No. 261 Squadron RAF

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No. 261 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force notably involved in the defence of Malta from August 1940 and the campaign in Burma.

The squadron motto was Semper Contendo ('I strive continually')

Contents 1 History 2 Aircraft operated 3 See also 4 References

[edit] History

The squadron first formed in August 1918 at Felixstowe to operate the Felixstowe F.3 flying-boat on anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols. After the armistice is was disbanded on 13 September 1919.

The squadron was reformed on 2 August 1940 to combine the two flights operating in the defence of Malta. The two flights Malta Fighter Flight operating the Gloster Sea Gladiator and No. 418 Flight RAF operating Hawker Hurricanes. Among the inherited aircraft were the two survivors of the three Gladiators named Faith, Hope and Charity, Charity had been shot down the week before the squadron formed. The squadron suffered badly from attacks by both German and Italian aircraft and when a relief squadron (185 Squadron) arrived in Malta the squadron was disbanded and the remanants were absorbed into 185 Squadron.

The squadron was reformed at RAF Habbaniyah, Iraq on the 12 July 1941 and again was equipped with Gladiators and Hurricanes. The main role was the defence of the oil ports, when fighting in Iraq ended the squadron sent detachments to Palestine and Cyprus. The squadron moved to Haifa, Palestine in January 1942. Re-equipped with the Hurricane IIB the squadron moved to the far east in early 1942 to join the campaign in Burma. The first action was February 1943 when the squadron was used in the ground attack role. It also undertook escort duties to the Douglas Dakota operating supply missions. It re-equipped with the Thunderbolt in 1944 and returned to action in September 1944 to join an attack on Rangoon.

It fought to the end of the Burma campaign and it had moved to India to re-group ready to join the action in Malaya as the war ended. The squadron was disbanded on the 26 September 1945 at RAF Tanjore, India

[edit] Aircraft operated

• 1918-1919 Felixstowe F.3
• 1940-1941 Gloster Sea Gladiator I
• 1940-1941 Hawker Hurricane I
• 1941-1941 Gloster Gladiator I
• 1941-1942 Hawker Hurricane I
• 1942-1943 Hawker Hurricane IIB
• 1943-1944 Hawker Hurricane IIC
• 1944-1944 Republic Thunderbolt I
• 1944-1945 Republic Thunderbolt II

The fuselage of Gladiator Faith is on display at the Malta War Museum, Fort St Elmo, Valetta.^[1]

[edit] See also

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Malta%20WWII/Faith%20Hope%20&%20Charity.htm Faith in the Malta War Museum

• G G Jefford, RAF Squadrons, second edition 2001, Airlife Publishing, UK, ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing, UK.