No 601 Squadron was formed on the 14th of October
1925.
A Royal Auxillary Air Force Squadron, this was the so-called
"millionaires squadron" of the RAF. Among its members was The Honourable
Max Aitken, son of Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister for Aircraft Production,
who was also the Squadron C/O until posted away on July the 20th 1940,
and Whitney Straight, who was medically unfit (due to injuries he suffered
in the Norwegian campaign) until late September but who became Managing
Director of B.O.A.C. after the war.
No 601 Squadron flew Hurricane's
from Tangmere until moving to Debden for two weeks on 19 August 1940. They
returned to Tangmere on the 2nd of September before moving to the relative
quiet of Exeter in 10 Group on the 7th of September 1940. |
