No. 202 Squadron

No. 202 Squadron RAF traced its origins to the Royal Naval Air Service, forming in October 1914 and transferring to the newly established RAF on 1 April 1918 before being disbanded in January 1920 and reformed in 1929. At the outbreak of the Second World War the squadron was stationed at Gibraltar, where its flying boats — initially Saro Londons and later Consolidated Catalinas — patrolled the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic and Mediterranean approaches, shadowing Axis shipping and conducting convoy escorts. The squadron participated directly in sinking two U-boats: U-74 in the Western Mediterranean on 2 May 1942 and U-620 north-west of Lisbon on 13 February 1943. It also played a notable supporting role in Operation Torch in November 1942, and its aircraft recovered General Mark Clark from a clandestine pre-invasion mission to North Africa in October 1942. In September 1944 the unit relocated to Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland to mount patrols against U-boats operating off the western coast of Britain in the war’s closing months. The squadron was finally disbanded on 12 June 1945, having served throughout the war under Coastal Command on anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties. Its motto, Semper vigilate — “Be Always Vigilant” — aptly reflected a wartime career spent watching the sea lanes of two theatres.