661 Sqn

No. 661 Squadron was formed at RAF Old Sarum on 31 August 1943 with the Auster III and in March 1994 the Auster IV. The squadron role was to support the Canadian 1st Army and in August 1944 it moved to France. Fighting in the break-out from Normandy it followed the Canadians across the low countries and into Germany. The squadron disbanded at Ghent, Belgium on 31 October 1945.

After the war the Air Observation Squadrons were reformed and No. 661 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force was as such formed at RAF Kenley on 1 May 1949, consisting of five flights - numbers: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961 (Reserve) AOP Flights-, to provide support to the Army in the south London and Surrey area until it was disbanded on 10 March 1957 at RAF Henlow.

In August 1968, '1 Interim Squadron AAC' was formed from 1 Flight plus the Air Troops of the 17th/21st Lancers, the Queen's Dragoon Guards and the 3rd Royal Houseshold Artillery. This squadron was renamed '661 Aviation Squadron AAC' at the end of 1969 and was based in Detmold, operating Sioux and Scout. It was renamed to '661 Squadron AAC' at the same times as '4 Division Aviation Regiment' was renamed '4 Regiment AAC' (Jan 1973).

After the 'Wide Horizon Study', as from April 1978:

• This 661 Squadron (at Detmold) was retitled as 654 Squadron
• 657 Squadron (at Hildesheim) was retitled as 661 Squadron

Just another example of an AAC unit moving locations without the inconvenience of having to move any staff or equipment.

The Sioux had been replaced by the Gazelle and the Scout by the Lynx when, in 1993, the squadron moved to Gutersloh following the 'Cold-War'. 661 Squadron deployed three times on Operation TELIC (Iraq) from April 2005 to May 2009

The squadron moved to RNAS Yeovilton in 2014 and is scheduled to merge with 9 Reg (currently at Dishforth) by late 2015. This will bring the Wildcat force under a single HQ at Yeovilton.

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Sources

• "661 Squadron" by British Army units, (accessed: 23 Dec 2014)
• "661 Squadron Army Air Corps" by UK MoD/Army, (accessed: 23 Dec 2014)
• "No. 661 Squadron RAF" by Wikipedia{C-class*} (29 Jun 2013 ; accessed: 23 Dec 2014)

*Wikipedia article ratings, in order of quality: Stub, Start, C-class, B-class, Good Article