Motto:
"Irruimus vastatum " - "We rush in and destory" .
Badge: In front of two swords in salitire, an eagle's
head erased.
History
No.181 squadron was formed at Duxford on 1
September 1942 as a fighter unit and received its first Typhoon a week
later. Despite teething troubles with the new fighter, defensive
operations began on 28 November 1942, the Typhoon's speed being used to
counter enemy fighter-bomber attacks on coastal towns. In February 1943,
the squadron flew its first offensive sweep when it began attacks on
enemy coastal shipping and later extended these to targets in northern
France. In the summer of 1943, the second Tactical Air Force was formed
and No.181 became part of a fighter-bomber wing operating from advanced
landing grounds in southern England. In Janruary 1944, attacks began on
flying-bomb launching sites in northern France and in February the
squadron adopted rockets for attacking enemy camps and communications in
prepartion for the invasion.
Two weeks after the initial landings, No.181
began operating from fields in Normandy in support of Allied armies and
during the German retreat was engaged on attacks on enemy tanks and
transport trying to escape form the battle area. By early September it
had reached the Low Countries where it spent the winter and during the
final offensive moved into Germany with the Second Army. By the end of
the war it had reached Lubeck on the Baltic and on 30 September 1945 was
disbanded.
(©
www.raf.mod.uk )
RAF Squadron crest
© Crown Copyright is reproduced with the
permission of the Controller of Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office
Casualties of the squadron, buried
in the Netherlands.
Number of known casualties: 3
Geoff's Search Engine is an excellent tool to help you search through
the CWGC database)
