835 Naval Air Squadron
Active	17 February 1942 – 1 April 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Carrier basedsquadron
Role	torpedo bomber
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Motto(s)	Latin:Semper miseri sumus (Translation: "We are always miserable")
Battle honours	Atlantic 1943–44, Arctic 1944–45[1]
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lt/Cdr. M. Johnstone,DSC, RN; Lt/Cdr(A)J.R. Godley, RNVR
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	Two wing-hilted swords in front of waves in a circle of rope
Aircraft flown
Attack	Fairey Swordfish
Fighter	Hawker Sea Hurricane Grumman Wildcat

835 Naval Air Squadron was a formersquadron of theRoyal Navy'sFleet Air Arm originally formed in February 1942 as atorpedo bomber andreconnaissance unit flyingFairey Swordfish. In June 1943, sixSea Hurricanes were added to the squadron as a fighter flight. The composite unit exchanged the Hurricanes in September 1944 forGrumman Wildcats, serving on until 1 April 1945, when the squadron disbanded.

The first members of the squadron assembled at theRoyal Naval Air Station (RNAS)Eastleigh (also known as HMS Raven) in January 1942 nearSouthampton inHampshire.^[2] They left Eastleigh on 29 January to board the SSAndalucia Star at Glasgow.Andalucia Star sailed from Glasgow on 4 February and arrived inKingston, Jamaica on 17 February.^[3] 835 Naval Air Squadron officially formed that day atPalisadoes (HMS Buzzard),Jamaica as a torpedo-bomber and reconnaissance squadron ofFairey Swordfish. After patrolling the seas around Jamaica until 12 March 1942, the squadron moved toNorfolk, Virginia, where a refittedHMS Furious lay waiting to take them aboard.Furious left Norfolk on 3 April 1942,^[4] and arrived atRNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), Hampshire, on 15 April. The squadron moved toRNAS Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk),Orkney,Scotland, in June 1942. During a period of frequent relocation the squadron moved toRNAS Stretton (HMS Blackcap),Cheshire, on 22 September 1942 and toRNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail),Argyll, on 29 October to spend November doing initial Deck Launch Training (DLT) onHMS Activity.^[5] December saw temporary return to RNAS Machrihanish before relocation toRAF Kirkistown,County Down,Northern Ireland.

Return to RNAS Machrihanish on 29 January 1943 caused the base to be nicknamed "Clapham Junction" by the squadron.^[5] Carrier embarkation was aboardHMS Battler on 8 April 1943 for convoy duties, but the squadron returned to RNAS Machrihanish forRP-3 Rocket Projectile training on 7 May. After a short return toBattler, the squadron moved toRAF Ballykelly,County Londonderry, Northern Ireland on 15 May and toRNAS Eglington (HMS Gannet) on 22 May.^[6] In June 1943, 835 Squadron was reinforced with a flight of sixSea Hurricane Mk.IIcs from804 squadron. The Hurricanes spent part of September and October 1943 operating fromHMS Ravager, while some of the Swordfishes served aboardHMS Argus and the others remained atRAF Ayr,Ayrshire, Scotland. After a period ashore at RNAS Eglington, the squadron shortly embarked onHMS Chaser for three weeks before transfer toRNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling) and thence to RNAS Eglington.

The squadron transferred to theescort carrierHMS Nairana on 31 December 1943, and returned ashore at RNAS Hatston andRNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail) in January 1944. Most of 1944, however, was spent onboardNairana, on Atlantic convoy duties and on the Gibraltar Run. The squadron also served in 1944 with a successful submarine Hunter-Killer Group in the North Atlantic under the overall command ofCaptain Frederick Walker. ThreeJu 290s were shot down in May and June.^[7] The squadron became involved in theMurmansk Convoys to and from RNAS Hatston in August. Squadron pilots faced the most dangerous flying conditions of the war to attack two U-boats and shoot down four enemy aircraft in the Arctic. The aging Sea Hurricanes were replaced byGrumman Wildcat Mk.VIs in September.

The squadron of 14 Swordfish and sixGrumman Wildcats was led by Lieutenant-Commander Val Jones, a Swordfish Observer. The Senior Pilot of the squadron was Lieutenant Allen Burgham,DSC,MiD, who flew Sea Hurricane Mk.IIcs and later Wildcat Mk.VIs, and was Flight Commander of the Fighter Component.Lt-CommanderJohn GodleyRNVR, who had previously been in command of 'P' Flight of836 Naval Air Squadron, became commander of the squadron on 9 January 1945.

Lieutenant-Commander Godley served as Squadron Commanding Officer for one Murmansk Convoy in February 1945. 835 Squadron saw further combat doing two coastal anti-shipping raids along the Norwegian coast offTrondheim, before being disbanded on 1 April 1945 at RNAS Hatston,^[8] with its fighter flight transferring to821 Naval Air Squadron. Lieutenant-Commander Godley was transferred to command714 Naval Air Squadron.

• List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons

• "835 Squadron".fleetairarmarchive.net. Fleet Air Arm Archive. 14 June 2005. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved1 April 2011.
• "HMS Nairana, Escort Carrier (Became Karel Doorman (1) 1946 (Netherlands))".fleetairarmarchive.net. Fleet Air Arm Archive. 2001. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved1 April 2011.
• Burgham, Ian."The Story of "Nicki" as seen by one of her pilots".navismagazine.com. Archived fromthe original on 2 February 2003. Retrieved1 April 2011.
• Whittick, David."835 Naval Air Squadron Old Comrades Reunion Web Site".homepage.ntlworld.com. Archived fromthe original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved1 April 2011.

• 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons
• Military units and formations established in 1942
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
• Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II
• Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II

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