No. 602 Squadron RAF

602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron RAuxAF
RAF logotype
Active	12 September 1925 - 15 July 1945 10 May 1946 - 10 March 1957 1 July 2006 - present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Role	ISTAR Mission Support
Part of	No. 2 Group RAF
Headquarters	Lowland House, Maryhill, Glasgow (present)
Nickname(s)	"Glasgow's Own"
Motto(s)	Latin: Cave leonem cruciatum ("Beware the tormented lion")
Battle honours	Home Defence, 1940-1945 Battle of Britain, 1940 Fortress Europe, 1940-1944 Channel and North Sea, 1940-1943 Dieppe France and Germany, 1944-1945 Normandy,1944. These honours are those emblazoned on the squadron standard.
Commanders
Current commander	Sqn Ldr G Lyall AE RAuxAF
Honorary Air Commodore (HAC)	Vacant
Notable commanders	Sandy Johnstone, Al Deere, Paddy Finucane
Insignia
Squadron Badge	In front of a saltire, a lion rampantThe lion was adopted in view of the squadron's association with Scotland and the saltire to represent the cross of St Andrew, being fimbriated to show it as a white saltire on a blue background.
Squadron Codes	ZT (May 1939 - Sep 1939) LO (Jan 1939 - May 1939 Sep 1939 - May 1945, 1949 - 1953) RAI (May 1946 - 1949)

No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron was a British Auxiliary Air Force squadron. Originally formed in 1925 as a light bomber squadron, its role changed in 1938 to army co-operation and in 1939 to that of a fighter squadron. During World War II the squadron flew Spitfires and played amongst others a role in the Battle of Britain. After the war the squadron was reinstated as a fighter squadron within the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, until all these units disbanded in March 1957. Reformed on 1 July 2006, 602 Sqn presently assumes the ISTAR mission support role formerly held by the Mission Support Element (MSE) of 603 (City of Edinburgh) Sqn. The role provides Flight Operations and Intelligence support to the RAF ISTAR element of 2 Group including the Nimrod MR2 at RAF Kinloss and E3D Sentry at RAF Waddington.

Formation and early years

Formed at RAF Renfrew on 15 September 1925 as a light bomber squadron in the Auxiliary Air Force, and initially equipped with Airco DH.9As. These were replaced by Fairey Fawns in 1927, Westland Wapitis in 1929, Hawker Harts in 1934 and finally Hawker Hinds in 1936. It continued in the light bomber until 1 November 1938 when it was redesignated an Army Co-operation unit. This was however not for long and on 14 January 1939, the squadron became a fighter squadron. It had received Hawker Hectors in the November, but re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets on conversion to the fighter role. These were short-lived as Spitfires arrived in May 1939.

World War II

Like No. 603 Squadron RAF, it spent the early part of the war and Battle of Britain on defensive duties in Scotland, but in August 1940 it moved south to join the Battle, returning to Scotland in December. It moved south again in July 1941, remaining for a year before returning to its native Scotland. Another move came in January 1943, this time to the South-West, where in April it joined the newly forming 2nd Tactical Air Force. It briefly returned to Scotland from January to March 1944, when it returned south prior to taking part in the invasion of Europe.

From the end of June 1944, it operated from advanced airfields in Normandy, following the Army's advance into Belgium until September, when it returned to the UK. From here it carried out operations against V2 sites in Holland until disbanding on 15 May 1945 at RAF Coltishall.

Post-war

With the reactivation of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, No. 602 was reformed on 10 May 1946 at RAF Abbotsinch as a day fighter squadron. It was initially equipped with Spitfire F.14s and later with F.21s and F.22s, until January 1951 when Vampire FB.5s were received. It also acquired some F.3s in August 1953, which it flew alongside the FB.5s until February 1954. FB.9s arrived in November 1954 and the squadron continued to fly both types (FB.5 and FB.9s) until, along with all the flying units of the RAuxAF, it was disbanded on 10 March 1957.

