No. 26 Squadron RAF

No. 26 Squadron.
Crest of No. 26 Squadron RAF
Active	8 October 1915 - 1 April 1979.
Branch	Royal Air Force.
Type	Army Co-operation Unit.
Motto(s)	N Wagter in die Lug Afrikaans: "A guard in the sky".
Battle honours	East Africa, 1916-18: France & Low Countries, 1939-40: Dunkirk: Fortress Europe, 1940-44: Dieppe: France & Germany, 1944-45: Normandy, 1944: Walcheren.
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A springbok's head couped
Squadron Roundel

No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976.

The squadron's motto is N Wagter in die Lug (Afrikaans) (A guard in the sky), and the badge is a springbok's head couped.

No. 26 Squadron was formed at Netheravon on 8 October 1915 from personnel of the South African Air Corps. It was equipped with B.E.s and Farmans and sent to East Africa in 1915, arriving in Mombasa at the end of January 1916. In February 1918 it was dispatched back to the UK where it was disbanded in July 1918.

On 11 October 1927, No. 26 was reformed at Catterick as a single flight of Armstrong Whitworth Atlas army co-operation aircraft; on 1 September 1938 a second flight was added. In July 1933 Hawker Audaxes were received, which were replaced by Hawker Hectors in August 1937.

By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Squadron had been equipped with Westland Lysanders and in October 1939 it was moved to France. When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940, No. 26 was forced to move to Lympne where it flew reconnaissance, bombing and supply missions over northern France. Coastal patrols began in June and training with the army occupied most of the Squadron's time for the next few years. In February 1941 Curtiss Tomahawks began to arrive to replace the Lysanders for tactical reconnaissance missions. In October 1941 the Tomahawks began to fly low-level ground attack sorties over northern France but they lacked the performance required for operations of this nature, so in January 1942 they were replaced by North American Mustangs. The tactical reconnaissance and day intruder missions continued until July 1943, when the Squadron moved to Yorkshire and then in March 1944 to Scotland. In preparation for the Normandy landings, No. 26 trained in spotting naval guns, a task it carried out on and after D-Day. For this role the Squadron was equipped with Supermarine Spitfires although they reverted to Mustangs in December 1944 for reconnaissance missions over the Netherlands. In April 1945 the Squadron spent two weeks spotting for French warships bombarding pockets of German resistance before being transferred to Germany in August. No. 26 remained here until 1 April 1946 when it was disbanded.