No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron RAuxAF
Heraldic badge of the squadron displayed on theBattle of Britain Monument in London
Active	1 Jun 1937 – 10 Jun 1945 10 Jun 1945 – 25 Sep 1945 10 May 1946 – 10 Mar 1957
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Part of	Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Nickname	County of Surrey 'Churchill's Own'[1]
Mottos	Latin:Conjunctis viribus (Translation: "By our united force")[2][3]
Engagements	Battle of France Battle of Britain
Commanders
Honorary Air Commodore	Winston Churchill
Notable commanders	Neville Duke (Test pilot)
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	On a star of six points, an oak sprig fructed.[2][3]
Squadron Codes	RR (Nov 1938 – Sep 1939)[4] KW (Sep 1939 – Sep 1945)[5] RAV (Jul 1946 – 1949)[6] V6 (1949 – Apr 1951)[7]
Post-1950 squadron roundel

No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron was a unit of the BritishAuxiliary Air Force and later theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force between 1937 and 1957.

No. 615 squadron was formed atRAF Kenley as part of theAuxiliary Air Force on 1 June 1937 and was initially equipped with theHawker Audax in the army-cooperation role. By the end of the year it had receivedHawker Hectors which it flew until November 1938, when it became a fighter squadron and receivedGloster Gauntlets.^{[Nb 1][2]}

1939–1942

The squadron re-equipped withGloster Gladiators in May 1939, taking them to France as part of the Air Component of theBritish Expeditionary Force in November 1939. Pilot conversion to theHawker Hurricane took place in the early months of 1940, with the aircraft themselves finally arriving in May 1940 as theGerman invasion of France got under way. The next couple of weeks were marked by chaos and constant shuffling between bases that includedVitry-en-Artois,Saint-Inglevert,Poix,Abbeville &Moorsele (Belgium). On 20 May 1940 whilst some ground crew & equipment were already making their way towards evacuation via Boulogne, patrols were still being carried out, with anHe-111 shot down byPO Petrus Hugo. Finally the last nine serviceable Hurricanes flew home toRAF Kenley, whilst non-flying crew returned to England in the steamerBiarritz from Boulogne, arriving at Dover on 21 May 1940.^{[3][8][9][10][11]}

615 squadron took part in the early actions of theBattle of Britain, but then moved to Scotland to rest. It later took part in offensive sweeps over Europe and defence duties in Wales.

1942–45

In April 1942 the squadron was transferred to the South East Asian theatre, initially to India, before moving closer to the front lines in Burma, during December 1942. but returned to India to re-equip in May 1943, receivingSupermarine Spitfires in October. It returned to operations on the Burma front in November but was recalled to India again, for defensive duties in August 1944. The transfer, from Palel to Biagachi, near Calcutta was scheduled for 10 August. Despite a favourable weather forecast, the squadron encountered a violent monsoon storm en route. Eight of the 16 aircraft, including that of the commanding officer,Squadron Leader Dave McCormack, DFC, were lost.

1945

The squadron returned to Burma in February 1945.^[3][8] On 10 June 1945, the 615 Squadron was officially disbanded – althoughNo. 135 Squadron RAF was renamed 615 Squadron that same day, atRAF Cuttack,Orissa. The new 615 Squadron was equipped withRepublic Thunderbolts and began training forproposed landings in Malaya. Air support was not required, however, following thesurrender of Japan and the squadron disbanded on 25 September atRAF Vizagapatam,Andhra Pradesh.^[3][8]

With the reactivation of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, No. 615 Squadron was reformed on 10 May 1946 atRAF Biggin Hill as a day fighter squadron equipped withSpitfire F.14s. Spitfire F.21s were received in 1947 and these were replaced by F.22s in 1948, both marks being flown until 1950.^{[citation needed]}

600 and 615 squadron were great rivals. No 600 had the Queen Mother as Honorary Air Commodore and 615 had Sir Winston Churchill. When the Queen Mother first flew in the pilot's seat of a Comet she caused a telegram to be sent saying: "Today I have flown higher and faster than any of the pilots at Biggin Hill." On another occasion when Sir Winston Churchill was at Biggin he called over the CO of the rival squadron and asked him to send a telegram to the Queen Mother saying:"I have today presented to my squadron the Esher Trophy."^[12] Later he wrote: 'It was a great joy to me to be made an honorary member of 615. They were equally good at work or play. I remember visiting them at summer camp at Horsham St Faith. After the day's flying the squadron funds were raided and launches hired on the Norfolk Broads. At one or two selected stopping-places the adjutant went into the nearest hostelry and to the consternation of the locals ordered 86 pints and four lemonades'.^[13]

The squadron re-equipped withGloster Meteor F.4 jet fighters starting in September 1950. Meteor F.8s were received in September 1951 and these were flown in the annual UK air defence exercises and at annual summer training camps. Along with all other flying units of the RAuxAF, No. 615 was disbanded on 10 March 1957.^[3][8]

• Winston Churchill, appointed HonoraryAir Commodore of the Squadron on 4 April 1939.
• Neville Duke, famous test pilot.
• Hedley Fowler, achieved the squadron's first kill; became a PoW and later escaped from Colditz.
• Arthur Vere Harvey, squadron commander; a Conservative Member of Parliament post-war.
• Petrus Hugo, South African ace and Commanding Officer
• Joseph Kayll, commander during Battle of France, then Battle of Britain Ace.
• Ronald Gustave Kellett, Second World War ace and post-war commander of the squadron
• Henry Lafont, Famous Free French pilot of the Second World War, who died on 2 December 2011, the last surviving French veteran of the Battle of Britain. With René Mouchotte (below), escaped from Algeria in 1940 and flew to Gibraltar to join the Free French forces.
• René Mouchotte, Famous Free French pilot of the Second World War who died on 27 August 1943, first Free-French officer to hold the position of flight commander in the RAF. His memoirs were published in 1946 under the titleLes carnets de René Mouchotte.
• Alexander Obolensky, A Russian Prince, and popularly known as "The Flying Prince", "The Flying Slav", or simply as "Obo". An international rugby player for England, scored 2 tries in a legendary All Blacks match. Died 29 March 1940 in a Hawker Hurricane training accident.
• James Sanders, Second World War ace

1. ^ Although only introduced in 1935, within two years the RAF began to procure even more advanced fighters for front-line squadrons, allowing Gauntlets to be transferred to freshly-formed or reserve units, serving as their first or interim equipment for training in advance of receiving newer aircraft.
2. ^ Whilst 615 Squadron were re-equipping with Hawker Hurricanes towards the end of this period, "B" flight were still equipped with Gladiators, and it was 12 aircraft of this type that served in France until joined by 9 Hurricanes in mid May 1940. With the fall of Dunkirk, 615 sqdn returned to England, posting a detachment of Gladiators ("G" flight) to RAF Manston for the final days of May 1940

Media related toNo. 615 Squadron RAF at Wikimedia Commons

• squadron histories for nos. 611–620 sqn
• Squadron History 615 Sqn

• 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 1937
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
• Military units and formations established in 1946
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1957

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