The Aviation Magazine No 57 Special Edition 2018 Volume 9 Issue 4 | Page 22

In 1924, the 1ère Escadrille was renamed 2ème Escadrille of the IVème Group (2/
IV). Then in 1926 it was disbanded however, their traditions were adapted by
the 3ème Escadrille/Ière Group and it was knows as (3/I/2Aé). In 1929 the Bel-
gian Military Aviation was reorganized and the unit once again changed into
2ème Escadrille (2/I/2Aé).
In 1938, 2/I/2Aé received a more modern mono wing fighter the Hawker Hurri-
cane Mk.1, based at Schaffen airfield. On May 10, 1940 the Germans invaded
Belgium, and the Luftwaffe did not waste any time in attacking and destroying
as many Belgian aircraft as they could. In Schaffen, 9 out of 11 Hurricanes of the
2/I/2Aé were destroyed. The two surviving aircraft, as well as third aircraft that
had survived the German attack in maintenance, escaped to Beauvechain air-
field. The Luftwaffe kept on the pressure and destroyed two of the three remain-
ing Hurricanes and the Thistle squadron was disbanded the following day. Many
of the pilots escaped to England and joined the RAF, to fight the Germans.
After WWII, on 1 November 1946, No. 351 Squadron was created as third Belgian
Spitfire XIV unit to complement the Nos. 349 and 350 Fighter Squadrons, which
were formed during the war as RAF Squadrons. It soon adopted the pre-war em-
blem of the Scottish Thistle and received the squadron letter code 3R.