No. 540 Squadron RAF
Active	19 Oct 1942 – 30 Sep 1946 1 Dec 1947 – 31 Mar 1956
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Photographic reconnaissance
Part of	No. 18 Group RAF,Coastal Command No. 16 Group RAF,Coastal Command No. 106 Group RAF,Coastal Command[1]
Mottos	Latin:Sine qua non (Translation: "Indispensable")[2][3]
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	A mosquito[3] The badge indicates the squadron as the first user of the de Havilland Mosquito[2]
Squadron Codes	DH (Nov 1945 – Sep 1946 and Dec 1947 – Aug 1953)[4][5]

No. 540 Squadron RAF was a photoreconnaissance squadron of theRoyal Air Force from 1942 to 1956.

The squadron was formed on 19 October 1942^[2][3][6] from 'H' and 'L' flights ofNo. 1 PRU^[2][7] atRAF Leuchars as a photoreconnaissance unit with thede Havilland Mosquito.It operated from Leuchars to carry out missions overNorway andGermany, while a detachment based atRAF Benson carried out similar missions overFrance andItaly. Another detachment, based atRAF Gibraltar covered the south of France andAlgeria, but from 1944 on the unit was wholly based at RAF Benson, the range of the later Mosquito permitting missions deep inAustria or to theCanary Islands. In March 1945 the squadron went overseas, toCoulommiers in France, coming back to the UK in November, again at RAF Benson where the unit was disbanded on 30 September 1946,^[3] when it was renumbered to58 Squadron.^[6]

On 1 December 1947 No. 540 squadron was reformed at Benson,^[3] from the Mosquito element of 58 Squadron,^[6] taking up its old role and flying Mosquitoes again. In December 1952 these gave way toEnglish Electric Canberras, the last Mosquito leaving in September 1953. By that time the squadron had moved toRAF Wyton, where the unit disbanded on 31 March 1956.^[3][6]

In 1953 the squadron formed a "NZ Air Race Flight" to train and carry out the RAF participation in the1953 London to Christchurch air race,Flight Lieutenant Monty Burton won the race in Canberra PR3WE139 now on public display at the Royal Air Force Museum.

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

• Delve, Ken (1994).The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
• Sturtivant, Ray; Hamlin, John (2007).RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge: Air-Britain (Historians).ISBN 0-85130-365-X.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 540 Squadron RAF.

• Squadron history on MOD site
• Bases and airfields used on www.rafcommands.com
• No 521 – 540 Squadron Histories
• Secret operations of 540 squadron using Canberras

• Military units and formations established in 1942
• Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Reconnaissance units and formations of the Royal Air Force
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1956
• 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom
• 1956 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2015
• Use British English from August 2015
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Commons category link is on Wikidata