No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976. The squadron's motto is N Wagter in die Lug , and the badge is a springbok's head couped.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Squadron had been equipped with Westland Lysanders and in October 1939 it was moved to France. When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940, No. 26 was forced to move to Lympne where it flew reconnaissance, bombing and supply missions over northern France. Coastal patrols began in June and training with the army occupied most of the Squadron's time for the next few years. In February 1941 Curtiss Tomahawks began to arrive to replace the Lysanders for tactical reconnaissance missions. In October 1941 the Tomahawks began to fly low-level ground attack sorties over northern France but they lacked the performance required for operations of this nature, so in January 1942 they were replaced by North American Mustangs. The tactical reconnaissance and day intruder missions continued until July 1943, when the Squadron moved to Yorkshire and then in March 1944 to Scotland. In preparation for the Normandy landings, No. 26 trained in spotting naval guns, a task it carried out on and after D-Day. For this role the Squadron was equipped with Supermarine Spitfires although they reverted to Mustangs in December 1944 for reconnaissance missions over the Netherlands. In April 1945 the Squadron spent two weeks spotting for French warships bombarding pockets of German resistance before being transferred to Germany in August. No. 26 remained here until 1 April 1946 when it was disbanded.
Post war
On the same day, No. 41 Squadron was renumbered as No. 26 Squadron at Wunstorf and flew Spitfires and Hawker Tempests until April 1949, when it was re-equipped with de Havilland Vampires. In November 1953, now at RAF Oldenburg, No. 26 was converted to Sabres, converting again to Hunters in July 1955, and remained a day-fighter unit until it was disbanded on 10 September 1957. It was reformed with Hawker Hunters at RAF Gutersloh on 7 June 1958 but was disbanded again on 30 December 1960. Reformed again at RAF Odiham on 1 June 1962, No. 26 became a helicopter Squadron flying Bristol Belvederes. An advance party was moved to Aden in March 1963 and the remainder to RAF Kuching, Borneo in November 1963 for a one-year unaccompanied tour. The aircraft remaining in RAF Khormaksar in 1965 went to Singapore on 30 November 1965 where they were merged with No. 66 Squadron RAF, the ground crewgoing to No. 74 Squadron. On 3 February 1969 the Northern Communications Squadron at RAF Wyton was re-designated No. 26 Squadron until it was disbanded on 1 April 1976.
