An upright grey clockwork mouse with white wings and red eyes holding white bats, the winding key blue, to represent the squadron's DLCO activities. Wartime unofficial[2]
Identification Markings
individual letters (1939-1943) M2A+ & individual letters (all types from March 1943) B2A+ & individual letters (all types from January 1944) E2A+ (October 1944) B2A+ (Seafire from December 1948) 213-214 (Firefly from December 1948)[3][2]
A Sea Hurricane of 768 NAS approaching HMS Argus during 1942
768 Naval Air Squadron (768 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It last disbanded at HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland, in March 1949, having been formed as a Deck Landing Control Officer Training Squadron, in December 1948, to ensure one American-style signal trained DLCO could be located at every FAA station. It first formed as part of the Deck Landing Training School at HMS Condor, RNAS Arbroath, in January 1941, as a Deck Landing Training Squadron. Advanced training was in HMS Argus, for which a detachment was maintained at HMS Landrail, RNAS Machrihanish, where it wholly moved to in March 1943. September saw a move to RAF Heathfield, Ayr, followed by a further move to HMS Sanderling, RNAS Abbotsinch in January 1944. Training used escort carriers on the Firth of Clyde and a detachment was maintained at (Heathfield)Ayr throughout this period, with the squadron returning there in July 1945, at this time HMS Wagtail, RNAS Ayr. In August the squadron moved to HMS Corncrake, RNAS Ballyhalbert in Northern Ireland but then in October it joined up with the Deck Landing School at HMS Peewit, RNAS East Haven, Scotland, where it disbanded in April 1946.
A Grumman Hellcat landing on HMS Ravager as the batsman makes the all-clear signal
HMS Argus was joined by the Attacker-classescort carrier, HMS Ravager, by July 1943, giving the DLT school a second deck in the Firth of Clyde and Irish Sea training areas. Other escort carriers also provided decks for the expanding deck landing training programme, during the Second World War.[2] The squadron left RNAS Machrihanish on 29 September and relocated to RAF Heathfield, Ayr, where it received Gumman Hellcat, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft.[3] This was followed shortly later by a move to RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling), Paisley, Renfrewshire,[6] where it received Grumman Avenger, an American torpedo bomber, Vought Corsair, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft and later Fairey Firefly, a British carrier-based fighter and anti-submarine aircraft.[3] The squadron also kept a detachment at RAF Heathfield, used as a forward airfield to be near the aircraft carrier training areas.
The squadron saw more moves during 1945, first back to Heathfield, now a Naval Air Station, RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail), on 5 July 1945,[3] then across the Irish Sea to RNAS Ballyhalbert (HMS Corncrake), County Down, Northern Ireland, on 28 August,[7] and finally, across to the east coast of Scotland, moving to RNAS East Haven (HMS Peewit), Angus, Scotland, to join up with the Deck Landing School, on 25 October,[8] where it absorbed part of 731 Naval Air Squadron in the November. 768 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS East Haven on 16 April 1946.[2]
Deck Landing Control Officer Training Squadron (1948 - 1949)
The squadron was required to train a number of Deck Landing Control Officers (DLCO) to the new American-style standard, needed so that one DLCO could be located at every FAA station. There was a significant number of FAA pilots who had been trained on the old British style of deck control signals and therefore needed training in the new signals to ensure they were eligible for RN aircraft carrier operations. 768 Naval Air Squadron graduated fifteen DLCOs before it disbanded at RNAS Eglinton on 8 March 1949.[2]
Aircraft operated
The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions:[2]
Ballance, Theo; Howard, Lee; Sturtivant, Ray (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN978-0-85130-489-2.
Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN0-85130-223-8.
Thetford, Owen (1991). British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London, UK: Putnam Aeronautical Books, an imprint of Conway Maritime Press Ltd. ISBN0-85177-849-6.