Upon the re-establishment of the Auxiliary Air Force during 1947, 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron was allocated wartime Supermarine Spitfire 16Es as interim equipment, when it reformed at Hendon, to the north of London, in May. The continuing confrontation with the Soviet bloc over access to Berlin in 1948, coupled with the successful detonation of an atomic bomb by the USSR in 1949 and the outbreak of war in Korea in 1952, triggered a massive expansion of Britain's air defences. As part of this expansion the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (the 'Royal' prefix was authorised by order of HM King George V on September 6, 1947) was allocated second-hand jet fighters from the Regular Air Force. For 604 Squadron in particular, this meant the replacement of its Spitfires with de Havilland Vampire F.3s.
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