Circa 1930
32mm x 36mm
White gold winged sword set with 72 calibré cut rubies.
No. 601 Squadron was formed in 1925 when Lord Edward Grosvenor MC coralled a group of well-heeled gentleman aviators into a Royal Air Force Voulnteer unit - No 601 (County of London) Squadron (aka The Millionaires’ Squadron). Moreover Grosvenor wanted officers ‘of sufficient presence not to be overawed by him and of sufficient means not to be excluded from his favourite pastimes, eating, drinking and White’s’. At the outbreak of war in 1939 it was commanded by the financier Loel Guinness who bought a petrol station for the sake of his pilots’ sports cars. 601 opertated a Hurricane detachment in France in 1940, and stood in the frontline in the Battle of Britain, before deploying to the Mediterranean, where it fought in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After briefly operating the Airacobra in 1941, it converted to Spitfires, which were latterly used in a ground attack role against German forces. 601 was disbanded in 1945 but reformed again in 1946, initially under Squadron Leader the Hon Max Aitkin, until 1957. In 2017 it was reformed again as a hybrid reserve unit, wherein its members provide ‘advice, access and advocacy’ as part of the RAF’s modern day engagement strategy.
