WORLD WAR II: RAF, 601st SQUADRON.
A stained glass window bearing the winged sword motif of the 601st Squadron, RAF (County of London). [1940-45].
A stained glass window bearing the winged sword motif of the 601st Squadron, RAF (County of London). [1940-45]. A wood-framed stained glass window, possibly taken from the RAF Northolt mess, decorated with the red winged sword insignia of the 601st Squadron. 19.5 x 19.5 inches (500 x 500 mm).
The 601 squadron, "the Millionaires Squadron," was formed at RAF Northolt in October 1925 by a group of aristocratic young amateur flyers, who in time formed themselves into a reserve RAF Squadron. They mobilized days before Germany invaded Poland, and performed with honors over Dunkirk and throughout the Battle of Britain, where they moved between Debden and Tangmere airbases, flying Hurricanes. With the death rate climbing the unit started drafting in replacement pilots from many walks of life, diluting the aristocratic roots of the squadron. Squadron leaders in the 1940s however, included names such as Sir Max Aitken, Loel Guinness and Sir Achibald Hope, and flying aces, the American Billy Fiske, and Rhodes-Moorhouse. After the Battle of Britain the squadron was sent went out to North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
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A stained glass window bearing the winged sword motif of the 601st Squadron, RAF (County of London). [1940-45].
A stained glass window bearing the winged sword motif of the 601st Squadron, RAF (County of London). [1940-45]. A wood-framed stained glass window, possibly taken from the RAF Northolt mess, decorated with the red winged sword insignia of the 601st Squadron. 19.5 x 19.5 inches (500 x 500 mm).
The 601 squadron, "the Millionaires Squadron," was formed at RAF Northolt in October 1925 by a group of aristocratic young amateur flyers, who in time formed themselves into a reserve RAF Squadron. They mobilized days before Germany invaded Poland, and performed with honors over Dunkirk and throughout the Battle of Britain, where they moved between Debden and Tangmere airbases, flying Hurricanes. With the death rate climbing the unit started drafting in replacement pilots from many walks of life, diluting the aristocratic roots of the squadron. Squadron leaders in the 1940s however, included names such as Sir Max Aitken, Loel Guinness and Sir Achibald Hope, and flying aces, the American Billy Fiske, and Rhodes-Moorhouse. After the Battle of Britain the squadron was sent went out to North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
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