Does anyone here happen to know the name of the town/airfield where No. 127 Squadron RAFset up a detached flight in 1943 please?
No. 127 Squadron at that time (April 1943 onwards is the period I’m looking at) is a little odd in that it actually had the strength of a Wing, with three squadrons within it rather than just two Flights, apparently. It must have been some sort of experimental striking force. They also operated Hurricane II’s and Spitfire’s concurrently.
By: Dave Homewood - 1st July 2008 at 11:34
127 Squadron 1943.
6 January 1943. St.Jean. det Nicosia.
26 January 1943. To Ramat David. det Nicosia.13 March 1943. St.Jean. dets Nicosia, Beirut, Pathos, Meherabad, Gaza, Lakatamia.
1 April 1944 en route UK.
St Jean seems to have been their main Gaza base. They certainly used Ramat David too, but St Jean was used (by the CO at least) right through the year when he wasn’t flying to Beirut, Cyprus, etc. It must have been hard to keep track of all his men spread over four countries.
By: Dave Homewood - 1st July 2008 at 11:30
Thanks Laurie, much appreciated.
The squadron, all at the same time in 1943, had flights attached to Haifa (their main HQ base), Gaza in Palestine, Beirut, and Cyprus. An interesting squadron.
By: Peter Clare - 1st July 2008 at 11:30
127 Squadron 1943.
6 January 1943. St.Jean. det Nicosia.
26 January 1943. To Ramat David. det Nicosia.
13 March 1943. St.Jean. dets Nicosia, Beirut, Pathos, Meherabad, Gaza, Lakatamia.
1 April 1944 en route UK.
By: lauriebe - 1st July 2008 at 11:23
Dave, Jeff Jefford’s book “RAF Squadrons” shows detachments at Nicosia and Paphos in 1943.
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July 1, 2008 at 10:03 am