No. 213 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF
Active	1 April 1918 - 31 December 1919 8 March 1937 - 30 September 1954 1 September 1955 – 31 December 1969
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Nickname	The Hornets (1918) Ceylon
Mottos	Irritatus Lacessit Crabro Latin: "The Hornet Attacks When Roused"[1]
Battle honours	Western Front 1914-1948*; Channel and North Sea 1939-1940; France and the Low Countries 1939-1940*; Dunkirk*; Battle of Britain 1940*; Home defence 1940-1945; Egypt and Libya 1940-1943*; Syria 1941*; El Alamein*; Mediterranean 1942-1943; South East Europe 1942-1945* Honours marked with an asterisk are emblazoned on the Squadron Standard[2]
Insignia
Squadron Badge	AHornet
Squadron Codes	AK (Apr 1939 - Jan 1950)[3]

No. 213 Squadron was a squadron of theRoyal Air Force. The squadron was formed on 1 April 1918 fromNo. 13 (Naval) Squadron of theRoyal Naval Air Service.^[4] This RNAS squadron was itself formed on 15 January 1918 from theSeaplane Defence Flight which, since its creation in June 1917, had had the task of defending the seaplanes which flew out of Dunkirk.

Formed originally from the Seaplane Defence Flight, which was itself founded in June 1917 at Dunkirk, it was reorganized asNo. 13 Squadron RNAS on 15 January 1918. As the SDF, it operatedSopwith Pups. When theRoyal Naval Air Service merged with theRoyal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, it was renumbered as 213 Squadron.^[5] In this incarnation, it flewSopwith Baby floatplanes and transitioned toSopwith Camels. It was during this time that the squadron derived itsHornet insignia and motto for the squadron badge, after overhearing aBelgian General refer to the squadron's defence of his trenches, "Like angry hornets attacking the enemy aircraft". The Hornet became affectionately known as "Crabro,"Latin for hornet. The squadron's official motto became, "Irritatus Lacessit Crabro" (The Hornet Attacks When Roused).^[6] In March 1919 the squadron went back to the UK where it disbanded on 31 December 1919.^[4]

During its wartime existence, the squadron had 14flying aces serve with it, including such notables as;^[5]John Edmund Greene,Colin Brown,George Chisholm MacKay,Leonard Slatter,Maurice Cooper,Miles Day,Ronald Graham,John Paynter,John Pinder, andGeorge Stacey Hodson.

The squadron was reformed on 8 March 1937 flyingGloster Gauntlet IIs, converting toHawker Hurricanes in January 1939 and flew throughout the war. It participated as part of theBritish Expeditionary Force; then atDunkirk; theBattle of Britain and finally in the Middle East as part of theDesert Air Force. It also flewSupermarine Spitfires andNorth American Mustangs.

After the war, the squadron remained in the Middle East, first flyingHawker Tempests and thende Havilland Vampires. It was stationed atDeversoir in theSuez Canal Zone from October 1948 till its disbandment there on 30 September 1954. On January 7,1949 a Hawker Tempest flown by Pilot Officer David Tattersfield was shot down by IDF Spitfires and Tattersfield was killed.

The squadron reformed once again on 1 September 1955 as anEnglish Electric Canberra squadron, specialising in strike/interdiction roles. It was the only squadron to fly the Canberra B(I).6 variant, still with the "Crabro" insignia adorning the tail fin, first fromRAF Ahlhorn and later fromRAF Bruggen, while a detachment was for a short time in 1956 stationed atValkenburg Naval Air Base in the Netherlands.^[7] The squadron finally disbanded on 31 December 1969.^[4]

Bibliography

• Bowyer, Michael J.F and John D.R. Rawlings.Squadron Codes, 1937-56. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979.ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
• 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: Airlif Publishing Ltd., 2003.ISBN 1-84037-281-8.
• Halley, James J.The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. 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: Airlife Publishing, 1998 (second edition 2001).ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Leeson, Frank M.The Hornet Strikes: the Story of 213 Squadron Royal AIr Force. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: AIr-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1998.ISBN 0-85130-272-6.
• Lewis, Peter.Squadron Histories: R.F.C, R.N.A.S and R.A.F., 1912-59. London: Putnam, 1959.
• Moyes, Philip J.R.Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1976).ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
• Rawlings, John D.R.Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978).ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1990).Above The Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London: Grub Street.ISBN 0-948817-19-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 213 Squadron RAF.

• 213 sqn association
• The history of 213 SQN RAFArchived 22 October 2007 at theWayback Machine
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• No. 213 sqn bases while in Fighter CommandArchived 13 October 2008 at theWayback Machine
• Squadron history and more on rafweb's 'Air of Authority'Archived 4 December 2014 at theWayback Machine
• No. 213 sqn during the Battle of Britain

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