No. 521 Squadron RAF
Active	1 August 1942 – 31 March 1943 1 September 1943 – 1 April 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	meteorological
Part of	No. 16 Group RAF,Coastal Command[1]
Insignia
Squadron Codes	5O (Jun 1944 – Apr 1946)[2][3]

No. 521 Squadron of theRoyal Air Force was aSecond World War meteorological observation unit operating fromNorfolk.

The Squadron began on 4 February 1941 asNo. 401 (Met) Flight ofRAF Bomber Command. When all the meteorological flights were put underRAF Coastal Command it becameNo. 1401 (Met) Flight. On 1 August 1942 atRAF Bircham Newton the flight combined with1403 flight to form No. 521 (Met) Squadron. It took part inCoastal Command's meteorological operations^[4]The squadron had inherited from its 1401 flight aircraft such asGloster Gladiator biplanes and someHawker Hurricanes. From 1403 flight came itsBristol Blenheims andLockheed Hudsons. Later the squadron received someSupermarine Spitfires andde Havilland Mosquitos. The operations of the original Flights and later the Squadron was taking meteorological information for weather forecasting – previously provided by merchant shipping to theMet Office. The aircraft would take measurements of temperature andhumidity in set areas over theNorth Sea from an altitude of 40,000 ft downwards. The squadron's Mosquitoes would operate on "PAMPA" flights that took them deep into occupied Europe to assess the weather over target areas for the bombers. On 31 March 1943 at Bircham Newton the squadron was split into nos. Nos. 1401 and1409 (Met) Flights.^[5][6][7]

The squadron reformed on 1 September 1943 atRAF Docking, a satellite of the Bircham Newton station, adding to its original equipmentHandley Page Hampdens, but doing without the earlier Mosquitos and Blenheims. In December 1943 the squadron receivedLockheed Venturas to replace its Hudsons. Additional Hurricanes arrived in August 1944, to supplement the aging Gladiators, which were still on strength. Hudsons arrived again in September 1944, because the Venturas were needed elsewhere. In October 1944 the squadron moved a few miles to the other satellite of Bircham Newton,RAF Langham. For long-range missions the squadron received someBoeing Fortresses in December 1944, which were supplemented after the end of the war withHandley Page Halifaxes, by which time the squadron operated fromRAF Chivenor, where the unit disbanded on 1 April 1946.^[5][6][7]

• List of RAF squadrons

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 521 Squadron RAF.

• Squadron history on MOD site
• Stations used by no. 521 sqn
• Squadron histories for nos. 521–540 sqn on RafWeb's Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation

• Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• Meteorological organisations based in the United Kingdom
• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Military weather units and formations
• Military units and formations established in 1942
• Military units and formations in Norfolk

• Articles with short description
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