No. 260 Squadron Royal Air Force was formed in August 1918 as a coastal patrol squadron, equipped with the DH.6s. It carried out anti-submarine patrols from Westward Ho!, Devon for the remainder of the First World War. It disbanded on 22 February 1919.[3]
Reformation in World War II
The squadron reformed on 22 November 1940 at RAF Castletown, in Caithness in the north of Scotland, receiving Hawker Hurricane I fighters in December that year. The squadron was employed flying convoy patrols off the coast of Scotland from Castletown and RAF Skitten until April 1941, when it moved to RAF Drem to prepare for transfer to the Middle East.[3][4] On 16 June 1941, twenty 260 Squadron Hurricanes took off from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, with twenty eight more Hurricanes of 238 Squadron flew off from Victorious. They then flew to Malta, with 43 of the Hurricanes from the two squadrons safely reaching Malta. The majority of the aircraft flew on to Africa over the next few days. As the squadrons' ground crews had not travelled with the air component, but were being sent by ship via the Cape of Good Hope, the pilots were initially used as a pool of reinforcements for existing squadrons,[5] with 260's pilots initially being attached to 80 Squadron based at Haifa, Mandatory Palestine.[6] On 23 June, the pilots from 260 Squadron combined with the ground party from the Australian 450 Squadron (which had no aircrew) to form a composite unit, 260/450 Squadron,[7] which then supported the employed in the invasion of Syria, carrying out ground attack operations against Vichy French forces,[4] and in particular, against Vichy airfields.[8] No. 260/450 Squadron operated for ten days only and flew 61 sorties against airfields, 20 on offensive patrols and six on bomber-escort duties during the Syrian campaign.[9] In August 1941, as 260 Squadron's ground component had now arrived in the Middle East, the two squadrons separated, with 260 Squadron returning to a full RAF unit.[4][9]
In October 1941, the squadron moved to the Western Desert, carrying out fighter sweeps, ground attack and bomber escort missions in support of the Operation Crusader offensive,[4][10] and covering the retreat of British and Allied forces from Rommel's counteroffensive early in 1942.[4] On 15 February 1942 the squadron handed over its Hurricanes to 238 Squadron, receiving Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks for training prior to conversion to the more capable Curtiss Kittyhawk I fighter bomber.[3][11] The squadron then advanced with the Eighth Army into Tunisia. With the North African Campaign over it then moved to Sicily following Operation Husky. As the allied forces advanced into Italy it converted to the North American P-51 Mustang and it disbanded at Lavariano on 19 August 1945. Among notable squadron personnel was the future actor Christopher Lee, who served as an intelligence officer.
Aircraft operated
A crashed Kittyhawk I of 260 Squadron, flown by Flt Lt M D Wylie DFC shot down on 30 May 1942 in North Africa, nr El Adem.
In May 2012, CNN reported a Polish oil company worker in Egypt discovered a crash-landed 260 Sqn P-40 aircraft presumably piloted by Flt Sgt Dennis Copping, who went missing on 28 June 1942 and was never heard from again. Copping was part of a two plane formation flying defective aircraft from the landing ground at Biur el Baheira to 53RSU, a Recovery & Service Unit at Wadi Natruna.[13] Copping became disorientated while ferrying the P-40 and flew in the wrong direction; evidence at the crash site indicates Copping survived the landing. Since no remains were evident near the Kittyhawk, it seems likely that Copping wandered off into the desert in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to reach help.[13] British authorities hoped to bring the remarkably well-preserved plane back to the RAF Museum in London,[14] but these plans fell through. Instead the plane was given a cosmetic restoration and displayed at the El Alamein Military Museum.[13]
Bowyer, Michael J.F.; Rawlings, John D.R. (1979). Squadron Codes, 1937–56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN0-85059-364-6.
Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN0-85130-164-9.
Rawlings, John D. R. (1969). Fighter Squadrons of the R.A.F. and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald & Co., (Publishers) Ltd.
Shores, Christopher (1996). Dust Clouds in the Middle East. London: Grub Street. ISBN1-898697-37-X.
Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell (2012). A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945: Volume One: North Africa: June 1940 – January 1942. London: Grub Street. ISBN978-1-908117-07-6.
Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried (2012). A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945: Volume Two: North African Desert: February 1942 – March 1943. London: Grub Street. ISBN978-1-909166-12-7.
