With the Royal Air Force No. 350 Squadron, the first
Royal Air Force squadron to be formed by Belgian personnel, was formed during
World War II at
RAF Valley in the
United Kingdom in November 1941. The squadron operated the
Supermarine Spitfire at first on convoy protection duties over the
Irish Sea, relocating to
RAF Atcham in early 1942. In April 1942 the squadron moved to
RAF Debden and carried out offensive operations over France. The squadron moved several times around southern England. During
Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944) it was equipped with the
Spitfire V LF operating from
RAF Friston in
Air Defence of Great Britain, though under the operational control of
RAF Second Tactical Air Force. It provided beach-head patrols during the invasion. During
Operation Diver in August 1944 the Squadron operated the
Spitfire XIV against
V-1 flying bombs attacking England. The squadron moved to Belgium in December 1944 to provide offensive patrols over the battlefield including patrols in the Berlin area. The squadron was disbanded on 15 October 1946 on transfer to the Belgian air force.
Aircraft operated during RAF service , July 1942.
Luvungi was a town in the
Belgian Congo and site of a skirmish during
World War I.
Commanding officers .
Under Belgian command of 350th Squadron at
Florennes, 2009. In 1946, the squadron was integrated into the
Belgian Air Force. In July 1949, the squadron received its first jet aircraft, the
Gloster Meteor mk. 4 and 8. In 1954, they were replaced by
Hawker Hunter mk 4s. In 1958, they received the
Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck. In August 1964, the unit was given
F-104G Starfighters, taking on the role of
Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) with
349th Squadron. In 1981, the Starfighters were finally replaced with
F-16s, becoming operational with the type in January 1982. In March 1996,
1st Fighter Wing was dissolved and the squadron left
Beauvechain to join
2nd Tactical Wing in
Florennes. In 1999, the unit participated in Operation Allied Force: the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. ==Notes==