87 Squadron was re-formed on 15 March 1937 at RAF Tangmere from elements of No. 54 Squadron RAF, operating the Hawker Fury. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the squadron was part of the air element of the British Expeditionary Force in France, equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. Flight Lieutenant Ian Gleed was posted to the squadron as a replacement pilot on 17 May 1940 and became an ace in two days. He took command of the squadron in December 1940 when it was based at RAF Charmy Down.[5][6]
John Strachey MP served as the intelligence officer for the squadron during the Battle of Britain.[7]
On 23 July Flt Lt AWG Le Hardy (Tony) took command before being sent on Special Operations as the Air Liaison Officer to the Military Mission to Marshal Tito on the island of VIS off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Squadron Spitfires were deployed to the island in support of the commando forces from the airfield organised by A/Sqn Ldr Le Hardy for operations in support of the partisan forces in the Balkans for which he was decorated with the OBE, the youngest officer to receive that award, aged 21. The airfield became a valuable destination for damaged Allied Aircraft saving many lives. {Flying Log Book A Le Hardy OBE RAF}.
In July 1944 87 Squadron became one of two RAF Squadrons to join No. 8 Wing SAAF (the other being RAF 185 Squadron) and began fighter-bomber operations supporting the fighting in Italy as well as taking part in offensive sweeps across the Balkans from its detached Italian bases. It continued in this role in the Italian Campaign until the end of the war.[8]
The Cold War
87 Squadron was again re-formed as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany on 1 January 1952 at RAF Wahn with the Gloster Meteor NF11, with the main tasking being the defence of the Ruhr, after five years it moved to RAF Bruggen, and was equipped with the Gloster Javelin as an all-weather interceptor force until it was disbanded on 3 January 1961.
Aircraft
No. 87 CO Sqn Ldr Dennis Smallwood, DFC, in his Hurricane IIC, in early 1942Blue plaque on Walton House, Northleach, Gloucestershire, commemorating its use as billets by pilots of No. 87 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, probably while it was stationed at RAF Bibury nearby; includes squadron's heraldic 'serpent' badge.
^A "lazy S" mark, based on Wild West-style ranch branding, was the squadron's World War One identity marking early in its existence, this became a serpent in the badge.
^Franks, Norman (2002). Dolphin and Snipe Aces of World War 1. Aircraft of the Aces 48. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd. pp. 62–66. ISBN1-84176-317-9.