No. 659 Squadron was formed at RAF Firbeck on 30 April 1943[1] with the Auster III and from March 1944 the Auster IV. The squadron role was to support the Army and in June 1944 it moved to France. Fighting in the break-out from Normandy it followed the army across the low countries and into Germany. In October 1945 the squadron left for India, where it was eventually disbanded at Lahore on 14 August 1947.[5]
A postwar Auster Mk.V, restored in wartime colours.
Army Air Corps
On 1 November 1971 the squadron was reformed while in Germany.[6]
^"Wildcat helicopter works alongside Apache". British Army. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
^Halley 1988, pp. 444–451.
^Jefford 2001, pp. 102–104.
^ a bJefford 2001, p. 104.
^Farrar-Hockley 1994, p. 239.
Bibliography
Farrar-Hockley, A (1994). The Army In The Air. UK: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-0617-0.
Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
Jefford, C.G. (2001). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912 (2nd ed.). Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
Further reading
"659 Squadron Army Air Corps". British Army. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013.
"History of 659 Squadron". British Army. Archived from the original on 8 November 2008.
