No. 550 Squadron RAF | |
---|---|
![]() Badge of 550 Squadron | |
Active | 25 Nov 1943 – 31 Oct 1945 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Role | Bomber |
Motto(s) | Latin: Per Ignem Vincimus (Translation: "Through fire we conquer") [1] [2] |
Insignia | |
Squadron Badge heraldry | In front of flames of fire a sword erect point upwards. [2] The badge is symbolic of the squadron's power to force its way through barrage of fire and fighter opposition to drop its bombs. It can also be taken as symbolic of the squadron's raids with both incendiary and high-explosive bombs. [1] |
Squadron Codes | BQ (Nov 1943 – Oct 1945) [3] [4] |
Aircraft flown | |
Bomber | Avro Lancaster Four-engined heavy bomber |
No. 550 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Formed at RAF Waltham on 25 November 1943, 550 Squadron flew Avro Lancaster bombers as part of No. 1 Group RAF. In early 1944, the squadron was moved to RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire where it continued operations until May 1945, when it began dropping food over the Netherlands as a relief effort as part of Operation Manna. The squadron was disbanded on 31 October 1945. Today, a surviving Lancaster bomber continues to fly in the markings of BQ-B "Phantom of the Ruhr" EE139 from 550 squadron as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Before standing up as an operational bomber unit 550 Squadron was allocated to the Air Fighting Development Unit under 'Operation Banquet' anti-invasion plans. [5]
No. 550 squadron was formed at RAF Waltham (near Grimsby), Lincolnshire on 25 November 1943 from 'C' Flight of 100 Squadron. [6] Equipped with Avro Lancasters, they began operating in the same month, as part of No. 1 Group RAF. The squadron's commanding officer, until 17 May 1944, was Wing Commander James Johnson Bennett. [7] The squadron motto was "Per Ignem Vincimus", (Latin : through fire we conquer).
From RAF Waltham, 550 Squadron attacked seven times, and also took part in raids on Leipzig and Frankfurt. [8] On 26/27 November 1943, 8 of their Lancasters were dispatched to make bombing runs over Berlin; 7 succeeded, and one failed to return. [9]
On 3 January 1944 the squadron was moved to RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire, where it continued operations. 550 flew their first mission from North Killingholme on 14 January 1944: eleven Lancasters participated in a raid on Brunswick. [8]
550 grew in size to two flights and later to three. 550 Squadron became one of the most efficient squadrons in Bomber Command, on a number of occasions reaching the top of the No. 1 Group RAF Group bombing league table. Losses were relatively low, as was the rate of aborted missions, a good indication of high morale. [8]
From January 44 until 26 May 1945 the squadron adjutant was Christopher Walter Waitt, who had served with the Royal Flying Corps in WW1 and had been awarded the Military Medal. [10]
A notable member was wireless operator F/Sgt Brian Todd, who flew 14 sorties in early 1944 with A Flight Commander S/Ldr Peter Nicholas. He later became a famous comedian as Bob Todd, playing the slapstick sidekick to Benny Hill. [11]
On 5 June 1944, 550 Squadron participated in the D-Day landings; their Lancaster LL811 J-Jig "Bad Penny II" was credited with dropping the first string of bombs at 11.34pm. [8]
On 25 April 1945, 550 Squadron flew their last combat mission of the war: 23 Lancasters participated in the Bombing of Obersalzberg. [8]
During the course of the war, 550 Squadron completed 3,582 operational sorties with the Lancaster, losing 59 aircraft. [12] The squadron dropped 16,195 tons of bombs. [8] Three of 550 Squadron's Lancaster bombers succeeded in flying more than 100 combat missions, BQ-F "Press on Regardless" ED905, BQ-V 'The Vulture Strikes' PA995, and—the best-known—BQ-B "Phantom of the Ruhr" EE139, which flew 121 missions. [8]
550 Squadron dropped food over the Netherlands as a relief effort as part of 29 April – 7 May 1945 Operation Manna. [9]
Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. North Killingholme closed [13] and 550 Squadron was disbanded on 31 October 1945, [2] the same day that .
