No. 124 Squadron RAF

No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF
Active	1 March 1918 – 17 August 1918 10 May 1941 – 1 April 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto	“Danger is our opportunity”
Insignia
Squadron Heraldry	A mongoose
Squadron Codes	PX (Apr 1939 - Sep 1939) ON (May 1941 - Sep 1946)

No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a light bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II.

History

Formation and World War I

No. 124 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 February 1918 at RFC Old Sarum and became a unit of the Royal Air Force. After a move to RFC Fowlmere 124 Sqn disbanded on 17 August 1918 having only operated as a training squadron.^[1]

Reformation in World War II

Around the outbreak of World War II, from April to September 1939, 124 Sqn was allocated a squadron code but the squadron was not stood up. The squadron eventually reformed in 1941 as a fighter unit equipped with Spitfires, stationed at RAF Castletown, to provide air defence for Scapa Flow. It was then moved to RAF Biggin Hill, operating several variants of the Spitfire on bomber escort and high altitude reconnaissance duties, before it was re-equipped with the Meteor jet aircraft before being disbanded at RAF Bentwaters on 1 April 1946, becoming No. 56 Squadron RAF.

Aircraft operated

Data from:-^[1]

Aircraft operated by no. 124 Squadron RAF

From	To	Aircraft	Squadron code
Feb 1918	Aug 1918	Airco DH.9 (proposed)
Feb 1918	Aug 1918	miscellaneous training aircraft
Apr 1939	Sep 1939	Squadron not stood up	PK
May 1941	Mar 1942	Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V	ON
May 1942	Feb 1943	Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VI	ON
May 1943	Jun 1944	Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VII	ON
Jul 1944	Mar 1945	Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX	ON
Apr 1945	Apr 1946	Gloster Meteor F.3	ON

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Lake, Alan. "Flying Units of the RAF".Airlife Publishing. Shrewsbury. 1999. ISBN 1 84037 086 6

External links

• Squadron history (and more) on RafWeb