Country United Kingdom Role photo-reconnaissance | Branch Royal Air Force | |
Active 2 January 1943 – 1 August 1946 Part of No. 221 Group RAF, RAF India Command
No. 231 Group RAF, Air Command South-East Asia
AHQ Burma, Air Command South-East Asia Squadron Badge heraldry No badge known to have been authorised | ||
No. 681 Squadron RAF was a photo-reconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
Contents
History
It was formed out of No. 3 PRU, at Dum Dum in India on 2 January 1943, as part of RAF Far East Air Force. Initially it was mostly equipped with Hurricane PR.Mk.II and Spitfire PR.Mk.IV fighters, but there was also a Dutch element in 'C' flight that operated North American Mitchells, which belonged to the former Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. The squadron re-equipped with Mosquito PR.IXs in August 1943, and Spitfire PR.XIs in October.
In November 1943 the twin-engined elements were used to form No. 684 Squadron RAF. 681 Squadron, which was now entirely equipped with the Spitfire PR.XI, moved to RAF Alipore, Bengal in May 1944, and RAF Mingaladon, Burma in June 1945, receiving Spitfire PR.XIX photo-reconnaissance aircraft in August of that year. The squadron moved to RAF Kai Tak, Hong Kong, in September 1945, when the war formally ended. Detachments from the squadron however were still located and kept busy at a wide range of airfields across the South-East Asian theatre of operations. The squadron was disbanded by renumbering it to No. 34 Squadron RAF on 1 August 1946 at RAF Palam, Punjab, (then) British India.
Squadron airfields
+ Stations and airfields used by No. 681 Squadron RAF, data from