No. 239 Squadron

No. 239 Squadron was reformed on 18 September 1940 at RAF Hatfield, constituted from single flights drawn from No. 16 and No. 225 Squadrons, and initially tasked with army co-operation duties equipped with Lysanders. As the war progressed the squadron transitioned through tactical reconnaissance and ground attack work, flying Curtiss Tomahawks and then North American Mustangs over occupied France from mid-1942, and it provided air cover during the Dieppe Raid in August that year. In late 1943 the squadron’s role changed fundamentally when it moved to RAF Ayr to convert to de Havilland Mosquitoes and retrain as a night intruder unit. By December 1943 it had joined No. 100 (Bomber Support) Group at RAF West Raynham, where it spent the remainder of the war hunting Luftwaffe night fighters over Germany and the occupied territories in defence of Bomber Command’s heavy aircraft. The squadron flew Mosquito variants until the end of hostilities and was disbanded on 1 July 1945, its motto Exploramus — “We seek out” — a fitting epitaph for a unit that ranged across so many different forms of offensive air work.