No. 680 Squadron RAF was a photo-reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 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...

, active during the Second World War.

History

No. 680 Squadron RAF was formed in February 1943 from 'A' Flight of No. 2 Photographic Reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 Unit (PRU), equipped with a variety of aircraft including Supermarine Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...

s, 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...

s, Bristol Beaufighter

Bristol Beaufighter

The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...

s and Lockheed Electra

Lockheed Model 10 Electra

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2...

s. It continued in the photographic reconnaissance role, operating in North Africa and the Mediterranean.
In early 1944, the unit converted to Martin Baltimore

Martin Baltimore

The Martin 187 Baltimore was a two-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States, originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then in service in France. With the fall of France, the production series was...

s and de Havilland Mosquito

De Havilland Mosquito

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...

es, deploying to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

 later in the year.
After the end of the war, 680 Squadron flew surveying missions in the Middle East, before being disbanded by renumbering it to No. 13 Squadron RAF on 1 September 1946.

Noted squadron members

A well-known Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n actor, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, piloted Spitfires and Mosquitoes with the squadron.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 680 Squadron

From	To	Aircraft	Variant
February 1943	February 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...	Mk.I
February 1943	March 1943	Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...	Mk.Ic
February 1943	June 1944	Supermarine Spitfire Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...	PR.Mks.IV, V
February 1943	September 1944	Lockheed Electra Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2...
February 1943	January 1945	Supermarine Spitfire	PR.Mk.IX
March 1943	June 1943	Supermarine Spitfire	PR.Mk.VI
March 1943	December 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...	PR.Mk.IIb
August 1943	July 1946	Supermarine Spitfire	PR.XI
February 1944	May 1944	Martin Baltimore Martin Baltimore The Martin 187 Baltimore was a two-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States, originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then in service in France. With the fall of France, the production series was...	Mks.IIIa, V
February 1944	July 1944	Bristol Blenheim Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...	Mk.IV
February 1944	September 1946	de Havilland Mosquito De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...	Mks.IX & XVI
March 1946	September 1946	de Havilland Mosquito	PR.34

Squadron bases

Bases and airfields used by no. 680 Squadron RAF, data from

From	To	Base	Remark
1 February 1943	25 February 1945	LG.219 Kilo 8/Matariyah/Payne Field Al-Matariyyah Al-Matariyyah, Mataria or El Matariya is a district in the northern region of Greater Cairo, east of the Nile, in Egypt. The district is unrelated to the El Matareya coastal region in the Dakahlia Governorate... , Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...	Dets. at Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area... , Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...  and 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...
25 February 1945	9 July 1946	RAF Deversoir Deversoir Air Base Deversoir Air Base is a former military airfield in Egypt, located approximately 19 km south-southeast of Ismailia ; 116 km northeast of Cairo... , Egypt	Dets. at Iran Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia... , Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....  and Palestine Palestine Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
9 July 1946	1 September 1946	RAF Ein Shemer, Palestine

Commanding officers

Officers commanding no. 680 squadron RAF, data from

From	To	Name
February 1943	October 1944	W/Cdr. Wing Commander (rank) Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...  J.R. Whelan, DFC Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...  & Bar Medal bar A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
October 1944	September 1946	W/Cdr. J.C. Paish

External links

• Squadron histories at RAF Web
• History of 680 Squadron
• Movement and Equipment records