| No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1 November 1942 – 15 November 1945 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Nickname(s) | Gold Coast |
| Motto(s) | Versatility [1] |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | A demi-dragon holding rockets with maple leaves |
| Identification symbol | HF (November 1942 – November 1945) |
No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a fighter-bomber unit in World War II.
The squadron formed on 2 March 1942 at RAF Church Fenton and then equipped with rocket armed Typhoons. It was soon involved in attacks on targets in France from the UK.
On 18 April 1943 the squadron undertook a bombing raid on Yuinvale and again on 14 May at Tricqueville. [2] During June 1943 the squadron undertook shipping reconnaissance missions and rhubarbs, as well as a bombing attack at Morlaix. July was also a busy month for shipping reconnaissance missions. [2] On 16 August members of the squadron were attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 109s but no one was hit. On 23 September the squadron bombed Poulmic twice missing two Messerschmitt Bf 110s but hitting the hangar and dispersals. On 3 October, members of the squadron came across six Focke-Wulf Fw 190's off the French coast whilst escorting Mosquitos. Walter Dring shoots one into the sea whilst F/O Mitchell shoots down the other. [2] On the 22nd the squadron attacked destroyers in the harbour at St. Malo, with three direct hits and the destruction of a tanker being recorded. Two days later the squadron attacked a 6,000-ton merchant ship in Cherbourg Harbour. In November the squadron carried out a multitude of tasks, including attacking a 4,000-ton ship with rocket projectiles on 22 November. On 25 December 1943 Walter Dring shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor. [2]
In January 1944 the squadron carried out a variety of sweeps, but by the end of the month they had lost six pilots and the morale was poor. [2]
Following the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 the squadron moved to airstrips on the beachhead in France, before joining the Allied advance across Europe via the Netherlands, attacking targets of opportunity on the battlefield. During this period it was one of the four squadrons in 123 Wing, 84 Group of 2nd Tactical Air Force, the others being 164, 198 and 609. [3]
After the Allied forces had crossed the Rhine River the squadron operated their aircraft with two 1000 lb bombs instead of the usual rockets and changed their role to attacking shipping around the Friesian Islands from a temporary airfield established at Lingen in Germany. [4] They also attacked the U-boat pens at Wilhelmshaven.
On 4 May 1945 last day of the war the squadron attacked German shipping. After the attacks, upon noticing that the main target was apparently undamaged, the squadron commander Jimmy Cullen and his number two returned and made a strafing run with cannon against the ship. However Cullen's aircraft SW454 was hit by flak and he had to crash land on a beach on Fehman Island. Captured, he was advised by the Germans that he had been attacking a ship which flying the white flag. The day after his imprisonment following the end of hostilities he found the cell door open. Thinking it was maybe an attempt to shoot him while attempting to escape he waited a day before making his way to a nearby beach, stealing about and making his way to mainland. There he requisitioned a car and made his way south until he meet an advancing American troops. He then returned to his command of the squadron. [5]
Following the end of hostilities the squadron relocated to a former Luftwaffe airbase at Wunsdorf, near Hanover. [6] The squadron returned to the UK after the end of hostilities in Europe and converted to Spitfires at RAF Chilbolton and then to Tempests in preparation for its deployment to the Asia theatre of operations. [7] Before this deployment could happen the war with Japan ended.
At the end of World War 2 with the draw down from war-time strength the RAF started to disband and renumber squadrons. Higher numbered squadrons were generally replaced with the lower, and so more senior, squadron numbers with the exception of famous units such as 617 Squadron were disbanded. As a result, the squadron was disbanded upon re-numbering as No. 54 Squadron RAF on 15 November 1945. [8]
| From | To | Aircraft | Variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1942 | Feb 1943 | Hawker Hurricane | I |
| Nov 1942 | Dec 1942 | Hawker Typhoon | IA |
| Nov 1942 | Jun 1945 | Hawker Typhoon | IB |
| Jun 1945 | Nov 1945 | Supermarine Spitfire | IX |
| Oct 1945 | Nov 1945 | Hawker Tempest | II |
The following have commanded 617 Squadron: [10]
Number 9 Squadron is the oldest dedicated Bomber Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Formed in December 1914, it saw service throughout the First World War, including at the Somme and Passchendaele. During the Second World War, No. IX (B) Squadron was one of two Avro Lancaster units specialising in heavy precision bombing and sank the battleship Tirpitz on 12 November 1944 in Operation Catechism. Between 1962 and April 1982, the squadron flew the Avro Vulcan B.2 as part of the V-Force. In June 1982, it became the first front-line squadron in the world to operate the Panavia Tornado GR.1. In May 1998, No. IX (B) Squadron received the RAF's first Tornado GR.4, which it operated until reequipping with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 at its present home base of RAF Lossiemouth on 1 April 2019.
No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal Flying Corps and served on the Western Front as a ground attack and fighter squadron. Disbanded in 1919 as part of the post-war draw down, No. 41 Squadron was re-formed as an RAF squadron in 1923 and remained on home service until 1935 when it was deployed to Aden during the Abyssinian crisis.
