No. 26 Squadron RAF

No. 26 Squadron.
Active	8th October 1915 - 1st April 1979.
Branch	Royal Air Force.
Type	Army Co-operation Unit.
Motto	N Wagter in die Lug Afrikaans: "A guard in the sky".
Battle honours	East Africa, 1916-18: France & Low Countries, 1939-40: Dunkirk: Fortress Europe, 1940-44: Dieppe: France & Germany, 1944-45: Normandy, 1944: Walcheren.

No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976.

The squadron motto is N Wagter in die Lug (Afrikaans) (A guard in the sky), and the squadrons badge is a springbok's head couped.

History

1915 to 1918

No. 26 Squadron was formed at Netheravon on 8 October 1915 from personnel of the South African Flying Unit.^[1] It was equipped with B.E.s and Farmans and sent to East Africa in 1915, arriving in Mombasa at the end of January 1916. In February 1918 it was dispatched back to the UK where it was disbanded in July 1918.A small gem of information this squadron is the only one I have been able to find that was issued a block of service numbers for its members.

Between the wars

On 11 October 1927 No. 26 was reformed at Catterick as a single flight of Armstrong Whitworth Atlas army co-operation aircraft. and on 1 September 1938 a second flight was added. In July 1933 Hawker Audaxes were received which were replaced by Hawker Hectors in August 1937.

Second World War

By the out-break of World War II, the Squadron had been equipped with Westland Lysanders and in October 1939 it was moved to France. When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940 No. 26 was forced to move to Lympne where it flew reconnaissance, bombing and supply missions over northern France. Coastal patrols began in June and training with the army occupied most of the Squadrons time for the next few years. In February 1941 Curtiss Tomahawks began to arrive to replace the Lysanders for tactical reconnaissance missions. In October 1941 the Tomahawks began to fly low-level ground attack sorties over northern France but they lacked the performance required for operations of this nature so in January 1942 they were replaced by Mustangs. The tactical reconnaissance and day intruder missions continued until July 1943, when the Squadron moved to Yorkshire and then in March 1944 to Scotland. In preparations for the Normandy landings, No. 26 trained in spotting naval guns, a task it carried out on and after D-Day. For this role the Squadron was equipped with Supermarine Spitfires although they reverted back to Mustangs in December 1944 for reconnaissance missions over the Netherlands. In April 1945 the Squadron spent two weeks spotting for French warships bombarding pockets of German resistance before being transferred to Germany in August. No. 26 remained here until 1 April 1946 when it was disbanded.

Post war

On the same day, No. 41 Squadron was renumbered as No. 26 Squadron at Wunstorf and it flew Spitfires and Hawker Tempests until April 1949 when it was re-equipped with De Havilland Vampires. In November 1953, now at RAF Oldenburg, No. 26 was converted to Sabres, converting again to Hunters in July 1955, and remained a day-fighter unit until it was disbanded on 10 September 1957. It was reformed with Hawker Hunters at RAF Gutersloh on 7 June 1958 but was disbanded again on 30 December 1960. Reformed again at RAF Odiham on 1 June 1962, No. 26 became a helicopter Squadron flying Bristol Belvederes. An advance party was moved to Aden in March 1963 and the remainder to RAF Kuching, Borneo in November 1963 for a one year unaccompanied tour. The aircraft remaining in Khormakser in 1965 went to Singapore on 30 November 1965 where they were merged with No. 66 Squadron RAF, the ground crew going to No. 74 Squadron. On 3 February 1969 the Northern Communication Squadron at RAF Wyton was re-designated No. 26 Squadron until it was disbanded on 1 April 1976.

See also

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

1. ^ http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056dt.html