Maybe you could tell me what the Madras Presidency is for in the squadron.I see the RAf refer to it as 264 Madras Presidency Squadron , but nobody at our War Museum or at Raf website can tell me .
Funny you should ask! Basically it boils down to "gifts" or donations made to the RAF by various colonies. They were looking to supplement the money from taxes to help buildmore aircraft. The more money you donated, the bigger the named item. For example, for a 5,000 pound donation (Sorry, I have an american keyboard, no pound sign!) you could "sponsor" a fighter, for 20,000, a bomber. As the gifts became larger, squadrons and groups were named in honor of the donor.
India was a big supporter of the RAF and provided a lot of funds. The Madras Presidency gave enough to actually have THREE squadrons named as "gift squadrons", squadrons 79, 234 and 264.
No problem. I have the benefit of volunteering at a WWII aviation museum, so I have a wealth of resource material available. You wouldn't happen to know if there are any Defiants that still fly, do you?