The squadron was formed as No. 654 Air Observation Post Squadron, RAF on 15 July 1942 at RAF Old Sarum, Wiltshire, under the command of Major T C Willett, Royal Artillery. It was initially equipped with Tiger Moths that were replaced by Auster Mk3s. 654 Squadron sailed to North Africa on 20 November 1942, in support ofthe First Army. In July 1943, it moved to Sicily with the Eighth Army and then on to mainland Italy.
By May 1944 the Squadron was working with 654 (AOP) Sqn in support of the 2nd Polish Corps during their capture of Monte Cassino. When the Polish 2nd Corps moved to the Monte Cassino sector, General Anders asked the British for aircraft to assist with the direction of artillery fire by Polish artillery officers. A Polish AOP squadron (663) was formed and, until operational, 651 and 654 AOP Squadron flights were at the disposal of the Corps' command. 651 and 654 squadrons assisted during the Battle of Monte Cassino and also in the Adriatic campaign. In recognition of this, General Anders gave them the right to bear the Polish Corps' ensign: the Warsaw Siren/Sirena/Syrenka (Maid of Warsaw) on a red shield. 654 squadron remained in north-west Italy, following the war, based at Ronchi and finally at Campoformido, near Udine - where it was disbanded on 24 June 1947. The flights, whose aircraft had by then been replaced by Auster Mk4s, were re-allocated to join 651 Squadron, which was based in Palestine at the time.
654 Light Aircraft Squadron reformed at Hildesheim on 10 August 1958 from 4, 5 and later 17 Recce Flights, flying Skeeters. Although it supported the 2nd and 4th Divisions, it was administered by 1st Division until at least 1964.
It reformed again on 1 Oct 1969 at Herford as part of the centralisation strategy from 24 Flight and the Air Troops of 26 Engineer Regt and 14/20 Kings Hussars. By 1 October 1969, the Squadron was based at Herford as a result of yet further reorganisation and operated Sioux and Scout Helicopters. It supported 4th Division through 4 Regiment Army Air Corps - which also had its Headquarters at Herford at the time.
The other Squadrons in the Regiment were 661 Sqn at Detmold and 662 Sqn at Munster. On 1 December 1977, another restructuring took place, this time as as part of the 'Wide Horizon Scheme'. 654 swapped a flight with co-located 660 Squadron to become an entirely Scout unit and came under 4 Reg control on 6 Dec 1977. 654 Sqn then moved to Soest and was renamed 653 Sqn (on 1 Apr 1978?) while 661 Sqn at Detmold was renamed 654 Sqn. The Squadron was co-located with the HQ of 4 Reg at Detmold, supporting 4 Div, with six Scout and Gazelle aircraft organised into two flights. 664, The other squadron in the regiment, was based in Minden and equipped with Gazelle aircraft.
In 1983, BAOR lost one Division but formed three larger Armoured Divisions.
For the first time 4 Reg was together in one location: Detmold.
On 16 November 1990 the squadron was warned for deployment to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation 'Desert Shield'. By 2 January 1991 the squadron was complete in Al Jubail and training for war against Iraq as part of the coalition forces. On 24 February 1991 the squadron moved into Iraq in support of Operation 'Desert Sabre' and on 26 February 1991 it engaged and destroyed seven armoured vehicles of the Iraqi 12th Armoured Division. The war only lasted around 1,000 hours and the squadron returned to Detmold on 22 March 1991 without loss.
Over the winter of 1994/1995 the squadron moved to Wattisham, the new post-cold-war base of 4 Reg.
On 15 December 1996 the Squadron deployed to Bosnia Herzegovina, in support of the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and the Multi National Division South West (MND SW) on Operation 'Lodestar'. The squadron's role consisted mainly of command and liaison, reconnaissance, monitoring the 'Former Warring Factions' movements & equipment, re-supply of hilltop sites, movement of troops and equipment and the support of special operations. The squadron returned to Wattisham on 17 June 1997 without loss.
654 Squadron disbanded on 10 Jul 2014, at Wattisham, reducing 4 Reg to 2 squadrons as part of the 'Army 2020' strategy
*Wikipedia article ratings, in order of quality: Stub, Start, C, B, GA