Country United Kingdom | Branch Royal Air Force | |
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Active 31 Jan 1943 – 1 Nov 1955 Role Air Observation Post Squadron Motto(s) Latin: Per terras perque caelum
(Translation: "By land and sky") Squadron badge heraldry A hand couped at the wrist, holding a gun barrel | ||
No. 657 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force in North Africa, Italy and the Netherlands during the Second World War and afterwards in Germany. Numbers 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with Army units in artillery spotting and liaison. A further three of these squadrons, 664-666, were manned with Canadian personnel. Their duties and squadron numbers were transferred to the Army with the formation of the Army Air Corps on 1 September 1957.
History
No. 657 Squadron was formed at RAF Ouston on 31 January 1943. It went into action in August of that year, in North Africa. It later served in Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. In November 1945, the squadron returned to the UK and continued to support army units in the South of England until disbanded by being renumbered No. 651 Squadron RAF on 1 November 1955. The original squadron is represented today by No. 657 Squadron of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.