No. 486 (NZ) Squadron was a fighter squadron established for service during the Second World War. It was a New Zealand squadron formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Plan. Although many of its flying personnel were largely drawn from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the squadron served in Europe under the operational and administrative command of the Royal Air Force.
No. 487 (NZ) Squadron was a light bomber squadron established for service during the Second World War. It was a New Zealand squadron formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Plan. Although many of its flying personnel were largely drawn from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the squadron served in Europe under the operational and administrative command of the Royal Air Force as part of Bomber Command. Formed in mid-1942, it operated the Lockheed Ventura and then the de Havilland Mosquito and took part in over 3,000 operational sorties before being disbanded at the end of the war in late 1945.
No. 489 Squadron was a torpedo bomber squadron established for service during the Second World War. It was a New Zealand squadron formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Plan. Although many of its flying personnel were largely drawn from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the squadron served in Europe under the operational and administrative command of the Royal Air Force as part of Coastal Command.
No. 100 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) historic aircraft display squadron. It was originally formed as a bomber and maritime patrol squadron that operated during World War II. Raised in early 1942 from the remnants of a British unit that had been destroyed in Malaya, the squadron flew Bristol Beauforts from bases in Queensland and New Guinea, undertaking torpedo- and level-bombing sorties against Japanese targets in the Pacific theatre. Following the conclusion of hostilities, the squadron was disbanded in August 1946. It was reformed as the Air Force Heritage Squadron in January 2021 to operate airworthy warbirds.
No. 454 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) that served during World War II. The squadron was raised in Australia under the Empire Air Training Scheme in mid-1941, but was disbanded shortly afterwards. It was re-formed later in 1941 from mainly British personnel and subsequently took part in the fighting in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre before being disbanded in August 1945.
No. 38 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a bomber squadron formed in 1916 and was disbanded most recently in 1967.
No. 609 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, originally formed as a bomber squadron and in the Second World War active as fighter squadron, nowadays provides personnel to augment and support the operations of the Royal Air Force. The squadron is no longer a flying squadron, but instead has the role of Force Protection. It is currently based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire.
No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadron in 1958.
No. 455 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) torpedo bomber squadron during World War II and became famous as part of the "ANZAC Strike Wing" that was formed from Australian and New Zealand squadrons. Raised in early 1941, mainly from Australian personnel, the squadron served over Europe during the war, operating from various bases in the United Kingdom; it also briefly sent a detachment to the Soviet Union in 1942. Operating Handley Page Hampdens and Bristol Beaufighters, the squadron mainly undertook anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations during the war. It was disbanded in May 1945 following the cessation of hostilities against Germany.
No. 466 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) bomber squadron during World War II. Formed in the United Kingdom in late 1942, the squadron undertook combat operations in Europe until the end of the war, flying heavy bomber aircraft. Following the conclusion of hostilities with Germany, the squadron began retraining to undertake operations in the Pacific against the Japanese, but the war came to an end before it left the UK. In late 1945, the squadron was disbanded.
No. 500 Squadron AAF was a Royal Air Force flying squadron. It was initially formed in 1931 as a Special Reserve squadron and in 1936 became part of the Auxiliary Air Force, at this time based at Manston and Detling.
No. 233 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that operated from 1918–1919, 1937–1945, 1952–1957 and 1960–1964. The squadron was formed from several Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) flights and took part in the tail end of the First World War before being disbanded. The squadron was reformed with the advent of World War II. At first No. 233 Squadron flew general reconnaissance patrols before being tasked with transportation duties just prior to D-Day. Shortly after the Second World War the squadron was again disbanded, to be reformed once more in 1960. No. 233 Squadron was finally disbanded in 1964.
No. 184 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron during the second world war.
No. 198 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron that operated during the Second World War particularly in the ground attack role as the allies advanced through continental Europe. The RAFAC counterpart of the squadron resides in Hinckley, sharing its current HQ with 121 Squadron
No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part of RAF Coastal Command it served first in a maritime patrol role along the Western Approaches and later in an anti-shipping role in the English Channel. Ordered to the Far East in 1942, the squadron was retained for two months in Malta in an anti-shipping role, protecting Allied convoys, before moving to Ceylon to defend the approaches to India, serving in an anti-submarine and anti-shipping role. It was equipped and training for a strike role, when the war ended. In the postwar period, it served for five years in a maritime reconnaissance role, and then briefly in a support role for Operation Grapple, the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island.
No. 268 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force squadron that operated the North American Mustang on missions over occupied Europe and in support of the D-Day landings.
No. 219 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1957 after four separate periods of service. During the First World War it served as a coastal defence unit, and through most of the Second World War and the 1950s it operated as a night fighter air defence squadron. Three commanders of the squadron went on to be Chiefs of the Air Staff, two of the RAF and one of the Royal Pakistani Air Force.
Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin, was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and the top scoring fighter ace flying the Hawker Typhoon exclusively during the Second World War. He was posted missing, presumed killed, during secondment service with the United States Air Force in the Korean War.
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