No. 45 Squadron — Flying Camels

No. 45 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 March 1916 at Gosport and accumulated a distinctive record of service across four continents over more than half a century. Entering the Second World War equipped with Bristol Blenheim I bombers based in Egypt, the squadron opened operations on 11 June 1940 — the day after Italy declared war — and went on to fight Italian, German, Vichy French and Japanese forces, an exceptionally broad range of adversaries for a single unit. It served across the Western Desert, Italian East Africa, Palestine and Syria before being dispatched to Burma in February 1942, arriving in time to participate in the difficult Allied retreat. After rebuilding in India it re-entered combat with Vultee Vengeance dive bombers from mid-1943, striking Japanese lines of communication in Burma. From early 1944 the squadron converted to the de Havilland Mosquito FB.VI, eventually flying its first Mosquito operations on 28 September 1944 and conducting ground-attack and bridge-busting sorties until the final mission on 12 May 1945. The squadron carries the motto “Per ardua surgo” — “Through difficulties I arise” — a fitting summary of its repeated capacity to reconstitute and return to battle.