No. 252 Squadron RAF

No. 252 Squadron RAF
Active	1 May 1918 – 30 June 1919 21 November 1940 – 15 June 1941 14 November 1941 – 1 December 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto(s)	With or on
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A Spartan Shield
Squadron Codes	PN (Nov 1940 - May 1941) BT (May 1941 –Nov 1942)

No. 252 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron that formed as a bomber unit in World War I and re-formed as part of RAF Coastal Command in World War II.

History

Formation and World War I

No. 252 Squadron was formed at Tynemouth on 1 May 1918 as a day bomber unit when four RNAS flights were amalgamated and was equipped with the Blackburn Kangaroo and DH.6s. One of these flights, No. 510 (Special Duty) Flight was posted to Redcar with its DH.6s for protection of shipping in the Teesport area until 21 January 1919.

The squadron disbanded at RNAS Killingholme on 30 June 1919.

Reformation in World War II

On 21 November 1940 the squadron reformed at RAF Bircham Newton and was equipped with Blenheims and Beaufighters as a Coastal Command unit. It moved to Northern Ireland in April 1941 and an attachment went to Gibraltar.

The squadron was disbanded upon renumbering as No. 143 Squadron RAF on 15 June 1941 and re-established at Idku, Egypt on 14 Nov 1941. It then operated from Libya and various locations in Greece and was finally disbanded on 1 December 1946.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 252 Squadron RAF^[1]

From	To	Aircraft	Variant
May 1918	Jan 1919	Airco DH.6
May 1918	Aug 1918	Blackburn Kangaroo
Dec 1940	Apr 1941	Bristol Blenheim	IF
Dec 1940	Apr 1941	Bristol Beaufighter	IVF
Dec 1940	Jun 1941	Bristol Beaufighter	IC
Nov 1941	Jan 1944	Bristol Beaufighter	IC
Sep 1942	Jan 1944	Bristol Beaufighter	VIC
Jun 1943	Jan 1944	Bristol Beaufighter	XI
Jun 1944	Dec 1946	Bristol Beaufighter	X

References

• Rawlings, John D. R. (1982). Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Limited. ISBN 0-7106-0187-5.
• Thomas, Andrew (13–26 May 1988). "Desert Beaus: No.252 Squadron, Royal Air Force". Aviation News. Vol. 16, no. 26. pp. 1201–1204.

External links

Currently activeInactiveAustralian Flying Corps units
attached to the RAF
during the First World WarArticle XV (Commonwealth) air force units attached to the RAF during the Second World War

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)	400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)	450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)	485 486 487 488 489 490

Squadrons formed from
non-Commonwealth personnel
during the Second World War

Argentine 164 Belgian 349 350 Czechoslovak 310 311 312 313 Dutch 320 (Netherlands) 321 (Netherlands) 322 (Dutch) French 326 327 328 329 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 Greek 13 335 336 Norwegian 330 331 332 333 334 Polish 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 315 316 317 318 663 United States 71 121 133 Yugoslav 351 352

Royal Auxiliary Air Force

Special Reserve	500 501 502 503 504
Auxiliary Air Force	600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 622

Fleet Air Arm of the RAF
(1924–1939)