2A02:A443:3947:0:84D2:BBF7:D6B6:D73E at 17:22, 26 May 2025

2025-05-26T17:22:09Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit|
|unit_name= No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAF
|image=
|caption=
|dates= August 1918 – 7 February 1919<br>4 October 1939 – 1 September 1946<br>1 March 1951 – 1 September 1954<br>5 September 1955 – 31 July 1957
|country= {{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom]]
|allegiance=
|branch= [[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|23px]] [[Royal Air Force]]
|type=
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|current_commander=
|garrison=
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|ceremonial_chief=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname= Mysore
|patron=
|motto=''From dusk till dawn''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pine|first1=L G|title=A dictionary of mottoes|date=1983|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|location=London|isbn=0-7100-9339-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/88 88]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/88}}</ref>
|colors=
|colors_label=
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|battles=
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=[[Battle of Britain]]
|commander1=
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|identification_symbol= A Death's head Hawk Moth
|identification_symbol_label= Squadron Badge
|identification_symbol_2= '''FK'''
|identification_symbol_2_label= Squadron code
|identification_symbol_3= [[File:RAF 219 Sqn.svg|150px]]
|identification_symbol_3_label= 1950s squadron roundel
}}
'''No. 219 Squadron''' of the [[Royal Air Force]] was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1957 after four separate periods of service. During the First World War it served as a coastal defence unit, and through most of the Second World War and the 1950s it operated as a [[night fighter]] air defence squadron. Three commanders of the squadron went on to be [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chiefs of the Air Staff]], two of the RAF and one of the Royal Pakistani Air Force.

==First World War==
The squadron was formed in August 1918, by merging No. [[No. 442 Flight RAF|442]], [[No. 555 Flight RAF|555]], [[No. 556 Flight RAF|556]] and [[No. 470 Flight RAF|470]] Flights. It operated a mixture of aircraft, including [[seaplane]]s, [[Airco DH.9]] bombers, and [[Sopwith Camel]] fighters, and was responsible for the defence of the [[Thames Estuary]]. It was disbanded in early 1920, following the end of the war.

==Second World War==
It reformed in October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], operating [[Bristol Blenheim]]s from [[RAF Catterick]]. Whilst it was intended to carry out shipping protection missions, it began to be used as a [[night fighter]] unit after becoming fully operational in February 1940; in October, it was moved to [[RAF Redhill]], near London, and converted to the [[Bristol Beaufighter]]. In December, it moved to [[RAF Tangmere]] in Sussex, continuing in its operational role.

It moved back to north England in mid 1942, to [[RAF Acklington]] and later [[RAF Scorton]]; in May 1943, the squadron was transferred to North Africa, where it was dispersed between various ports to provide night fighter defence. In September 1943 it operated a number of aircraft from Sicily, but moved back to the UK in January 1944 to join the newly forming [[Second Tactical Air Force]] in preparation for the [[invasion of Normandy]]. It re-equipped with [[de Havilland Mosquito]] night fighters, first Mk. 17 and later Mk. 30 models, and flew intruder missions over north-western Europe from [[RAF Woodvale]], [[RAF Honiley]], [[RAF Bradwell Bay]] and [[RAF Hunsdon]]. It moved to bases in France in October 1944, returning to the UK after the end of hostilities in August 1945, and was disbanded in September 1946.

==Cold War==
The squadron reformed in March 1951 at [[RAF Kabrit]] in the [[Suez Canal Zone]], again as a night fighter squadron operating Mosquitoes. In October 1952 it received its first [[Gloster Meteor]] jet fighters, and was fully re-equipped with Meteors by April 1953. The squadron disbanded in September 1954, but was reformed again in September 1955 at [[RAF Driffield]], with [[de Havilland Venom]] NF.2. After two further years of operating in this role, it was disbanded for the fourth time in mid-1957.

