all of its aircraft were unfit for service and the squadron was forced to retreat to the UK to collect new aircraft. The squadron returned to Norway in May 1940, this time operating from bases further north. It remained there until the Allied evacuation of Narvik, and then loaded its aircraft onto the carrier HMS Glorious for the return trip. All of these aircraft were lost with the carrier when she ran into the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

The squadron began to reform at RAF Dren on 12. June 1940, and was to be the first squadron to operation the Westland Whirlwind. In November 1940 the squadron took its Whirlwinds to the south-west to fly convoy protection patrols. Offensive sweeps across France began in June 1941, but the aircraft were not equipped to act as fighter-bombers until June 1942. The fighter-bomber Whirlwinds were used to attack German airfields and shipping, before being replaced with Hawker Typhoons in December 1943.  
 

Offensive sweeps over France began on 1. February 1944, at first with bombs, but using rockets from July. In July 1944 the squadron became part of No.136 Wing, 84 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force. This wing had not yet moved to France, and in early July it was joined at Hurn by the Typhoon squadrons of No.146 Wing. In late June No.136 Wing was dissolved, and the squadron joined its new neighbours, accompanying them on their return to France. Apart from a short break early in 1945 the squadron remained with the group until the end of the war. 
 

There was always a danger of attacking friendly units by mistake. On 27. August 1944 the squadron and No. 266 Squadron RAF Typhoons with Spitfire escort was mistakenly ordered to attack the Royal Navy 1st Minesweeping Flotilla off Cap d'Antifer, Le Havre, with the result that HMS Britomart and HMS Hussar were sunk and HMS Salamander was irreparably damaged, killing 117 sailors and wounding 153 more.
 

During the German retreat from Normandy Typhoons of No.146 Wing destroyed the last permanent bridge remaining over the Seine, trapping many of the survivors.
 

Over the winter of 1944-45 the wing was used to attack the remaining isolated German garrisons on the Scheldt estuary and Walcheren Island, left behind by the retreat of the main German armies. At the start of October the squadron moved to Deurne airfield at Antwerp, where it found itself under fire from V2 rockets - five airmen were killed by one rocket on 25. October.
 

As the advance came to a halt in the winter of 1944-45 the Typhoon squadrons flew fewer sorties in direct support of the armies and instead began to operate further behind German lines. Attacks on Geman headquarters continued, with No.146 Wing making an attack on the believed location of the German 15th Army in a park in the centre of Dordrecht on 24. October 1944. This attack killed two German generals, seventeen staff officers and 236 others, a massive blow to the efficiency of the 15th Army.
 

The wing's next targets were isolated garrisons around Arnhem and Nijmegen. The squadron also took part in an attack on a 'human torpedo' factory at Utrecht, and an attempted attack on the Gestapo HQ at Amsterdam on 19 November, but this second attack was stopped by the weather. Nos.193, 257, 263 and 266 Squadrons returned to the same target on 26 November, this time with more success, with some bombs going through the front door of the building!
 

The wing was largely unaffected by Operation Bodenplatte, the Luftwaffe's attempt to destroy the Allied air forces on the ground on 1 January 1945. Only three of the wing's aircraft were damaged, of which one came from No.266 Squadron.
 

Another headquarters target was attacked on 18 March in the build-up to the crossing of the Rhine. This time General Blaskowitz's Army Group H was the target and 62 members of his staff were killed. In April the wing used Mk 1 supply containers to drop supplies to SAS troops operating behind German lines.
 

After disbandment on 28 August 1945, No. 616 Squadron RAF with the Gloster Meteor jet fighters was renumbered as 263 squadron at RAF Acklington. After Meteors, 263 Squadron moved onto Hawker Hunters in 1955. The unit arrived at RAF Wattisham in October 1950, and transferred to RAF Stradishall in August 1957. It was disbanded there on 1. July 1958 and renumbered to become No. 1 Squadron RAF. It was reformed for the last time on 1. June 1959 to operate the Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air missile at RAF Watton until disbanding on 30. June 1963.

 
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