No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron RAuxAF
603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force badge
Active	14 October 1925 – 26 December 1944 10 January – 15 August 1945 10 May 1946 – 10 March 1957 1 October 1999 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Role	Force Protection/RAF Police and RAF Regiment
Part of	Combat Readiness Force
Headquarters	Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh
Nickname	City of Edinburgh
Mottos	Scots:Gin ye daur ("If you dare")[1][2]
Battle honours	Home Defence, 1940–42* Battle of Britain, 1940* Channel & North Sea, 1941* Fortress Europe, 1941* Malta, 1942* Mediterranean, 1943* Sicily, 1943* South-East Europe, 1943–44* France & Germany 1945 Honours marked with an asterisk* are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard
Commanders
Current commander	Sqn Ldr Scottie Rankin (Aug 25)
Honorary Air Commodore	Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton
Notable commanders	Queen Elizabeth II was the Royal Honorary Air Commodore until her death on 8 September 2022 George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk Lord David Douglas-Hamilton Christopher Foxley-Norris
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	On a rock a triple-towered castle, flying therefrom to the sinister a pennon The castle in the badge is similar to that in the Arms of the City of Edinburgh[1][2]
Squadron Codes	RL (April 1939 – September 1939)[3] XT (September 1939 – April 1942, January 1945 – August 1945, 1949 – April 1951)[4] RAJ (May 1946 – 1949)[5]

No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron is asquadron of theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force, based inEdinburgh,Scotland. On reforming on 1 October 1999, the primary role of 603 Squadron was as aSurvive to Operate squadron, as well as providingforce protection.

603 Sqn re-roled to become a reserve RAF Police unit from 1 April 2013. The Squadron retains a squadron's complement of RAF Regiment as part of its overall contribution to Force Protection and it still operates from a magnificent Victorian Town Mansion close to Edinburgh's city centre, as it has since the Town Headquarters was bought for the squadron in 1925.

No. 603 Squadron was formed on 14 October 1925 atRAF Turnhouse as aday bomber unit of theAuxiliary Air Force. Originally equipped withDH.9As and usingAvro 504Ks for flying training, the squadron re-equipped withWapitis in March 1930, these being replaced byHarts in February 1934. On 24 October 1938, No. 603 was redesignated afighter unit and flewHinds until the arrival ofGladiators at the end of March 1939.

In August 1939, the squadron began to transition toSpitfires.^[6] As war approached the squadron was put on a full-time footing, and within two weeks of the outbreak of theSecond World War,Brian Carbury was permanently attached and the squadron began to receive Spitfires, passing on its Gladiators to other squadrons during October.

Scotland was in range ofNazi Germany's long-range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. TheLuftwaffe's main operations being mainly against the Royal Naval Home Fleet anchored inScapa Flow. The squadron was operational with Spitfires in time to intercept the first German air raid on theBritish Isles on 16 October, when it shot down aJunkers Ju 88 bomber into theFirth of Forth north ofPort Seton – the first enemy aircraft to be shot down over Great Britain since 1918, and the first RAF victory in the Second World War. It remained on defensive duties in Scotland until 27 August 1940, when it moved on rotation toSouthern England, based with No 11 Group atRAF Hornchurch, where it was operational from 27 August 1940 for the remaining months of theBattle of Britain.

Two days after the squadron became operational in southern England, Carbury claimed the first of his 15½ victories, becoming thefifth highest scoringfighter ace of the battle. He was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross and Bar with 603 Squadron during the battle. P/OR. 'Ras' Berry claimed some 9 (of an eventual total of 14) victories during this time, while P/O 'Sheep' Gilroy claimed over 6 victories.Plt Off Richard Hillary (5 victories) was shot down on 3 September in combat with Bf 109s ofJagdgeschwader 26 offMargate at 10:04hrs – rescued by theMargate lifeboat, he was severely burned and spent the next three years in hospital, during which time he wrote a book,The Last Enemy.^[7] By the end of the Battle of Britain, according to more recent academic research including the scrutiny of German records, 603 Squadron were identified as the highest-scoring Battle of Britain fighter squadron.

Returning to Scotland at the end of December, Carbury damaged a Ju 88 onChristmas Day overSt Abb's Head, before leaving squadron in January 1941 as an instructor at theCentral Flying School. In May 1941, the squadron moved south again to take part in sweeps over France (termed "rhubarbs"), until the end of the year.

