No. 351 Squadron RAF
Encyclopedia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
fighter-bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during the Second World War. The squadron was also known as Second NOVJ Squadron.
History
Formed on 1 July 1944 at BeninaBenina
Benina is a Basic People's Congress administrative division of Benghazi, Libya.It contains the Benina International Airport....
in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
from Yugoslav personnel, it was equipped with Hawker Hurricane IIC
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s in the fighter-bomber role. In September the squadron re-equipped with Hawker Hurricane IV
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s and moved to Canne, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where it joined No. 281 Wing RAF.
281 Wing was part of the Balkan Air Force
Balkan Air Force
The Balkan Air Force was a late-World War II Allied air formation.-History:The formation was based at Bari in Italy, and activated on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive-operations in the Balkans, i.e. across the...
and the squadron was involved in supporting the Yugoslav partisans. The squadron used an advanced operating base on the island of Vis and from February 1945, was also able to make use of an advance base on the Yugoslav coast.
The squadron was organized according to the war formation prescribed for mobile fighter squadron RAF, with two flights, each of eight Hawker Hurricanes. The flying and technical staff were composed of personnel who came from the Royal Yugoslav Air Force moved to NOVJ, and staff from the First Air Base NOVJ. The first squadron commander was Captain Aleksandar Cenić, the commander of "A" flight was Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Stanislav Vouk , and the commander of "B" flight was Captain Francis Jež.
The first combat operation of the squadron was on 23 October 1944. Through the nine months of the war, No. 351 Squadron RAF carried out 226 combat operations with 971 take offs. These tasks included supporting troops in Yugoslavia, fighter protection and reconnaissance. Canne, Vis and Zemunik airports were used. During the war, the squadron lost 23 pilots, of whom four were killed, including the squadron commander.
On 5 April 1945, the whole squadron moved to what had been their advanced base in Yugoslavia, Prkos, where it continued to operate until the squadron was disbanded from RAF on 16 May 1945. On 18 May 1945, together with No. 352 Squadron
No. 352 Squadron RAF
No. 352 Squadron RAF was a Yugoslav-manned fighter-bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The squadron was also known as First NOVJ Squadron.- History :...
, it formed 1st Fighter Regiment
1st Fighter Regiment
The 1st Fighter Regiment was an aviation regiment established in 1945 as part of the SFR Yugoslav Air Force. The regiment was stationed at Zadar Airport until it was disbanded in same year.-History:...
of Yugoslav Air Force
Yugoslav Air Force
The Yugoslav Air Force may refer to:Kingdom of Yugoslavia*Yugoslav Royal Air Force, active from 1918 to 1941.Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia*SFR Yugoslav Air Force, active from 1945 to 1991....
.
Aircraft operated
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! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
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| July 1944
| September 1944
| Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
| IIC
|
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| September 1944
| June 1945
| Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
| IV
|