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No.544 Sqn RAF
Founded : 19th October 1942
Country : UK
Fate : Disbanded 13th October 1945
Quaero - I seek
No.544 Sqn RAF
| Aircraft for : No.544 Sqn RAF | |||
| A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.544 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : De Havilland Production Began : 1940 Retired : 1955 Number Built : 7781 | Mosquito Used as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at 17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four .303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly. The Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23 squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquitos, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built. | ||
| Signatures for : No.544 Sqn RAF | |||
| A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | |||
| Name | Info | ||
 Wing Commander Edward (Tim) Fairhurst DFC Click the name above to see prints signed by Wing Commander Edward (Tim) Fairhurst DFC
| Wing Commander Edward (Tim) Fairhurst DFC Wing Commander Edward (Tim) Fairhurst DFC was born on April 14th 1918 at Mirfield in Yorkshire and educated at Shrewsbury School. He joined the Territorial Army in 1936 and was commissioned into the 7th West Yorkshire Regiment. With little activity after the outbreak of war, he responded to a request for Army officers to transfer to the RAF to train as pilots. He completed his flying training in November 1940 when he was posted to No 4 Squadron, flying the Lysander. In October 1941 he was posted to D Flight No1 PRU (Spitfires), which later became No 541 Squadron. In September 1942 he flew to Russia as OC PRU detachment and operated there with red star markings in place of RAF roundels. He was promoted to Sqd Ldr, converted to Mosquitoes and posted across the airfield as OC A Flight 544 Sqdn. Fairhurst went to America to brief the USAAF on photographic operations before returning to the UK. In September 1944 he was posted back to 541 Sqn (Spitfires) as CO and remained there until the end of the war. By the end of the war he had flown 88 long-range photographic sorties. He was twice mentioned in despatches, was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre avec Palme and received the Territorial Decoration. After two years as a civilian, Wing Commander Edward (Tim) Fairhurst rejoined the RAF in May 1947 and flew Spitfires in Malaya before going to Hong Kong. Following a period selecting men for officer and aircrew training, he spent the final two years of his service as the permanent president of a court martial standing board. He retired in 1965, when he became a civil servant and worked for the MoD as a positive vetting officer. In old age he was invited to the Russian embassy to be presented with the Arctic Star. Tim Fairhurst died on April 25th 2009 aged 91. | ||
Wing Commander Geoffrey Goodman Click the name above to see prints signed by Wing Commander Geoffrey Goodman | Wing Commander Geoffrey Goodman Initially serving with 89 Sqn, he completed a full tour of Operations as a Pilot on Wellingtons. Having converted to Mosquitos he then completed another one-and-a-half tours, amassing over 500 hours of flying over enemy territory, with 544 and 541 Squadrons of the Photo Reconnaissance Unit. | ||
Flight Officer Eric Hill DFC DFM Click the name above to see prints signed by Flight Officer Eric Hill DFC DFM | Flight Officer Eric Hill DFC DFM Flight Officer Eric Hill DFC DFM joined the RAF in 1941 and crewed up with F/Lt F L Dodd AFC in January 1944. He joined 544 Mosquito PRU Squadron (detached from RAF Benson to Leuchars) in March 1944. They did all their 53 operational flights together, including flying diplomatic mail to Churchill at the Big Three Conferences in Moscow, Athens and Yalta. They photographed the battleship Tirpitz at anchor in Alten Fjord (north Norway) in July 1944 having lost their cockpit hood cover moments before. In other sorties, they survived a half-hour chase by two ME262 jets over Magdeburg and a ME109 attack while on one engine over the same city. Frank Dodd stayed in the service as a pilot after the war, finally retiring as Air Vice Marshal, CBE DSO DFC AFC*** AE LRPS. | ||
Flight Lieutenant Tom Pratt DFC Click the name above to see prints signed by Flight Lieutenant Tom Pratt DFC | Flight Lieutenant Tom Pratt DFC Flight Lieutenant Tom Pratt DFC joined the RAF in 1940 and after initial training in Paignton, Duxford and Hidlington he was posted to West Freugh. He left there in 1943 and went to Squires Gate for navigational training, and then to Dyce for conversion to Mosquitoes. He was posted to 544 Sqdn. at Benson and stayed until the war was over. Tom says, “ I flew 68 sorties and was fortunate to be chosen to fly to Moscow, when Churchill attended the Yalta Conference, and had an extremely pleasant few days being entertained by the Russians!” Tom finally left the RAF in 1946. | ||
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