Two retired Royal Australian Air Force squadron leaders renewed a near-90-year bond between Australia and the United Kingdom during a private visit to Royal Air Force (RAF) Northolt on October 10.

Retired Squadron Leader Bob Schouten and retired Squadron Leader Mike Dance, both former members of 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron, toured 600 (City of London) Squadron’s new headquarters and the restored Sir Keith Park Building. The iconic Building 27 now houses a full-scale Battle of Britain plotting table, recreating the nerve centre that directed Fighter Command in 1940.

The visit coincided with 600 Squadron’s centenary celebrations. Wing Commander Stephen Fry, the unit’s new Officer Commanding, hosted the Australians before inviting them to the formal dining-in at Butchers’ Hall. Air Vice-Marshal Jo Lincoln, Commandant General Royal Auxiliary Air Force, was the guest of honour.

Officially twinned in 1938 under the patronage of their respective Honorary Air Commodores and with royal approval from King George VI, reciprocal visits have sustained the link between 21 Squadron and 600 Squadron across eight decades and through many conflicts.

“Walking into the Sir Keith Park Building felt like stepping back to 1940,” Mr Schouten said. 

“The plotting table, the telephones, the WAAF aircraft markers – it’s all there.”

The evening’s only disappointment was the absence of 600 Squadron’s Honorary Air Commodore Hugh Trenchard – third Viscount Trenchard and grandson of RAF founder Lord Hugh Trenchard, first Viscount Trenchard – owing to a prior commitment.

After the 1938 twinning, 600 Squadron pilots trained in Australia in 1948, and 21 Squadron officers toured RAF Northolt in the 1950s and 1960s.

As 600 Squadron begins its second century, the twin-squadron tradition remains strong, proving King George VI’s 1938 decree – “Two squadrons, one spirit” – endures.