#1495 Typhoon FGR4
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1495 - ZJ915 'F', Typhoon FGR4, 1435 Flights, Mount Pleasant Airfield, Falkland Islands.
The Malta Night Fighter Unit, based at Takali, formed in July 1941 with eight Hurricane Mk IICs and four Hurricane Mk IIBs, and was tasked with night defence of the island. On 2 December 1941 the Unit was designated No. 1435 Flight and operations continued throughout the winter until March 1942 when No. 1435 (Night Fighter) Flight was disbanded. In August 1942 it reformed, but this time as 1435 Squadron. Thus the unit became the first and only RAF Squadron with 4 digits. Equipped with Spitfires, operations began on 2 August 1942 out of Luqa, with the unit being considerably larger than in the past. The Squadron was engaged in fighter defence duties until the end of 1942, and became a fighter-bomber unit in January 1943, flying sweeps over Sicily until the Allied landings. In October 1943 the Squadron moved to Italy where it became part of the Balkan Air Force carrying out ground attack missions over Albania and Yugoslavia in addition to air defence duties. In February 1945 the Squadron moved to Falconara to keep within range of the retreating German forces as they evacuated the Balkans. A detachment was also based on the Yugoslav island of Vis in the Adriatic from September 1944 until April 1945 at which point the Squadron was withdrawn from operations prior to disbanding on 9 May 1945. No. 1435 Flight was reformed on 1 November 1988 when it replaced No. 23 Squadron in the role of air defence of the Falkland Islands. The Phantom FGR2 aircraft were painted with the Maltese Cross in memory of the Flight’s distinguished history. Three of the four aircraft were named ‘Faith’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Charity’ after the three Gloster Gladiators that protected Malta at the beginning of WWII; the fourth was named ‘Desperation’. In July 1992 Tornado F3s replaced the Phantoms. The Flight was awarded its official badge in 1997, which is described “In front of a Maltese Cross a Cassin’s Falcon Volantâ€. The Maltese Cross alludes to the Flight’s history in WWII and reference to its present duties is provided by the Cassin’s Falcon, a bird indigenous to the Falkland Islands. The motto succinctly proclaims the Flight’s raison d’être which is to ‘protect the right’. In September 2009, the Tornado F3 was retired from air defence duties of the Falklands and was replaced with the Typhoon FGR4.
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