No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron RAuxAF
No. 605 Squadron badge
Active	5 October 1926 – March 1942 7 June 1942 – 31 August 1945 10 May 1946 – 10 March 1957 1 November 2014 –
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Role	Logistics
Part of	No 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing, RAF A4 Force
Nickname(s)	County of Warwick
Motto(s)	Latin:Nunquam Dormio (Translation: "I Never Sleep")[1][2][3]
Battle honours	Dunkirk* Battle of Britain, 1940* Malta, 1941* Eastern Waters, 1942* Fortress Europe, 1942–1943* Home Defence, 1944* France and Germany, 1944–1945* Honours marked with an asterisk* are those emblazoned on the Squadron Standard[4]
Commanders
Honorary Air Commodore	Viscount Bearsted (1928–1937)[5] William Lindsay Everard (1937–1947)[6] J.A.C. Wright (1947–1957)
Notable commanders	Archie McKellar,Eric William Wright,Peter Townsend, Bertie R. O'Bryen "Sammy" Hoare
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	On a mount, a bear supporting a ragged staff[1][2][3]
Squadron Codes	HE (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939)[7] UP (Jan 1942 – Aug 1945)[8] RAL (May 1946 – 1949)[9] NR (1949 – Apr 1951)[10]

No. 605 Squadron was formed as anAuxiliary Air Force Squadron. Initially formed as a bomber unit, it became a fighter squadron prior to theSecond World War and was one of the most successful participants of theBattle of Britain. It also had the distinction of being active during the war on two fronts at the same time, when the squadron was split up between Malta and the Dutch East Indies. In its last incarnation as an active flying unit, the squadron served as the first jet fighter unit in the post-warRoyal Auxiliary Air Force;616 having already flownGloster Meteors during the war. No. 605 Squadron was reformed as aRAuxAF Logistic Support Squadron (LSS) on 1 Nov 2014 withinNo. 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing of the RAF A4 Force. On the 1 January 2019, the Reserve Logistic Support Wing (RLSW) was established with 501, 504 and 605 LSS Squadron's moving fromNo. 85 (Expeditionary Logistics) Wing RAF to form RLSW.

No. 605 Squadron was formed on 5 October 1926 atRAF Castle Bromwich as a day bomber unit of the Auxiliary Air Force, recruiting in theBirmingham area. Initially equipped withDH.9As, it receivedWestland Wapitis in April 1930 andHawker Harts in October 1934. The latter were replaced byHawker Hinds in August 1936. On 1 January 1939 No. 605 Squadron was re-designated as a fighter squadron and re-equipped withGloster Gladiators.^[11][12]

Hawker Hurricanes began to arrive a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War, and the squadron took up its war station atRAF Tangmere with a mixture of six Hurricanes and ten Gladiators, completing re-equipment during October 1939. In February 1940 the squadron moved toScotland, but returned south in May to fly patrols over northern France for a week before moving back to Scotland atRAF Drem. It again moved south again in September for the closing stages of theBattle of Britain. It then continued to operate from bases in the south, carrying out escort duties and fighter sweeps until posted overseas.

In November 1941, the squadron were embarked on the aircraft carrierHMS Argus and taken via Gibraltar to a launch point near enough toMalta that they would be able to fly the remaining distance. SeeClub Run andOperation Perpetual. The squadron was then temporarily based at Malta in order to augment the island's defences, prior to elements of the squadron continuing their journey to the Far East. Arriving inSingapore too late to prevent its capture, the squadron moved toSumatra and then toJava, in the event caught up in the Japanese invasion.^[13] It operated any aircraft it could fly until it ceased to exist with its personnel either escaping in small groups or being captured. In the meantime, the small detachment of the squadron that had been left on Malta during the transit journey to the Far East, began operations on 10 January 1942^[14] using the 605 squadron number in its reports. This ended two months later when these detachments were absorbed intoNo. 185 Squadron RAF.^[11][12]

A new No. 605 squadron was formed atRAF Ford on 7 June 1942, equipped withDouglas Boston and Havocs in the intruder role. These were replaced withde Havilland Mosquitos from February 1943 and it continued to operate this type until the end of the war. During this period, Peter Middleton, the grandfather of thePrincess of Wales, was a pilot on the squadron.^[15] The squadron moved toBelgium in March 1945 and thenthe Netherlands in April. The squadron disbanded by being re-numbered toNo. 4 Squadron RAF on 31 August 1945 atVolkel Air Base.^[11][12]

One of the squadron's Mosquitos FB.VI TA122 is now on permanent display at thede Havilland Aircraft Museum located in Hertfordshire.

With the reactivation of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, No. 605 Squadron was reformed on 10 May 1946 atRAF Honiley as a night fighter squadron, though its initial equipment ofMosquito NF.30s did not arrive until April 1947. In July 1948 the squadron's role was changed to that of a day fighter squadron, for which it receivedde Havilland Vampire F.1s, replacing them with Vampire FB.5s in May 1951. A little short of six years later the squadron was disbanded, along with all the flying units of the RAuxAF, on 10 March 1957.^[11][12]

No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron was reformed as aRAF Reserve Logistics Support Squadron on 1 Nov 2014 withinNo. 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing of the RAF A4 Force. Based atRAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton. The first reservist recruiting event was 30 May 2015, recruiting drivers, chefs, suppliers and police, which will be broken down as 112 part-time and 14 full-time posts.

605 Squadron currently deploys personnel onto RAF exercises and RAF operations across the world including recent deployments in 2022 and 2023 to The Falklands, Cyprus, The USA and The Middle East.

They were fully operational by May 2018 and as of 2023 are still recruiting Logisticians including Drivers, Suppliers, Police and Chefs.^[16]

Commanding Officers of 605 Squadron include:^[25][26][27]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 605 Squadron RAF.

• Official 605 Sqn page on the RAF Website
• Squadron histories for nos. 605–610 sqn on RAFweb
• Battle of Britain website page for 605 sqn
• Official 605 Sqn page on Facebook
• Mosquito FB Mk VI at the De Havilland Museum in the UK

• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• RAF squadrons involved in the Battle of Britain
• Military units and formations established in 1926
• Squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force

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• Use British English from August 2015
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• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2024
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