Present role

The squadron was reformed on 1 July 2006, when the mission support element of No 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron was separated to form a new unit. The role of 602 Squadron is to provide mission support to Nimrods and other surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft at RAF Kinloss, RAF Waddington and other deployed locations at home and overseas. The Squadron trains Flight Operations Officers, Flight Operations Managers and Flight Operations Assistants to supplement the regular RAF flight operations staff in this task.

Aircraft operated

From To Aircraft Version October 1925 January 1928 Airco DH.9A September 1927 September 1929 Fairey Fawn July 1929 April 1934 Westland Wapiti Mk.IIa February 1934 June 1936 Hawker Hart June 1936 January 1939 Hawker Hind November 1938 January 1939 Hawker Hector Mk.I January 1939 May 1939 Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II May 1939 June 1941 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I May 1941 August 1941 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa August 1941 September 1943 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb September 1942 October 1942 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Va September 1942 October 1942 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VI October 1942 April 1943 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc		From	To	Aircraft	Version
September 1943	January 1944	Supermarine Spitfire	Mk.IXb
January 1944	March 1944	Supermarine Spitfire	LF.Vb
March 1944	August 1944	Supermarine Spitfire	Mk.IXb
August 1944	September 1944	Supermarine Spitfire	Mk.IXe
September 1944	November 1944	Supermarine Spitfire	Mk.IXb
November 1944	May 1945	Supermarine Spitfire	Mk. XVI
August 1946	August 1947	Supermarine Spitfire	F.14
April 1947	May 1951	Supermarine Spitfire	F.21
June 1948	January 1951	Supermarine Spitfire	F.22
January 1951	March 1957	de Havilland Vampire	FB.5
August 1953	February 1954	de Havilland Vampire	F.3
November 1954	March 1957	de Havilland Vampire	FB.9

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Commanding officers

Template:Standard table ! style="text-align: left; background: #B0C4DE;"|From ! style="text-align: left; background: #B0C4DE;"|To ! style="text-align: left; background: #B0C4DE;"|Name |- | September 1925 | February 1926 | S/Ldr. C.N. Lowe, MC, DFC |- | February 1926 | 1928 | S/Ldr. J.D. Latta, MC |- | 1928 | June 1931 | S/Ldr. J. Fullerton |- | June 1931 | 1936 | S/Ldr. Lord Clydesdale |- | 1936 | January 1939 | S/Ldr. D.F. McIntyre, AFC |- | January 1939 | March 1940 | S/Ldr. A.D. Farquhar, DFC |- | March 1940 | July 1940 | S/Ldr. Pinkerton, DFC |- | July 1940 | June 1941 | S/Ldr. A.V.R. Johnstone, DFC |- | June 1941 | August 1941 | S/Ldr. P.E. Meagher |- | August 1941 | January 1942 | S/Ldr. A.C. Deere, DFC & Bar |- | January 1942 | June 1942 | S/Ldr. B.E. Finucane, DSO, DFC & Bar |- | June 1942 | October 1942 | S/Ldr. P.M. Brothers, DFC |- | October 1942 | October 1943 | S/Ldr. M.F. Beytagh, DFC |- | October 1943 | July 1944 | S/Ldr. R.A. Sutherland |- | July 1944 | August 1944 | S/Ldr. J.J. Le Roux, DFC & 2 Bars |- | August 1944 | September 1944 | S/Ldr. A.R. Stewart |- | September 1944 | May 1945 | S/Ldr. R.A. Sutherland, DFC |- | 1946 | 1950 | S/Ldr. M. Robinson, AFC |- | 1950 | 1952 | S/Ldr. H.M. Stephen, DSO, DFC |- | 1952 | December 1953 | S/Ldr. J.A. Forrest |- | December 1953 | 1956 | S/Ldr. R.B. Davidson, DFC |- | 1956 | March 1957 | S/Ldr. C.D. Bartman |- | 2006 | Present | Sqn Ldr G Lyall AE |}