After a further spell in Scotland, No. 603 left in April 1942 for theMiddle East where its groundechelon arrived early in June. Concurrently, Flt Sgt Joe Dalley moved from the squadron to PRU duties and flew a Spitfire PR direct from RAF Benson to Malta, joiningNo. 69 Squadron RAF to become one of four pilots known as the "Eyes and Ears" on the Island. The squadron's aircraft were embarked on the U.S. aircraft carrierWasp and flown off toMalta on 20 April to reinforce the island's beleaguered fighters. After nearly four months defending Malta, the remaining pilots and aircraft were absorbed by229 Squadron on 3 August 1942.

At the end of June 1942, No. 603's ground echelon had moved to Cyprus, where it spent six months as a servicing unit before returning to Egypt. In February 1943,Bristol Beaufighters and crews arrived to beginconvoy patrols and escort missions along theNorth African coast and in August sweeps over German held islands in theAegean and off Greece began. Attacks on enemy shipping continued until the lack of targets enabled the squadron to be returned to the UK in December 1944.

On 10 January 1945, No. 603 reassembled atRAF Coltishall and by curious coincidence, took over the Spitfires ofNo. 229 Squadron RAF and some of its personnel, the same squadron which had absorbed No. 603 atTa' Qali in 1942.Fighter-bomber sweeps began in February over the Netherlands and continued until April, when the squadron returned to its home base at Turnhouse for the last days of the war. On 15 August 1945, the squadron was disbanded.

603 Sqn reformed as a unit of the Auxiliary Air Force on 10 May 1946 and began recruiting personnel to man a Spitfire squadron during June atRAF Turnhouse. Receiving its first Spitfire in October, it flew this type until conversion toDe Havilland Vampire FB.5s in May 1951. By July it was completely equipped and the type was flown until disbandment on 10 March 1957.

The new 603 Squadron was formed from No. 2 (City of Edinburgh) Maritime Headquarters Unit (MHU) in October 1999. It was used to provide the basis for the newNo. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron RAuxAF in 2006 while 603 remained in Edinburgh. To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the formation of theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight in 2007, for the next 2 seasons the Flight's Supermarine Spitfire IIa, P7350, which fought in 603 Sqn during the Battle of Britain carried the 603 Squadron letters XT-L, those ofGerald 'Stapme' Stapleton's personal aircraft.

For a number of years up until 2013 the primary trade available at 603 Sqn was RAF Regiment although the Squadron also supported small numbers in the Mission Support and Flight Operations trades, However, in late 2012 it was announced that during 2013 the squadron would begin recruiting for RAF Police and the Squadron is now primarily aRAF Police unit, with an embedded Flight ofRAF Regiment.^[8]

• Flt Lt Brian Carbury DFC*, who claimed 15½ victories with No. 603, making him the fourth-highest scoring ace of the Battle of Britain
• Flight LieutenantRichard Hillary, Spitfire pilot who was shot down on 3 September 1940, was badly burned, and wrote a bookThe Last Enemy.
• Squadron LeaderB. G. 'Stapme' Stapleton who shot downFranz von Werra, who became the only GermanPoW to escape and return to theThird Reich.
• Flight Lieutenant George Gilroy, became a flying ace during the Battle of Britain

After a vote by the council in February 2018,Lord Provost of Edinburgh Frank Ross presented The Freedom of the City of Edinburgh to the Squadron at the City Chambers on Tuesday 3 July 2018.^[17] The Parade was followed by a private reception in thePalace of Holyroodhouse where the Squadron was hosted by its Royal HAC, Queen Elizabeth.

With the Queen as the Squadron's Royal Honorary Air Commodore, the Squadron was tasked with providing personnel to join the RAF detachment that made up part of the military parade as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant parade on Sunday 5 June 2022.

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 603 Squadron RAF.

• Official RAF 603 Sqn RAuxAF website
• Second World War Ex-RAF website – Reuniting friends and lost pals
• Battle-of-Britain.co.uk 603 Sqn website
• Photographs of 603 Sqn during WW2
• Aces High II game website – 603 Sqn
• Battle of Britain Memorial Flight website
• Details of Spitfire P7350

• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• RAF squadrons involved in the Battle of Britain
• Military units and formations established in 1925
• Squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force

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