The squadron was formed on 20 August 1918 from No's 493, 515 & 516 Flights at
Mullion, in Cornwall. Equipped with DH6s, it carried out anti-submarine patrols along the coast until the end of the war, disbanding on 15 May 1919. Reformed as a fighter squadron at
RAF Stradishall on 31 October 1939, the squadron was equipped with
Blenheims. It took them to
Bircham Newton in February 1940, where the unit was transferred to
Coastal Command. In April it moved to
Speke, rejoining
Fighter Command and the following month moved to
RAF Filton to fly defensive patrols over the
English Channel; in July a move to
Thorney Island saw it back in Coastal Command, where it stayed for the rest of the war. From August 1940 it operated from bases in the south-west of
England, carrying out anti-shipping patrols over the Channel, and
Irish Sea, having re-equipped with
Beaufighters in October 1941. On 12 June, a Beaufighter flown by a volunteer crew of Flight Lieutenant A. K. Gatward and Sergeant G. Fern made a solo sortie to Paris intending to disrupt a noon parade of German troops down the
Champs-Elysees. On arrival it was seen that there was no parade but dropped a
French tricolore over the empty avenue and shot up the secondary target of the
Gestapo headquarters in the Ministry of Marine on the
Place de la Concorde before returning. It was transferred to
RAF Wattisham in February 1942 and reduced to a cadre. It received new Beaufighters in March and resumed its previous duties, although these were now flown over the
North Sea, with detachments in the south-west who undertook similar duties over the
Bay of Biscay. In September 1942 the squadron moved to
North Coates and in April 1943 became a part of the strike wing formed there, operating as such until the end of the war. The squadron disbanded on 25 May 1945. ==References==