No. 66 Squadron RAF

No. 66 Squadron RAF
Active	30 June 1916 – 25 October 1919 20 July 1936 – 30 April 1945 1 September 1946 – 30 September 1960 15 September 1961 – 20 March 1969
Country	Latin: Cavete praemonui ("Beware, I have warned")[1]
post 1950 aircraft insignia
Battle honours	Western Front, 1917*; Arras 1917; Messines, 1917; Ypres, 1917; Italian Front & Adriatic, 1917–18*; Channel & North Sea, 1939–44*; Dunkerque; France & Low Countries, 1940*; Battle of Britain 1940*; Home Defence, 1940–44; Fortress Europe 1940–44*; Dieppe; Normandy, 1944*; France & Germany, 1944–45*; Walcheren The honours marked with an asterisk* are those emblazoned on the Squadron standard.
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A rattlesnake The rattlesnake typifies aggressive spirit and striking power[2]
Squadron Codes	RB (Sept 1938 – Sept 1939) LZ (Sept 1939 – 1945 and 1949–1951) HI (1946–1949)

No. 66 Squadron was a Royal Flying Corps and eventually Royal Air Force aircraft squadron.

History

World War I

It was first formed at

During twelve months of fighting in Italy the squadron destroyed 172 enemy aircraft. On 13 March 1918 Lieutenant Alan Jerrard engaged nineteen enemy aircraft on his own; he managed to destroy three before he was forced to land and taken prisoner. He was awarded the squadron's only Victoria Cross for his efforts.

At the end of the war the squadron stayed on in Italy for a few months, returning to the United Kingdom in March 1919 and was disbanded on 25 October 1919.^[6]

Flying aces

The 21

Second World War

It was reformed on 20 July 1936 from 'C' Flight,

On the 24th of February 1941 the squadron moved to

In November 1943 the squadron moved to

It reformed at RAF Odiham on 15 September 1961, from the Belvedere Trials Unit equipped with Bristol Belvedere helicopters. In June 1962 it left the UK for Seletar in Singapore, where it provided heavy lift helicopter support for forces operating in Malaya. The squadron finally disbanded on 17 March 1969.^[6]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Corbin, Jim. Last of the Ten Fighter Boys. London: Sutton Publishing, 2007.
  ISBN 0-7509-4805-1
  .
• Forbes, Wing-Commander Athol, DFC, and Squadron-Leader Hubert R. Allen, DFC. Ten fighter boys: 66 Squadron RAF. Toronto, Canada: William Collins Sons & Co, 1942.
• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988.
  ISBN 0-85130-164-9
  .
• Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of All RAF Squadrons and Their Antecedents Since 1912, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988.
  ISBN 1-84037-141-2
  .)
• Lucas, Percy Belgrave. Five Up: A Chronicle of Five Lives. Canterbury: Wingham Press, 1991.
  "Laddie" Lucas
  ) (3rd revised edition published by Crécy Publishing, 1999)
• McCudden, Major James T.B. Flying Fury: five years in the Royal Flying Corps. London: Greenhill, 1930. (Republished 1987)
• Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and Their Aircraft. London, Macdonald and Jane's, 1969 (Second revised edition 1976, reprinted 1978).
  ISBN 0-354-01028-X
  .
• Taylor, Sir Gordon, GC (aka Captain P.G. Taylor, MC, 66 Squadron RFC) Sopwith Scout 7309. London: Cassell, 1968.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to No. 66 Squadron RAF.

• 66 Squadron, RFC & RAF, 1916 to 1919 by John Grech
• History of No.'s 66–70 Squadrons at RAF Web