Indian and Atlantic Oceans The squadron was formed from 33 Flight at St Albans in Port Elizabeth on 1 July 1942 and was deployed as a torpedo bomber / coastal reconnaissance squadron patrolling the South African coast flying aged
Avro Ansons as part of
Coastal Command SAAF. The Ansons were gradually replaced and on 12 September 1942 the first
Lockheed Ventura Mk I was received and by end 1942 the squadron was only operating Venturas in coastal operations. The first operational deployment was that of
Operation Volley, where Venturas from
23 and 25 Squadrons were deployed to intercept German blockade runners together with
HMS Sirius and
HMS Phoebe in a 400-mile coastal belt off Agulhas between 15 and 21 September 1942. The German submarine
U-504 had been attacking Allied shipping off Cape Agulhas from October 1942 and the squadron was deployed to search for the submarine together with
HMS Express and HMS
Catterick – unsuccessful patrols failed to prevent the sinking of
SS Empire Chaucer,
SS City of Johannesburg and US Liberty ship
Anne Hutchinson (which broke in two) – the squadron did however succeed in escorting the bow portion of
Anne Hutchinson under tow of the South African minesweeper
HMSAS David Haigh back to port in Port Elizabeth.
Mediterranean In May 1944 the squadron was moved to the Mediterranean with the sea party sailing from Durban on the 13 May for Port Tewfik en route to Pomigliano in Italy and the first five aircraft left
AFB Swartkop on the 2 June. By September the squadron was operating from Campomarino landing ground at Biferno. It was planned that the squadron and its Venturas would be used for anti-submarine patrols but by the time it reached the Mediterranean, there was no longer any need for additional anti-submarine squadrons and it was subsequently assigned as part of the
Balkan Air Force.
Balkans The squadron commenced operations in the Balkans on 30 August 1944 and was converted to
Martin B-26 Marauder IIIs on 20 November 1944 flying tactical bombing missions in support of
Tito partisans in Yugoslavia. The squadron operated from Pomigliano d'Arco in Italy and remained part of the Balkan Air Force until the end of the war, when it was moved back to the Union of South Africa and disbanded on 15 July 1945. ==Aircraft==