No. 518 Squadron RAF

No. 518 Squadron RAF was a meteorological squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The weather observations they collected helped inform Group Captain James Martin Stagg's recommendation to General Dwight D. Eisenhower to delay the launching of the D-Day invasion of Normandy from 5 June to 6 June 1944.[6]

No. 518 Squadron RAF
Active6 July 1943 – 1 October 1946[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Rolemeteorological
Part ofNo. 15 Group RAF, Coastal Command[2]
Motto(s)Gaelic: Tha An Iuchair Againn-Ne
(Translation: "We hold the key")[3]
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldryA hand couped at the wrist holding a key, the ward uppermost[3]
Squadron CodesY3 (Jun 1944 – Oct 1946)[4][5]

History

No. 518 Squadron formed on 6 July 1943 from at RAF Stornoway, Scotland and was equipped with the Handley Page Halifax. After moving to RAF Tiree on 25 September 1943, and absorbing 1402 Flight,[1][7] it became operational with daily flight out into the North Atlantic to collect meteorological data. It also kept observations for U-boat activity.[8][6]

In the run-up to D-Day in the late spring of 1944, the squadron, operating modified Halifax bombers from Tiree in the inner Hebrides, often under dangerous conditions, collected weather observations from hundreds of miles into the Atlantic; these data were used by Group Captain James Martin Stagg in his recommendation to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower that the D-Day invasion of Normandy be postponed from 5 to 6 June 1944.[6]

After the end of the Second World War the squadron moved to RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland where it absorbed 1402 Flight who had been operating Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes. With these added to the squadron, the main equipment was changed from the Handley Page Halifax Mk.V to the Mk.VI. No. 518 squadron was the last of the wartime meteorological squadrons when it was re-numbered to 202 Squadron on 1 October 1946.[1][3][8]

Aircraft operated
Aircraft operated by no. 518 Squadron RAF, data from[1][3][8]
FromToAircraftVersion
July 1943June 1945Handley Page HalifaxMk.V
March 1945October 1946Handley Page HalifaxMk.III
September 1945October 1946Supermarine SpitfireMks.VII & IX
September 1945October 1946Hawker HurricaneMk.IIc
March 1946October 1946Handley Page HalifaxMk.VI

Squadron bases
Bases and airfields used by no. 518 Squadron RAF, data from[1][3][8]
FromToBaseRemark
9 July 194325 September 1943RAF Stornoway, Western Isles, Scotland
25 September 194318 September 1945RAF Tiree, Hebrides, ScotlandSpitfire detachment at RAF Tain, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland
18 September 19451 October 1946RAF Aldergrove, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
gollark: To some silly people, anti-vaccination stuff *is* infohazardous.
gollark: A really mild one, like most of them.
gollark: Generally speaking, information which is harmful in some way.
gollark: I didn't say ANOMALOUS infohazard.
gollark: I mean, arguably antivaccination stuff is an infohazard.

See also

References

Notes
  1. Jefford 2001, p. 97.
  2. Delve 1994, pp. 72, 79.
  3. Halley 1988, p. 397.
  4. Bowyer and Rawlings 1979, pp. 118–119 and 160.
  5. Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 121.
  6. Buttle, Cameron (5 June 2019). "The RAF weathermen who helped save D-Day". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  7. Sturtivant and Hamlin 2007, p. 120.
  8. Rawlings 1982, p. 253.

Bibliography
  • Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. Squadron Codes, 1937–56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
  • Delve, Ken. The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1994. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
  • Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-84037-281-8.
  • 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, C.G. 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.
  • 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.
  • Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.
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