Commanded by Squadron Leader Ian McLachlan, the squadron's personnel travelled by sea to Egypt, where it was to be provided with aircraft from RAF stocks. Initially, it used two obsolete biplane types, the Gloster Gauntlet and Gloster Gladiator, for close air support, along with the Westland Lysander, for reconnaissance sorties, against Italian forces in Egypt and Libya. In the course of these operations, the squadron clashed with aircraft from the "Regia Aeronautica". It then, briefly, operated the Hawker Hurricane instead, before converting to the Curtiss P-40B/C Tomahawk in 1941. It saw action against Vichy French aircraft during the Syria–Lebanon campaign.