No. 94 Squadron

No. 94 Squadron was reformed on 26 March 1939 at RAF Khormaksar in Aden, initially equipped with Gloster Gladiators to defend the Aden Protectorate against potential Italian attack. When Italy entered the war in June 1940 the squadron saw its first combat, and it subsequently moved to Egypt, exchanging its Gladiators for Hurricanes in 1941 and conducting defensive patrols and convoy-protection duties along the North African coast. In early 1942 the squadron converted to Curtiss Kittyhawks for fighter sweeps over the Western Desert before reverting to Hurricanes for home-defence commitments later that year. Re-equipment with Supermarine Spitfires in February 1944 brought a more offensive character to its work, with sweeps over Crete and escort sorties across the eastern Mediterranean. The squadron moved to Greece in September 1944 and provided close air support to British Army forces during the Athens street-fighting against communist ELAS guerrillas in December of that year. One of its Kittyhawk pilots, J.F. Edwards, rose to become the third-highest-scoring Commonwealth Kittyhawk ace of the war. The squadron was disbanded on 20 April 1945, its motto — “Avenge” — reflecting the aggressive spirit it had maintained across six years of Mediterranean operations.