No. 173 Squadron RAF

Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

No. 173 Squadron RAF
Active	9 July 1942 – 29 February 1944 1 February 1953 – 2 Sept 1957
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto(s)	Latin: Quocumque ("Whithersoever")
Insignia
Squadron Badge	A sword grasped by an eagles claw and a gauntlet
Squadron codes	TV (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939)

Military unit

No. 173 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a communications unit in World War II.

History

Formation in World War II

The squadron formed on 9 July 1942 at Heliopolis, Egypt and equipped with the Hawker Audax and it went on to operate many other types of aircraft. It was renamed the 'Middle East Communications Squadron' on 29 February 1944.

Postwar

The squadron reformed as a ferry unit on 1 February 1953 and was finally disbanded on 2 September 1957.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 173 Squadron RAF^[1]
From	To	Aircraft	Variant
Jun 1942	Feb 1943	Hawker Audax	I
Jul 1942	Jul 1943	Westland Lysander	II
Jul 1942	Aug 1943	Hawker Hart	II
Jul 1942	Sep 1943	Hawker Hurricane	I
Jul 1942	Sep 1943	Bristol Blenheim	IV
Jul 1942	Sep 1943	Airspeed Oxford	III
Jul 1942	Oct 1943	de Havilland Moth Major
Jul 1942	Oct 1943	Percival Gull	Six
Jul 1942	Oct 1943	Miles Magister	I
Jul 1942	Jan 1944	Douglas Boston	III
Jul 1942	Jan 1944	Lockheed Electra
Jul 1942	Feb 1944	Percival Proctor	I
Jul 1942	Feb 1944	Lockheed Lodestar
Jul 1942	Feb 1944	Fairchild Argus	I
Aug 1942	Oct 1942	de Havilland Dragon Rapide
Dec 1942	Apr 1943	Savoia-Marchetti SM.79	I
Feb 1943	Feb 1943	Stinson Reliant
Feb 1943	Feb 1943	Junkers Ju 52	3m
Feb 1943	Sep 1943	Short Scion Senior
Mar 1943	Apr 1943	Hawker Hardy	I
Apr 1943	Sep 1943	Bristol Beaufighter	IF
Sep 1943	Feb 1944	Avro Anson	I
Feb 1953	Sep 1957	Avro Anson	C.19
Feb 1955	Sep 1957	Vickers Varsity	T.1

References

^ C.G.Jefford (1988). RAF Squadrons. UK Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

Thomas, Andrew (3–16 October 1986). "Western Desert Air Taxis: No.173 Squadron, Royal Air Force". Aviation News. Vol. 15, no. 10. pp. 485–487.

External links

History of No.'s 171–175 Squadrons at RAF Web
173 Squadron history on the official RAF website

Royal Air Force flying squadrons

Currently active

Inactive

Australian Flying Corps units
attached to the RAF
during the First World War

67 (1 Sqn AFC)
68 (2 Sqn AFC)
69 (3 Sqn AFC)
71 (4 Sqn AFC)

Article XV (Commonwealth) air force units attached to the RAF during the Second World War

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)	400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)	450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)	485 486 487 488 489 490

Squadrons formed from
non-Commonwealth personnel
during the Second World War

Argentine	164
Belgian	349 350
Czechoslovak	310 311 312 313
Dutch	320 (Netherlands) 321 (Netherlands) 322 (Dutch)
French	326 327 328 329 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347

Greek	13 335 336
Norwegian	330 331 332 333 334
Polish	300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 315 316 317 318 663
United States	71 121 133
Yugoslav	351 352

Royal Auxiliary Air Force

Special Reserve	500 501 502 503 504
Auxiliary Air Force	600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 622

Fleet Air Arm of the RAF
(1924–1939)

Royal Air Force

Ministry of Defence

formations
and units

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Regiment	Wings Squadrons Flights