Flag of the
Belgian section of the Royal Air Force
The initial Belgian fliers with the Royal Air Force were
individual members of British squadrons. Belgium contributed 29 pilots to
Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. Although usually randomly posted
to various RAF fighter squadrons, No. 609 Squadron had enough Belgian pilots to
form a flight. Later, some of the Belgian pilots were organized into two
all-Belgian squadrons, the No. 350 (Belgian) Squadron (formed November 1941)
and No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron (formed November 1942). By June 1943, some 400
Belgian pilots were serving with the RAF. Initially part of the air defense of
Great Britain, both squadrons later served in the campaign in northwestern
Europe supporting 21st Army Group with No. 83 and No. 84 Groups of the R.A.F.
The British air raid on Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen on March 22, 1945
was led by a Belgian Wing Commander, Michael Donnet. Altogether, some 1,200
Belgians served in the R.A.F. The Belgian Squadrons flew Spitfires
operationally with the RAF. No. 350 Squadron claimed some 51 kills during its
existence.
Forgotten Allies Vol.
1, J. Lee Ready, Jefferson: McFarland and Co., 1985.
Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces 1939-45, Nigel Thomas, London: Osprey, 1998.
No comments:
Post a Comment