No. 134 Squadron RAF

No. 134 Squadron RAF
Active1 March 1918 – 4 July 1918
31 July 1941 – 10 March 1946
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Motto(s)Latin: Per ardua volabimus
("We shall fly through hardships")[1]
Insignia
Squadron BadgeA gauntlet closed.
Squadron CodesG (August – November 1941)
GQ (1942 – June 1945)

No. 134 Squadron RAF was a part of the Royal Air Force which was formed as a light bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter squadron in World War II.

History

First World War

No. 134 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 March 1918 and became a unit of the Royal Air Force a month later but disbanded on 17 August 1918.

Second World War

A Hawker Hurricane fighter of No. 134 Squadron at Vaenga airfield, near Murmansk, late 1941

The squadron reformed from a nucleus provided by 17 Squadron in July 1941 as a fighter unit equipped with Hawker Hurricanes stationed at RAF Leconfield. It was then based near Murmansk to train Russian pilots until the Hurricanes were handed over to the Russian Navy. Back in the UK the squadron was re-assembled at RAF Catterick on 7 December 1941, reequipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters and moved to Northern Ireland for two months before it returned to RAF Baginton (in Warwickshire) to prepare to move overseas once again.

The squadron then operated in Egypt until November 1943 when it moved to India and Burma. It converted to the P-47 Thunderbolt and disbanded by being renumbered No. 131 Squadron.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by No. 134 Squadron RAF[2]
From To Aircraft Variant
Jun 1941 Mar 1942 Hawker Hurricane IIB
Dec 1941 Feb 1942 Supermarine Spitfire VA
Dec 1941 Feb 1942 Supermarine Spitfire IIA
Jan 1942 Feb 1942 Hawker Hurricane IIB
Jan 1942 Mar 1943 Supermarine Spitfire VB
Jan 1943 Oct 1943 Hawker Hurricane IIB
Mar 1943 Apr 1943 Hawker Hurricane IIC
Jun 1943 Aug 1943 Supermarine Spitfire VB & VC
Sep 1944 Jan 1945 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt I
Sep 1944 Jan 1945 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt II

Footnotes

  1. ^ Pine, L G (1983). A dictionary of mottoes. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 134. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
  2. ^ Jefford 1988.

References

  • Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: UK Airlife. ISBN 978-1-85310-053-6.
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