 In its second incarnation the squadron was a real fighter unit, transitioning from Gloster Gladiator biplanes to Gloster Javelin all-weather jets, in between flying the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain.The jets went in 1961 and from then until 1 April 2002 the squadron flew helicopters in the transport role.The squadron nickname, "Basutoland", is derived from the fact that during both world wars, the Basutoland Protectorate, now Lesotho, donated aircraft to RAF, which were assigned to No.