==Notable members==
Notable members of the unit included:

*[[Richard Atcherley]], later [[Chief of Air Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of the Air Staff]] of the [[Royal Pakistani Air Force]], who commanded the squadron on its formation in 1939.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/AtcherleyR.htm |title=Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[Archie Boyd]], DSO, DFC. Commanded the squadron in 1943 and was a flying ace with 10 aerial victories.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10770863/Wing-Commander-Archie-Boyd-obituary.html |title=Wing Commander Archie Boyd - obituary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=16 April 2014 |location=[[London, UK|London]] |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[John Grandy]], later [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]], who briefly commanded the squadron in 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Grandy.htm |title=Marshal of the RAF Sir John Grandy |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[Arthur Hodgkinson (RAF officer)|Arthur Hodgkinson]], DSO, DFC & Bar. He was officially credited with 12 aircraft destroyed, at least eight of which were shot down whilst serving with the squadron.{{sfn|Shores|Williams|1994|pp=330–331}}
*[[Gartrell Parker]], DFC and Bar. He was credited with nine German aircraft destroyed, all of which were claimed while serving with the squadron
*[[Thomas Pike]], later [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]], who commanded the squadron in 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Pike_TG.htm |title=Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas Pike |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[John Topham (RAF officer)|John Topham]], DFC and Bar. He was officially credited with 13 German bombers destroyed, at least five of which were shot down whilst serving with the squadron.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Topham_JG.htm |title=Air Commodore J. G. Topham |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[Peter Williamson (RAF officer)|Peter Williamson]], DFC and Bar. He was officially credited with nine German aircraft destroyed, at least four of which were shot down whilst serving with the squadron.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Williamson_PGK.htm |title=Air Vice-Marshal P. G. K. Williamson |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref>
*Douglas Alfred Oxby, DSO, DFC, DFM and Bar. 'Douggie' Oxby was a night fighter Nav/Rad (1941-45). He was involved in the destruction of 13 enemy aircraft whilst flying Bristol Beaufighters with 68 & 89 squadrons in North Africa & Malta. Following a 'rest' period as a NF instructor (1943) in early 1944 he was posted to 219 at Bradwell Bay & crewed with the squadron's CO W/Cdr Peter Wilfrith Green DFC. 219 had only recently converted from Beaufighters to Mk XXX NF Mosquitoes & Oxby/Green used their 'new tools' to great effect becoming one of the most successful night fighter crews of 2 TAF over NW Europe. By the wars end Oxby had assisted in the destruction of 22 e/a & had earned four gallantry medals. This was quite an achievement for a young solicitor's clerk from Canton Cardiff who had originally enlisted in the RAF in 1941 aged 20, as a lowly AC2 aircraftsman. At 25 he held the rank of Wing Commander & was the highest-scoring Allied night fighter navigator of the Second World War. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Youngs |first=Kelvin |title=Aircrew Remembered Aviation Obituaries from London Daily Telegraph and elsewhere |url=http://www.aircrewremembered.com/oxby-douggie.html |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Aircrew Remembered site |language=UK}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal |last1=Roba|first1=Jean-Louis|title=Les Mosquito du 219 Squadron en France |journal=Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire |date=October 2001 |issue=103 |pages=33–39|trans-title=The Mosquitoes of 219 Squadron in France |language=fr |issn=1243-8650}}
*{{cite book|last1=Shores|first1=Christopher|last2=Williams|first2=Clive|year=1994|title=Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII|publisher=Grub Street|location=London|isbn=1-8-9869-7000}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|No. 219 Squadron RAF}}
* [http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/219squadron.cfm Official history of No. 219 Squadron], RAF.
* [http://www.rafweb.org/Squadrons/Sqn216-220.htm History of No.'s 216–220 Squadrons at RAF Web]
* [http://www.rafcommands.com/Ross/Fighter/219F.html No. 219 Squadron movement and equipment history]

{{RAF squadrons}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1918]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force night fighter units]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons|219 Squadron]]
[[Category:RAF squadrons involved in the Battle of Britain]]
[[Category:1918 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1957]]

No. 219 Squadron RAF - Revision history

2A02:A443:3947:0:84D2:BBF7:D6B6:D73E at 17:22, 26 May 2025