More than eight decades after World War II ended, the Royal Air Force still operates a unit flying vintage combat aircraft from that conflict as an official part of its active structure. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, founded in July 1957, is not a museum display or a civilian heritage operation. It remains a fully integrated RAF unit with a commanding officer, pilots, and ground crew serving as regular members of Britain’s air force. Based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, alongside the RAF’s modern fast jet squadrons, the flight operates 11 aircraft, nine of which date from World War II.
It takes part in commemorations, state events, and air shows throughout the year and falls under No. 1 Group Air Combat, commanded by a squadron leader. The flight’s motto is “Lest We Forget,” and the Prince of Wales, himself an experienced helicopter pilot, serves as its patron. The current fleet includes five Spitfires, two Hawker Hurricanes, one Avro Lancaster bomber, a Douglas Dakota C-47, and two postwar De Havilland Canada Chipmunks used for training aircrew.
Among the Spitfires is Mark IIa P7350, the oldest in the flight. It flew during the 1940 Battle of Britain with No. 266 Rhodesia Squadron and has been part of the flight since 1968. It remains airworthy today.
Mark Vb AB910 dates from 1941 and flew attack missions against the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Atlantic. It also served with No. 133 Eagle Squadron, formed from American volunteer pilots, and took part in the disastrous Dieppe Raid of 1942. On D-Day, it flew cover over the Normandy beaches with No.
402 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, and continued operations through the subsequent Battle of Normandy. This Spitfire joined the flight in 1965. The flight also operates two PR Mk XIX Spitfires, both built in 1945 and designed for high-altitude photo reconnaissance. PM631 was not completed until just after VJ Day and was used for government research before joining the flight in 1957.
The other, PS915, served postwar in West Germany conducting reconnaissance missions near the Iron Curtain. After decades as a gate guardian, it was returned to flight by British Aerospace in 1987 and joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. A clipped-wing Spitfire Mk XVI, TE311, was purchased in 2002 to serve as a source of spare parts for the other Spitfires. In 2012, however, the decision was made to restore it to airworthy condition.
Two Hawker Hurricanes remain in RAF service in 2025. The Mk IIc LF363, built in late 1944, has appeared in films including “Angels One Five,” “Reach for the Sky,” and “The Battle of Britain. ” The other, Mk IIc PZ865, also built in 1944, was the last Hurricane ever constructed. The flight’s Avro Lancaster, PA474, known as the City of Lincoln, is one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world, the other being in Canada.
A few years ago, the Canadian aircraft flew to the UK, giving spectators the rare sight of two airworthy Lancasters flying together. Built in May 1945, PA474 was originally intended to take part in the strategic bombing of Japan in support of the planned Allied invasion, as part of Tiger Force. Japan surrendered before that campaign began. A third Lancaster, NX611, nicknamed Just Jane, is based at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.
Built in April 1945, the aircraft has been restored to ground taxiing condition, with an ongoing effort to return it to full flight status and make it the third airworthy Lancaster in the world. The Douglas Dakota ZA947, built at Long Beach, California in 1942, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force until 1971. Purchased by the British government, it was transferred to the flight in 1993 for use as a support aircraft for commemorative parachute drops and as a multi-engine tailwheel trainer for Lancaster crews. It now displays in its own right.
To train pilots on single-engine tailwheel fighters like the Spitfire and Hurricane, the flight acquired two De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks, WG486 and WK518. The latter was based at RAF Gatow in West Berlin during the Cold War, flying reconnaissance missions as part of BRIXMIS, the British Commander-in-Chief’s Mission to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The RAF’s ability to keep this fleet of elderly aircraft flying, staffed entirely by serving personnel, remains remarkable so long after the war’s end.
Australia and New Zealand have in recent years reformed their own historical flights associated with their air forces, though these operate in partnership between museums and air force reserve organizations and are based on air force stations.