No. 4 Squadron

No. 4 Squadron is one of the oldest units in the Royal Air Force, tracing its origins to the Royal Flying Corps at Farnborough in August 1912. At the outbreak of war in September 1939 it deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force as an army co-operation squadron flying Westland Lysanders, suffering severe losses during the German assault on Belgium in May 1940 — eleven aircraft were lost in less than a fortnight before the squadron withdrew to Britain. After a period of coastal patrol and air-sea rescue duties, the squadron re-equipped with Curtiss Tomahawks and later North American Mustangs from late 1942, shifting to a tactical reconnaissance role. In August 1943 it joined the Second Tactical Air Force, subsequently operating within No. 35 Wing of No. 84 Group, and flew Spitfires and Mosquitoes in support of the Normandy invasion before returning to French soil on 16 August 1944. The squadron advanced through Belgium and the Netherlands, ending the war at Celle in Germany, where it disbanded on 31 August 1945. Its motto, In futurum videre — “To see into the future” — aptly reflects the reconnaissance work that defined much of its wartime career.