On 24 June 2023, Sir Charles Bowman, the Representative Lord Mayor of the City of London, presented 600 (City of London) Squadron with its Standard at at the Squadron’s base at Royal Air Force Northolt. The Chief of the Ar Staff, Sir Rich Knighton was the Reviewing Officer, and the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, Wing Commander Steve Duddy, was the Parade Commander. Attendees included Squadron personnel and their and families along with many others with past and present links with the Squadron.
A detailed review of the event can be seen in an RAF News feature dated 27 June 2023.
The occasion marked another episode in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force’s long association with Squadron Standards. It began 80 years earlier when, on 1st April 1943, the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, King George VI approved the award of Standards to operational Regular and Auxiliary Squadrons. Six years later, on 16 May 1953, 600 Squadron became the first Auxiliary Squadron to receive its Standard. It was presented at Buckingham Palace by the Squadron’s Honorary Air Commodore. Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.
In 1957, all of the Auxiliary Squadrons were disbanded, and, in 1960, 600 Squadron’s Standard was laid up in the Lady Chapel of St Bartholomew The Great Church in the City of London.
In 1998, following a request from the then Inspector of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the Air Force Board agreed that selected Auxiliary Squadrons, albeit with non-flying roles, could be awarded the numbers of former Auxiliary flying Squadrons. As a result, 600 Squadron was reformed in 1999, again at RAF Northolt. To mark the occasion, a reception was held in the presence of the Squadron’s former Honorary Air Commodore, The Queen Mother (now aged 101).
In 2017 , Queen Elizabeth II approved the award of new Standards to nine of these resurrected Squadron including 600 Squadron who received its Standard in 2023.
In common with all military Standards, 600 Squadron’s is a beautifully embroidered work of art. In the centre is the original Squadron badge, and on either side are eight of the ten Battle Honours won by the Squadron, namely:
Home Defence 1940-1942
France and The Low Countries 1940
Battle of Britain 1940
North Africa 1942-1943
Sicily 1943
Italy 1943-1945
Salerno 1943
Anzio and Nettuno 1944