Spitfire Association Logo

Squadron History

No 71 Operational Training Unit

Formed at Ismailia in Egypt under the control of No 202 Group on 1 June 1941 from the fighter element of No 70 OTU. Its task was to acclimatise fighter and army co-operation pilots to desert conditions. From June to September it was tasked with providing night defence of the Canal Zone but in the latter month it moved to Gordon's Tree in the Sudan.

In October 'C' was detached to form No 74 OTU and with it the commitment to train army co-operation pilots. Further moves occurred on 1 May 1942 to Carthargo and 5 May 1943 to Ismailia with control passing to No 203 Group on 10 July 1943. Training ceased on 20 May 1945 and the unit disbanded on 11 June.



We do our very best to make sure the information in the stories we share is correct. These stories are maintained to show our respect for the pilots, ground crew, design engineers and all who were involved with the Spitfire. In many cases, the information has been collected from the personal interactions between our members and the pilots and crew featured, and on many occasions, this process happened much later in the veterans' lives. If you believe anything on our site is not historically accurate, we welcome the additional stories, records and photos needed to help us correct the record. We thank you for your understanding.