"What about
43/111/74/19 etc etc..." - and how about 92(F) Sqn, the RAF's highest scoring fighter squadron in WWII - doesn't history count?
We have to move on, chaps, there simply isn't enough hardware to keep all these historic numbers alive. Old operational squadron numberplates have long been compromised, using training units to keep squadrons artificially alive. An example?: 16 Sqn flying plastic pigs!
Like many, I don't like today's reality, but I would rather see one of the the RAF's most successful senior squadrons - IX(B) - being kept alive with real aircraft, rather than overgrown R/C models - cf31 Sqn!