No. 81 Squadron

No. 81 Squadron RAF was reformed on 29 July 1941 at Leconfield as a fighter unit equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, having briefly existed earlier in the war as a communications squadron in France before disbanding in June 1940. Its first major wartime deployment was as part of No. 151 Wing, sailing to northern Russia aboard HMS Argus in September 1941 to assist the Soviet Union under Operation Benedict — flying defensive sorties, escorting Soviet bombers, and training Soviet pilots on the Hurricane. Returning to Britain, the squadron re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfires and was declared operational in February 1942, assigned to No. 11 Group at RAF Hornchurch. From October 1942 the squadron moved south to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Torch, thereafter operating across North Africa, Malta, Sicily, and Italy through 1943. By December 1943 the squadron had transferred to India and later Ceylon, flying Spitfire VIIIs and then Republic Thunderbolts in support of the Arakan and Imphal campaigns on the Burma front. The squadron was credited with 113 enemy aircraft destroyed by the end of the war and its motto, “Non Solum Nobis” — “Not for us alone” — reflected the breadth of its service across several Allied theatres.