No. 321 Squadron RAF

No. 321 (Dutch) Squadron RAF
Avro Anson of No. 321 Squadron, carrying Dutch markings on its tail.
Active	1 June 1940 – 18 January 1941 15 August 1942 – 8 December 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	Dutch government in exile
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Inactive
Part of	RAF Coastal Command
Aircraft	Consolidated Catalina, Consolidated Liberator

No. 321 (Dutch) Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force during World War II formed from the personnel of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service.

Formed on 1 June 1940 at Pembroke Dock, the squadron moved to RAF Carew Cheriton on 28 July 1940 and became operational. The squadron flew coastal and anti-submarine patrols with Avro Anson's until the squadron was disbanded, due to lack of personnel, and merged with No. 320 Squadron on 18 January 1941.

The squadron was re-activated at RAF Trincomalee, Sri Lanka on 15 August 1942 with PBY Catalina's from personnel of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service who escaped to Ceylon. The squadron's headquarters was located at RAF China Bay with detachments based in Mombasa, Cocos Islands, Socotra, Masirah, Ceylon, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Aden and Cape Town. Supplemented with B-24 Liberator's in July 1945 the air echelon moved to Cocos Island in preparation for the proposed invasion of Malaya.

After the Japanese surrender, relief flights and supply drops to thousands of internees in the POW camps were flown to Java and Sumatra, and in October the squadron moved to its new base near Batavia, where the squadron passed to the control of the Dutch Naval Aviation Service on 8 December 1945, keeping the same squadron number No. 321 Squadron MLD. The 321 Squadron is to be disbanded in 2005, due to budget cuts.