612 (County of Aberdeen) Sqn Royal Auxiliary Air Force

No 612 Squadron was formed at Dyce on 1 June 1937 as an army co-operation unit of the Auxiliary Air Force.   At the end of the year it received Hectors, but on 1 November 1938 it was redesignated a general reconnaissance squadron, receiving Ansons in July 1939.   Hectors were retained until November, but the Ansons began coastal patrols on the outbreak of World War Two.   In November 1940, conversion to Whitleys began and these flew their first patrols in February 1941, though it was the end of the year before the last Anson left.   In December 1941, 612 Sqn moved to Iceland, returning to Thorney Island in August 1942 for anti-submarine patrols over the Channel and Bay of Biscay.   Some Wellingtons arrived in November 1942 and a few operated until January 1943, but it was not until April that conversion was resumed and June before all the Whitleys had been replaced.   Patrols over the Bay of Biscay continued until September 1944, apart from a short break in Ulster between January and March 1944.  After three months patrolling the Western Approaches, the squadron moved to East Anglia to fly anti-E-boat patrols off the Dutch coast until the end of the war.  On 9 July 1945, the squadron was disbanded.  

On 10 May 1946 the Auxiliary Air Force was reformed and No 612 Squadron began recruiting in November at Dyce for personnel to man a fighter squadron.   Initially equipped with Spitfire Mk XIV and Spitfire XVI, it converted to Vampires in June 1951 and flew these until the Royal Auxiliary Air Force disbanded on 10 March 1957.

In 1997, 612 Sqn was again re-formed at RAF Leuchars as an Air Transportable Surgical Squadron (ATSS) to provide field surgical support to the armed forces in times of conflict and war.   Personnel are recruited from the National Health Service (NHS), private healthcare sectors and other non-medical employers to train on a part time basis to be available to support regular forces when required.   612 Sqn is currently the only squadron of its kind in Scotland and has seen active service in Kosovo and Iraq.

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