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No. 541 Squadron RAF
Spitfire PR Mark XI, PL775, of No. 541 Squadron RAF
Active	19 October 1942 – 1 October 1946 1 November 1947 – 7 September 1957
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto	Alone above all[1]
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A birds eye speedwell flower[2]
Squadron Code	ES (October 1945 – Dec 1946)[3] WY (November 1947 –1951)[4] A (1951 –1954)[5]

No. 541 Squadron RAF was aRoyal Air Force Squadron formed as a photographicreconnaissance squadron inWorld War II.

The squadron formed atRAF Benson on 19 October 1942 from 'B' and 'F' flights ofNo. 1 PRU,^[6] and was equipped withSpitfires to fly missions over Europe.^[7] It also receivedMustang aircraft in July 1944 and operated someLancaster bombers for UK mapping purposes after hostilities ceased. One of the squadrons first commanders following its formation wasJohn Saffery.^[8]

Wartime detachments operated from Gibraltar in 1943, providing imagery of North Africa,^[9] and from RAF Leuchars in the same year with missions flown into Norway looking for the battleshipScharnhorst.^[10]

It disbanded in October 1946, with the Lancaster Flight becomingNo. 82 Squadron.^[11]

The squadron reformed at RAF Benson on 1 November 1947,^[12] and in December 1950 its Spitfires were replaced withMeteors which it operated fromRAF Bückeburg,RAF Laarbruch andRAF Gütersloh before it disbanded again on 7 September 1957.^[13]

• Fairbairn, Tony (1991).Action Stations Overseas. Sparkford: P. Stephens.ISBN 1-85260-319-4.
• Lake, Alan (1999).Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-84037-086-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 541 Squadron RAF.

• History of No.'s 541–598 Squadrons at RAF Web
• badge on RAF Heraldry Trust website

• 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 established in 1942

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