Squadron bases

From To Base 12 September 1925 20 January 1933 Renfrew 20 January 1933 7 October 1939 Abbotsinch 7 October 1939 13 October 1939 Grangemouth 13 October 1939 14 April 1940 Drem 14 April 1940 28 May 1940 Dyce 28 May 1940 13 August 1940 Drem 13 August 1940 17 December 1940 Westhampnett 17 December 1940 15 April 1941 Prestwick 15 April 1941 10 July 1941 Ayr 10 July 1941 14 January 1942 Kenley 14 January 1942 4 March 1942 Redhill 4 March 1942 13 May 1942 Kenley 13 May 1942 17 July 1942 Redhill 17 July 1942 16 August 1942 Peterhead 16 August 1942 20 August 1942 Biggin Hill 20 August 1942 10 September 1942 Peterhead 10 September 1942 20 January 1943 Skaebrae 20 January 1943 14 April 1943 Perranporth 14 April 1943 29 April 1943 Lasham 29 April 1943 1 June 1943 Fairlop 1 June 1943 1 July 1943 Bognor 1 July 1943 13 August 1943 Kingsnorth 13 August 1943 12 October 1943 Newchurch		From	To	Base
12 October 1943	18 January 1944	Detling
18 January 1944	12 March 1944	Skaebrae
12 March 1944	13 March 1944	Detling
13 March 1944	20 March 1944	Llanbedr
20 March 1944	18 April 1944	Detling
18 April 1944	25 June 1944	Ford
25 June 1944	13 August 1944	B.11 Longues-sur-Mer
13 August 1944	2 September 1944	B.19 Lingèvres
2 September 1944	5 September 1944	B.40 Nivillers
5 September 1944	17 September 1944	B.52 Douai
17 September 1944	29 September 1944	B.70 Deurne
29 September 1944	18 October 1944	Coltishall
18 October 1944	20 November 1944	Matlaske
20 November 1944	19 February 1945	Swannington
19 February 1945	23 February 1945	Coltishall
23 February 1945	5 April 1945	Ludham
5 April 1945	15 May 1945	Coltishall
10 May 1946	30 July 1949	Abbotsinch
30 July 1949	15 April 1951	Renfrew
15 April 1951	14 July 1951	Leuchars
14 July 1951	14 June 1954	Renfrew and Abbotsinch
14 June 1954	10 March 1957	Abbotsinch
1 July 2006	27 October 2007	Combined HQ with 603 Sqn, Edinburgh
27 October 2007	Present	Avenuepark Street, Maryhill

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References

Bibliography

• Cameron, Dugald. Glasgow's own: History of 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron. Glasgow, Scotland: Squadron Prints, 1987.
• Deere, Al. Nine Lives. London: Hodder, 1959 (republished in 1969 by Coronet, 1991 by Wingham Press and last in 2004 by Crécy Publishing). (Autobiographical 1941-43) * Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1981-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Johnstone, Air Vice Marshal A.V.R. "Sandy". Enemy in the Sky. London: William Kimber, 1976 (republished in 1979 by Presidio press, ISBN 0-8914-1086-4).
• McRoberts, Douglas. Lions Rampant: the Story of 602 Spitfire squadron. London: William Kimber, 1985. ISBN 0-7183-0572-8.
• Nancarrow, F.G. Glasgow's fighter squadron: 602 Squadron RAF. Collins, 1942.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0187-5.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1978. ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Robinson, Anthony. RAF Squadrons in the Battle of Britain. London: Arms and Armour Press Ltd., 1987 (republished 1999 by Brockhampton Press, ISBN 1-86019-907-0.).
• Smith, Richard C. Al Deere: Wartime Fighter Pilot, Peacetime Commander: The Authorised Biography. London: Grub Street, 2003. ISBN 1-9040-1048-2.
• Stokes, Doug. Paddy Finucane, Fighter Ace: A Biography of Wing Commander Brendan E. Finucane, D.S.O., D.F.C. and Two Bars. London: William Kimber & Co. Ltd., 1983. ISBN 0-71830-279-6. (republished Somerton, Somerset: Crécy Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-947554-22-X).

External links

• 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron Museum (New Website)
• 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron Museum
• history of 602 squadron on RAF website
• Page for present 602 sqn on RAF website
• Squadron histories for nos. 600-604 sqn on Rafweb
• Aircraft and markings of no. 602 sqn on Rafweb
• 602 sqn in the Battle of Britain