No. 613 Squadron RAF
No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron RAuxAF | |
---|---|
Active | 1 February 1939 – 7 August 1945 10 May 1946 – 10 March 1957 |
Country | Percy "Laddy" Lucas |
Insignia | |
Squadron Badge heraldry | In front of two wings conjoined at base, a black fleur de lis[1] The badge is based upon the badge of the Manchester Regiment[2] |
Squadron Codes | ZR (Oct 1939 – Apr 1942)[3] SY (Apr 1942 – Aug 1945)[4] RAT (May 1946 – Mar 1950)[5] Q3 (Mar 1950 – Dec 1953)[6] |
No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron was an
History
Formation and early years
The squadron was formed at
Tactical reconnaissance operations
In August 1941 the squadron became a tactical reconnaissance unit and it began re-equipping with the faster Curtiss Tomahawk. It re-equipped with the early Allison V-1710 powered Mark I version of the North American Mustang in April 1942, continuing to operate within RAF Army Cooperation Command.[1] During Spring and Summer 1943 the Mustangs were flown on "Lagoon" low level shipping reconnaissance flights over the North Sea to near the Dutch Coast, calling in heavy Coastal Command strike aircraft when enemy shipping was located.[10]
Mosquito operations
On 15 October 1943 the squadron moved to
Postwar operations
The squadron reformed on 10 May 1946 at RAF Ringway (now Manchester Airport), as a fighter squadron within Reserve Command.[13] The unit's home was in Ringway's Hangar No.7, which had been completed for the squadron in spring 1940, a few months after leaving the airport for wartime service elsewhere.[13] No. 613 Squadron was initially equipped with Supermarine Spitfire FR.14s, replacing these in November 1948 by the higher performance Mark F.22s.[1] North American Harvard aircraft were used in the dual training role. The Spitfires and their volunteer flying and ground crews were frequently detached to RAF Horsham St Faith, Norfolk, and other RAF stations, for weekend exercises alongside regular RAF squadrons.[13][14]
After six further years of peacetime exercises, often detaching to operational RAF fighter stations, the unit disbanded for the final time at Ringway on 10 March 1957, on the same day as all other Royal Auxiliary Air Force flying units.[13][15]
Aircraft operated
From | To | Aircraft | Version |
---|---|---|---|
May 1939 | December 1939 | Hawker Hind | |
November 1939 | June 1940 | Hawker Hector | Mk.I |
April 1940 | April 1942 | Westland Lysander | Mks.I, II |
January 1941 | June 1942 | Westland Lysander | Mk.IIIa |
August 1941 | April 1942 | Curtiss Tomahawk | Mk.IIa |
April 1942 | October 1943 | North American Mustang | Mk.I |
November 1943 | August 1945 | de Havilland Mosquito | FB.Mk.VI |
December 1946 | December 1948 | Supermarine Spitfire | FR.14 |
November 1948 | March 1951 | Supermarine Spitfire | F.22 |
November 1948 | April 1950 | North American Harvard | Mk.IIb |
September 1949 | April 1950 | de Havilland Vampire | F.1 |
April 1950 | March 1957 | Gloster Meteor | T.7 |
February 1951 | March 1957 | de Havilland Vampire | FB.5 |
June 1954 | March 1957 | de Havilland Vampire | FB.9 |
Commanding officers
From | To | Name |
---|---|---|
March 1939 | January 1940 | S/Ldr. E. Rhodes
|
January 1940 | July 1940 | S/Ldr. A.F. Anderson |
July 1940 | September 1940 | W/Cdr. J.N.T. Stephenson
|
September 1940 | February 1941 | W/Cdr D.C.R.Macdonald [20] |
June 1941 | September 1942 | W/Cdr. Viscount Acheson |
September 1942 | December 1942 | S/Ldr. C.L. Page |
December 1942 | October 1943 | W/Cdr. C.B.E. Burt-Andrews |
October 1943 | February 1944 | W/Cdr. K.H. Blair, DFC & Bar [21] |
February 1944 | June 1944 | W/Cdr. R.N. Bateson, DFC |
June 1944 | December 1944 | W/Cdr. C. Newman |
December 1944 | August 1945 | W/Cdr. P.B. Lucas, DSO , DFC
|
November 1946 | March 1951 | S/Ldr. J.S. Morton, DFC & Bar |
March 1951 | December 1956 | S/Ldr. J.B. Wales |
December 1956 | March 1957 | None |
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Halley 1988, p. 430
- ^ Rawlings 1982, p. 238
- ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 14
- ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 95
- ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 138
- ^ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 88
- ^ Hunt 1972, p. 415
- ^ Scholefield 1998, p. 49.
- ^ a b c d Rawlings 1982, p. 239.
- ^ a b Scholefield 1998, p. 50.
- ^ Bowyer 1984, p. 123.
- ^ Moyes 1976, p. 280.
- ^ a b c d e f Scholefield 1998, p. 51.
- ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 501.
- ^ Hunt 1972, p. 425.
- ^ Hunt 1972, pp. 427–428.
- ^ Jefford 2001, p. 101.
- ^ Bowyer 1984, p. 124.
- ^ Hunt 1972, pp. 415–428.
- ^ A.F.C. London Gazette 2 June 1943
- ^ "Raf Fighter Command 1940".
Bibliography
- Bowyer, Chaz (1984), Mosquito Squadrons of the Royal Air Force, Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., ISBN 0-7110-1425-6
- Bowyer, Michael J.F.; Rawlings, John D.R. (1979), Squadron Codes, 1937–56, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., ISBN 0-85059-364-6
- Halley, James J. (1988), The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988, Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., ISBN 0-85130-164-9
- Hunt, Leslie (1972), Twenty-One Squadrons: The History of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1925–1957, London: Garnstone Press Ltd., ISBN 0-85511-110-0
- Jefford, C.G. (2001), RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-84037-141-2
- Moyes, Philip J.R. (1976), Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft, Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., ISBN 0-354-01027-1
- Rawlings, John D.R. (1982), Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft, London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., ISBN 0-7106-0187-5
- Rawlings, John D.R. (1978), Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft, London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., ISBN 0-354-01028-X
- Scholefield, R.A. (1998), Manchester Airport, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-1954-X