No. 232 Squadron

No. 232 Squadron was reformed on 17 July 1940 from ‘B’ Flight of No. 3 Squadron at RAF Sumburgh in Shetland, initially flying Hawker Hurricanes on defensive patrols over Scotland under No. 13 Group, Fighter Command. When the Japanese invaded Malaya, the squadron was diverted from a Middle East deployment; the air echelon, carried aboard HMS Indomitable, found no airfields remaining in British hands and flew off to Java in January 1942, where the unit fought until its effective dissolution in the chaotic fall of the Dutch East Indies. Reformed at RAF Atcham in April 1942 as a Spitfire unit, it re-entered operations in time for the North African campaign, operating under No. 211 Group of the Desert Air Force and supporting the Allied landings in Sicily and the subsequent advance up the Italian peninsula. The squadron flew Spitfire IXs during the southern France operations of 1944 before converting to transport duties — Wellingtons, Liberators, and Douglas Skymasters — for service across South-East Asia and routes to Australia. It was finally disbanded at Poona on 15 August 1946, its routes absorbed by emerging civilian airlines. The squadron’s badge, authorised by King George VI in January 1942, carried the single-word motto “Strike”.