Awarded: February 1938
Blazon: A Swift volant Azure.
Link: The swift is symbolic of speed.
Motto: Swift
History: Formed Upavon 2 July 1917
Commissioned by Mr Philip Needham in Memory of his cousin, Sgt Pilot Leonard Stock, to whom the 72 Squadron window in St George’s Chapel, Biggin Hill is dedicated.
Battle Honours: 1. Mesopotamia 1918. 2. Dunkirk. 3. Battle of Britain 1940. 4. Fortress Europe 1941-42. 5. North Africa 1942-43. 6. Sicily 1943. 7. Salerno. 8. Anzio & Nettuno. 9. Channel & North Sea 1939-42. 10. Mediterranean 1942-43. 11. Italy 1943-45.
Further Reading …
Swift to Battle, 72 Squadron; vol 1: 1937-1942
Tom Docherty
Pen and Sword, 2009
Hardback 256pp