Today, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster is painted in the colours of BQ-B "Phantom of the Ruhr" EE139. [8]
From | To | Aircraft | Version |
---|---|---|---|
November 1943 | October 1945 | Avro Lancaster | Mks.I, III |
Three of the Lancasters that flew with 550 Squadron managed to fly one hundred operations or more, and another nearly did:
Serial no. | Name | Operations | Call-sign | Fate | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
EE139 | "Phantom of the Ruhr" | 121 | BQ-B | Scrapped 19-02-1946 | Also flew with No. 100 Squadron RAF. Current Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster flies BQ-B call-sign. [15] |
PA995 | "The Vulture Strikes" | 101 | BQ-V | Failed to return, 07-03-1945 | Flew all missions with 550 Squadron [16] |
ED905 | "Ad Extremum/Press on Regardless" | 100+ | BQ-F | Crashed 20-08-1945 with No. 1656 Conversion Unit | Also flew with No. 103 Squadron RAF and No. 166 Squadron RAF [17] |
W5005 | "SS-Nan" | 94 | BQ-N | Ditched in Humber Estuary 26/27-08-1944 | Also flew with No. 460 Squadron RAAF |
From | To | Base |
---|---|---|
25 November 1943 | 3 January 1944 | RAF Waltham, Lincolnshire |
3 January 1944 | 31 October 1945 | RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire |
No. 149 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron between 1918 and 1956. Formed 1918 in the Royal Flying Corps as a night-bomber unit, it remained in that role for the rest of its existence which spanned three periods between 1918 and 1956.
No. 578 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 640 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 635 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 630 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 619 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, flying Lancaster bombers from bases in Lincolnshire.
No. 625 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 582 Squadron RAF was a bomber pathfinder squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 626 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1945.
No. 358 Squadron RAF was a Bomber and Special duties squadron of the Royal Air Force flying with South East Asia Command from 1944 to 1945.
No 620 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. During its existence it served as a bomber squadron, airborne forces and a transport squadron.
No. 61 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed as a fighter squadron of the British Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. It was reformed in 1937 as a bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force and served in the Second World War and after, until disbanded in 1958.
No. 458 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force squadron that operated during World War II. It was formed in Australia under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The squadron flew various versions of Vickers Wellington bombers, first in Europe and later in the Middle East. It was disbanded in mid-1945, following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe.
No. 463 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force heavy bomber squadron during World War II. The squadron was formed in the United Kingdom in late 1943 from personnel and aircraft allocated from No. 467 Squadron RAAF. The squadron was equipped with Avro Lancaster bombers and flew its first raids on Germany immediately after being formed. Operating as part of RAF Bomber Command No. 463 Squadron conducted raids against cities, industrial facilities and military targets in Germany, France and Norway throughout 1944 and until the end of the war in May 1945. Following the war, the squadron evacuated Allied prisoners of war from Europe until it was disbanded in late 1945.
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. 467 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber squadron, active over North West Europe during World War II. Formed in November 1942 as an Article XV Squadron in Britain, the squadron was notionally an Australian squadron under the command of the Royal Air Force, and consisted of a mixture of personnel from various Commonwealth nations. After becoming operational in early 1943, the squadron flew operations in Occupied Europe until the end of the war flying Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. It was scheduled to deploy to the Far East to take part in further operations against Japan, but the war ended before it could complete its training and the squadron was disbanded in September 1945.
No. 160 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force unit during the Second World War, when it flew for four years in a number of roles including heavy bomber, minelaying, reconnaissance, special operations and transport unit in the Middle East and South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
No. 576 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Second World War heavy bomber squadron.
No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.
No. 627 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Mosquito aircraft pathfinder bomber squadron that operated during the Second World War.