No. 260 Squadron RAF

No. 260 Squadron RAF
Active	August 1918 – 22 February 1919 22 November 1940 – 19 August 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto(s)	Latin: Celer et fortis ( Swift and Strong)
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A sword and morning star
Squadron Codes	HS (Feb 1942 – Aug 1945)

No. 260 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron formed as a reconnaissance and anti–submarine unit in World War I and a fighter unit in World War II.

History

Formation and World War I

No. 260 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 25 July 1918 and operated DH.6s from Westward Ho, Devon on anti-submarine patrols and disbanded on 5 March 1919.

Reformation in World War II

The squadron reformed on 22 November 1940 at RAF Castletown, Scotland and operated Hawker Hurricanes. It then moved to Egypt and operated Curtiss Kittyhawk fighter bombers over the western desert. The squadron then advanced with the Eighth Army into Tunisia. With the North African Campaign over it then moved to Sicily following Operation Husky. As the allied forces advanced into Italy it converted to the North American P-51 Mustang and it disbanded at Lavariano on 19 August 1945.

Aircraft operated

A crashed Kittyhawk I of 260 Squadron, flown by Flt Lt M D Wylie DFC shot down on 30th May 1942 in North Africa, nr El Adem.

Aircraft operated by no. 260 Squadron RAF^[1]

From	To	Aircraft	Variant
Aug 1918	Feb 1919	Airco DH.6
Nov 1940	Feb 1942	Hawker Hurricane	I
Feb 1942	Mar 1942	Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk	II
Feb 1942	Sep 1942	Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk	I
Jun 1942	May 1943	Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk	IIA
Dec 1942	Mar 1944	Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk	III
Apr 1944	Aug 1945	North American P-51 Mustang	III
Jun 1945	Aug 1945	North American P-51 Mustang	IV

2012 aircraft recovery in Egypt

In May 2012, CNN reported a Polish oil company worker in Egypt discovered a crash-landed 260 Sqn P-40 aircraft presumably piloted by Flt Sgt Dennis Copping, who went missing on 28 June 1942 and was never heard from again. Copping became disorientated while ferrying the P-40 and flew in the wrong direction; evidence at the crash site indicates Copping survived the landing and died in the desert. British authorities hope to bring the remarkably well-preserved plane back to the RAF Museum in London.^[2]

References

1. C.G.Jefford (1988). RAF Squadrons. UK Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
2. Silverleib, Alan (11 May 2012). "British WWII fighter found in Egyptian desert". CNN. Retrieved 11 May 2012.

External links

• History of No.'s 256–260 Squadrons at RAF Web
• 260 Squadron history on the official RAF website