The squadron reformed on 19 November 1940 at RAF Aldergrove. It received Blenheims and then converted to Beaufighters. Commanded from 1941 to 1942 by Wing Commander Robert Yaxley, it operated in the Western Desert, attacking enemy aerodromes, transport aircraft and lines of communication. There were a number of Belgian aircrew in the squadron.[1]
It was then based in Crete to provide protection for convoys and at Luqa, Malta and Sicily following Operation Husky. On 8 September 1944, the Italian liner SS Rex was attacked by twelve 272 Squadron Beaufighters at Capodistria Bay, south of Trieste, leaving her on fire and badly listing.[2] As the Allied forces advanced into Italy the squadron moved to Alghero and Foggia, and it disbanded at Gragnano on 30 April 1945.
^Victor Houart, Escadrille du Désert (Editions de la pensée moderne, Paris, 1958), translated into English as Desert Squadron (Souvenir Press, London, 1959).
