Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons in Action

From the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, right through to VJ-Day in 1945, the Auxiliary Air Force was at the centre of the fight, accomplishing many notable firsts and achieving success in numerous and memorable actions. Formed in October 1924, the AAF was a primary reinforcement capability for the regular RAF. It consisted of paid volunteers who at weekends, evenings and holidays, trained to support the RAF, particularly in times of national emergency and conflict – which is exactly what happened when Britain declared war on Germany. In the days, weeks and months that followed the AAF’s pilots soon found themselves in the thick of the fighting. Indeed, it was the Spitfires of Nos. 603 (City of Edinburgh) and 602 (City of Glasgow) squadrons that downed the first enemy aircraft over the UK. The firsts continued. In November 1941, for example, No.502 (Ulster) Squadron made the first successful attack on a U-boat using air-to-surface radar. A Mosquito of No.605 (County of Warwick) Squadron was the first to shoot down a V-1 flying bomb in June 1944. The following month, No.616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron, commanded by a former part-time Auxiliary pilot, became the first RAF unit to enter the jet age, flying Gloster Meteors. There are also stories of outstanding courage and achievement. In outdated Hawker Hector biplanes, No.613 (City of Manchester) Squadron dive-bombed German positions and dropped supplies to British troops besieged at Calais during the Dunkirk evacuation in late May 1940, earning their leader a DFC. Night-fighters of No.604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron were the first to operate airborne interception radar. Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons in Action tells of this remarkable band of part-time airmen who used experience gained as pre-war weekend flyers to be first to the fight, unleashing the power of new tactics, equipment, technology on the enemy.