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No. 518 Squadron RAF was a meteorological squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The weather observations they collected helped inform Group Captain James Martin Stagg's recommendation to General Dwight D. Eisenhower to delay the launching of the D-Day invasion of Normandy from 5 June to 6 June 1944.[6]

No. 518 Squadron RAF
RAF squadron 518 in Tiree.
Active	6 July 1943 – 1 October 1946[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	meteorological
Part of	No. 15 Group RAF, Coastal Command[2]
Motto(s)	Gaelic: Tha An Iuchair Againn-Ne (Translation: "We hold the key")[3]
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	A hand couped at the wrist holding a key, the ward uppermost[3]
Squadron Codes	Y3 (Jun 1944 – Oct 1946)[4][5]

History

No. 518 Squadron formed on 6 July 1943 from at RAF Stornoway, Scotland and was equipped with the Handley Page Halifax. After moving to RAF Tiree on 25 September 1943, and absorbing 1402 Flight,[1][7] it became operational with daily flights out into the North Atlantic to collect meteorological data. It also kept observations for U-boat activity.[8][6]

In the run-up to D-Day in the late spring of 1944, the squadron, operating modified Halifax bombers from Tiree in the inner Hebrides, often under dangerous conditions, collected weather observations from hundreds of miles into the Atlantic; these reports were used by Group Captain James Martin Stagg in his recommendation to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower that the D-Day invasion of Normandy be postponed from 5 to 6 June 1944.[6]

After the end of the Second World War the squadron moved to RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland where it absorbed No. 1402 (Meteorological) Flight RAF who had been operating Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes. With these added to the squadron, the main equipment was changed from the Handley Page Halifax Mk.V to the Mk.VI. No. 518 squadron was the last of the wartime meteorological squadrons when it was re-numbered to 202 Squadron on 1 October 1946.[1][3][8]

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 518 Squadron RAF, data from[1][3][8]

From	To	Aircraft	Version
July 1943	June 1945	Handley Page Halifax	Mk.V
March 1945	October 1946	Handley Page Halifax	Mk.III
September 1945	October 1946	Supermarine Spitfire	Mks.VII & IX
September 1945	October 1946	Hawker Hurricane	Mk.IIc
March 1946	October 1946	Handley Page Halifax	Mk.VI

Squadron bases

Bases and airfields used by no. 518 Squadron RAF, data from[1][3][8]

From	To	Base	Remark
9 July 1943	25 September 1943	RAF Stornoway, Western Isles, Scotland
25 September 1943	18 September 1945	RAF Tiree, Hebrides, Scotland	Spitfire detachment at RAF Tain, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland
18 September 1945	1 October 1946	RAF Aldergrove, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

See also

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Squadron histories for nos. 500–520 sqn
• 518's role in the D-Day landings

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