About This Unit
No. 601 'County of London' Squadron (RAF)
No. 601 Squadron RAF is included on the VWMA site as one of the many RAF Squadrons to which Australian aircrew were assigned and in which they served, lived and often died in the prosecution of their duty.
601 (County of London) Squadron had been formed at RAF Northolt on 14th October 1925 when a group of wealthy young men, all of whom were amateur aviators, decided to form themselves into a Reserve Squadron of the RAF they became known as the ‘Millionaire’s Squadron’ because their first commanding officer Lord Edward Grosvenor, decided that he would only recruit members of White’s Club in London. Not only did most of the pilots own their own private aircraft but they also drove expensive fast cars. They showed little regard for the rigid discipline of the regular service, this obviously changed over the following years. The Squadron became a day fighter unit in 1940 and operated both the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire. Aircrew attrition and transfers to other units during the early part of WW2 took its toll on the pre-war personnel, replacements were drawn in from all walks of life and all parts of the Commonwealth and the Squadron became as cosmopolitan as any squadron in the RAF.There was no squadron quite like No. 601 Squadron at the beginning of the Battle of Britain. The squadron was wholly ordinary in some aspects – stationed at RAF Northolt and flying Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires during the battle – but extraordinary in others.
While the squadron might have flouted some rules, breaking regulation with their bright red socks and lining their jackets with red silk, they were still an effective fighting unit that saw action in the earliest days of the Second World War.
Mobilised just days before Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the squadron was soon taking its first losses in skirmishes to protect shipping lanes in the English Channel.
It later took heavy losses in the Battle of Britain as it defended London from airfields in Essex.
Two of its more famous pilots were William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse and American William 'Billy' Fiske III.
William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse was the son of First World War pilot William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse.
The father flew in the Royal Flying Corps and was the first airman to receive the Victoria Cross, awarded posthumously in 1915 after a bombing mission in Ypres.
William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse, born in 1914, inherited his father's passion for flying and qualified for his pilot's license aged just 17, while still a student at Eton. He shot down nine enemy aircraft, qualifying as an ace, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross at Buckingham Palace on the 3 September 1940. He was killed in a dogfight just three days later.
Billy Fiske was raised in Chicago, before leaving for schooling in France and attending Cambridge in 1928. He discovered the sport of bobsleigh while in France and won an Olympic gold medal in 1928, aged just 16, and again in 1932. His record as the youngest winter gold medallist held until 1992.
Fiske worked in both London and New York in the pre-war years, but returned to Britain at the end of August 1939 to join the RAF.
He wrote in his journal, "I believe I can lay claim to being the first U.S. citizen to join the RAF in England after the outbreak of hostilities."
After completing his training, Fiske was assigned to No. 601 Squadron. On 20 August 1940, his squadron scrambled and shot down eight enemy aircraft. Fifteen minutes into the battle, Fiske's aircraft was struck by German fire and he crash landed at RAF Tangmere. He died two days later after suffering burns. Fiske was one of 11 American pilots in Fighter Command and the second to die in battle.
The inscription on his gravestone reads, "He died for England", and a plaque in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral states, "An American citizen who died that England might live".
The spring of 1942 saw the Squadron on its way to Egypt via RAF Luqa Malta where they spent two months. With postings to several bases in Egypt they eventually arrived in Libya in November 1942. They were again moved around as operational needs required but in February 1943, they found themselves at Hazbub Main in Tunisia. Between the 15th June and the 13th July 1943, they were back in RAF Luqa, Malta. It was from here that 601 Squadron flew in support of Operation Huskey moving into their new base at Pachino Sicily on 13th July 1943 before a 7 day stay at Cassibili then onto Lentini until 5th October.
On 10th May 1946, the Squadron was reformed as a fighter squadron within the Royal Auxiliary Air Force based at RAF Hendon until 28th March 1949 when they were sent to RAF North Weald. During this period, they were initially equipped with Spitfires followed by the jet powered De Havilland Vampire prior to upgrading to the twin-jet powered Gloster Meteor. The squadron disbanded along with all other Royal Auxiliary Air Force units during the defence cuts of early 1957.