Short History of No. 93 Squadron.
Motto: Ad arma parati - 'Ready for battle'
Badge: An escarbuncle.
No. 93 Squadron was formed at Croydon on 1 September 1917 as a fighter unit but did not become operational
and was disbanded on 17 August 1918. On 14 October the Squadron was reformed at Port Meadow with Dolphins
but with the end of the war was disbanded again on 21 November 1918.
On 7 December 1940, No. 93 was reformed again at Middle Wallop from No. 420 Flight. The Squadron was equipped
with Harrows modified to carry 'Pandora' aerial mines and some operational use was made of this weapon against enemy
night bombers. Havocs started to arrive almost immediately, although Wellingtons did replace the
remaining Harrows until the Squadron was fully equipped with Havocs by June 1941. However, the aerial
mines proved to be of little value and with the arrival of radar-equipped night-fighters the experiment was abandoned
and the Squadron was disbanded on 6 December 1941. On 1 June 1942 No. 93 was reformed at Andreas with
Spitfires for convoy patrols over the Irish Sea. In September it became non-operational and moved to
Gibraltar, moving on to Algeria in November, its Spitfires providing fighter cover for the 1st Army in Algeria and
Tunisia. The Squadron was then moved to Malta to help cover the landings in Sicily and Italy, flying fighter patrols
until July 1944, when No. 93 moved to Corsica. The Squadron again provided fighter cover, this time for the
Allied landings in southern France, moving to the liberated area to cover the forces pushing north. In September 1944,
the Squadron moved back to Malta to take up fighter-bomber duties for the rest of the war, the Squadron being disbanded
on 5 September 1945.
No. 93 was reformed at Celle in Germany with Vampire fighter-bombers. In April 1954 it converted to Sabres
which were replaced by Hunters in January 1956. These were flown until the Squadron disbanded on 31 December 1960.
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