No. 1 Squadron

One of the RAF’s oldest units, No. 1 Squadron entered the war as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force in France, flying Hawker Hurricanes alongside the retreating British and Allied armies in 1940. After the fall of France it returned to Britain in time for the Battle of Britain, serving within No. 11 Group Fighter Command and based for much of the period at RAF Tangmere. Between December 1940 and mid-1942 the squadron carried out night intruder sorties over occupied France, a role in which Czech pilot Karel Kuttelwascher DFC and Bar destroyed fifteen enemy aircraft — the highest tally of any RAF intruder pilot. Re-equipped with the Typhoon from mid-1942, the squadron turned to anti-fighter-bomber patrols before converting to the Spitfire Mk IX in spring 1944. That summer it destroyed thirty-nine V-1 flying bombs, then flew escort and ground-support missions through Operation Market Garden and the Ardennes fighting into 1945.