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No.542 Sqn RAF Founded : 19th October 1942 Country : UK Fate : Disbanded 1st October 1958 Known Aircraft Codes : L Above all No.542 Squadron was formed on 19 October 1942 at Benson from A and E Flights of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit. Using nearby Mount Farm as its operational base for a time, the squadron used Spitfires for photographic reconnaissance missions over Europe until the end of the war.The squadron’s first role was to photograph the French coast between Cherbourg and Calais. From May 1943 the squadron split its time between this role and supporting Bomber Command, photographing their targets before and after raids. In December 1944 the squadron began to work alongside GEE-equipped Mosquitos. The Mosquito would be used to guide the PR Spitfires to targets that were obscured by clouds, and the Spitfires would then try and find a gap in the weather to take their pictures. On 27 August 1945 The squadron was disbanded On 17 May 1954, No.542 reformed at Wyton with photographic reconnaissance Canberras, but disbanded again on 1 October 1955. On 1 November 1955, it reformed from No.1323 Flight at Wyton, moving in the following month to Weston Zoyland to prepare for its detachment to Australia to carry out survey and sampling flights during the nuclear bomb tests in 1956-57. In April 1957 it returned to the UK and was renumbered No.21 Squadron on 1 October 1958.

No.542 Sqn RAF

No.542 Sqn RAF Artwork Collection Click the images below to view the fantastic artwork we have available to purchase!

Mission Accomplished by Philip West.

Aircraft for : No.542 Sqn RAF
A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.542 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Squadron	Info
Spitfire Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft. Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351	Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

Signatures for : No.542 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
Air Marshall Sir Alfred (Freddy) Ball, KCB DSO DFC Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Air Marshall Sir Alfred (Freddy) Ball, KCB DSO DFC	Air Marshall Sir Alfred (Freddy) Ball, KCB DSO DFC Air Marshall Sir Alfred (Freddy) Ball, KCB DSO DFC attended RAF College, Cranwell in 1939 and joined 13 Squadron in France in March 1940 on Lysanders (Army Co-operation). He joined No 1 PRU Benson early in 1941 on Spitfires. He commanded 4 PRU (later 682 Sqdn) as Squadron Leader in October 1942 and flew out to North Africa for Operation Torch, the Allied landings, flying Spitfires. He was posted to the UK as CF1, 8PR, OTU Dyce, Aberdeen in September 1943 and took over 542 Sqdn Benson in March 1944 (PR Spitfire Mk XIs and Mk XIXs). In September he was promoted to Wing Commander and given command of No 540 Squadron flying Mosquito 16s and 32s. The Squadron moved to France early in 1945 to support the Allied armies. In December, Freddy was posted to Egypt to take command of No 680 PR Sqdn (later to become 13 Sqdn), flying Mosquitoes and Spitfires. He was posted to Staff AHQ East Africa in 1946 and retired from the RAF in April 1979. Alfred Ball at a print signing session
Flt/Lt Julian Lowe DFC Click the name above to see prints signed by Flt/Lt Julian Lowe DFC	Flt/Lt Julian Lowe DFC Flt/Lt Julian Lowe DFC joined the RAF in 1941 having escaped from a reserved occupation, and, after I.T., he was sent to Southern Rhodesia to fly on Tiger Moths and Harvards. From there he went to 74 OTU in Palestine flying Hurricanes. He was posted to 2 PRU (later 680 Squadron) in Cairo and completed 86 ops over North Africa, Greece and the Aegian. He was awarded the DFC in March 1944 and returned to the UK to join 542 Squadron at Benson in October 1944, where he did a further 30 ops over germany before the war in Europe ended. After a short period in the RAFVR, he joined No 6 Air Experience Flight and flew Chipmunks for 26 years logging some 2000 hours on that aircraft.
F/Lt Ray Raby Click the name above to see prints signed by F/Lt Ray Raby	F/Lt Ray Raby F/Lt Ray Raby jojned the RAFVR in 1940. His flying training began in the USA, where he was retained as an instructor with both USAF and RAF wings. He qualified on his return for an Air Navigators Certificate. He was posted to 519 Squadron, Wick, on Spitfires prior to joining 542 Squadron, Benson PRU with Jerry Fray as Flight Commander. In 1943, he was posted to Benson and survived 58 operational sorties until he was demobbed in 1946. In 1947 he joined 605 (County of Warwick) Wsquadron, Raux AF, Honiley on Vampire and Meteor jet aircraft as flight commander until disbandment in 1957. His total hours flown are 3265.