[1] It was the first RAF squadron to be raised crewed by foreign nationals, in this case escaped Czechoslovak pilots.

Initially it had two Squadron Leaders: the British Douglas Blackwood[2] and the Czechoslovak Alexander Hess.

From 1941 the squadron began offensive operations flying sweeps over the English Channel and providing bomber escorts.

[4] On 26 June 1943 the squadron moved to RAF Castletown[7] in Caithness, Scotland for another three-month rest period.

[5] In 1944 the squadron was re-equipped with the Spitfire IX and became a fighter-bomber unit with 134 Wing, flying ground attack duties during the Normandy landings.

[5] The squadron then spent the rest of the war flying armed reconnaissance missions along the Dutch and Belgian coasts.

Three of those flying bombs were shot down on 8 July by the same fighter ace, Flt Lt Otto Smik DFC, in one sortie, within 32 minutes of each other.

[1] Supermarine Spitfire Vc 'AR501' (civil registration G-AWII) built in 1942, remains airworthy, and is maintained & operated by The Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England.