No. 271 Squadron

No. 271 Squadron reformed on 1 May 1940 at RAF Doncaster, raised from No. 1680 Flight into a dedicated transport unit. Its early work included evacuating personnel from France during the 1940 collapse and repositioning RAF squadrons around Britain, flying a mixed fleet of Handley Page Harrows, Bristol Bombays, and impressed civil airliners. Dakota re-equipment began in August 1943, and in February 1944 the squadron moved to RAF Down Ampney in Gloucestershire, joining No. 46 Group, RAF Transport Command, ahead of the invasion of Europe. On D-Day it delivered men of the 3rd Parachute Brigade by parachute and towed Airspeed Horsa gliders into Normandy. During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, Flight Lieutenant David Lord pressed on with a stricken, burning Dakota to complete his supply drop over Arnhem; he was killed when the aircraft broke up moments later. His posthumous Victoria Cross remains the only such award made to a member of RAF Transport Command.