RAF Special squadrons Prior to the “Dams raid” ACM Harris was not given to forming special squadrons, preferring that any bomber squadron being capable of successfully carrying out whatever task it was asked to undertake. The success of the raid by 617 Squadron showed not just the need for but the advantages of special squadrons allowed to train for one specific job and equipped with the necessary equipment and personnel to accomplish the task. Almost all of the special duty squadrons were employed in the secret work of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) dropping by parachute agents, weapons and ammunition and other sabotage and communications equipment. Many of the sorties undertaken by the SD squadrons were hazardous single aircraft tasks, sometimes their arrivals would have been pre-announced during coded wireless messages sent by the BBC. Europe 9 Squadron The Second World War began with the unit one of the few equipped with modern aircraft, the Vickers Wellington bomber, flying out of RAF Honington; the Wellington later gave way to the Avro Lancaster, with which the unit would complete its most famous sorties. On 4 September 1939, the squadron’s Wellington aircraft and crews were the first to hit the enemy, the first to get into a dogfight, possibly the first to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first to be shot down by one and, towards the end of the war, the first to hit the German battleship Tirpitz with the Tallboy 12,000 pound bomb, an achievement by the crew of a Lancaster on her 102nd operation with the squadron. No. 9 fought with RAF Bomber Command in Europe all the way through the Second World War, took part in all the major raids and big battles, pioneered and proved new tactics and equipment, produced several of the leading figures in The Great Escape, as well as Colditz inmates - including the legendary 'Medium Sized Man' Flight Lieutenant Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM originator of the famous 'tea chest' escape; they became one of the two specialised squadrons (the other being 617 Squadron) attacking precision targets with the Tallboy bomb, and led the final mainforce raid, on Berchtesgaden, 25 April 1945. The sinking of the Tirpitz The battleship Tirpitz had been moved into a fjord in Northern Norway where she threatened the Arctic convoys and was too far north to be attacked by air from the UK. She had already been damaged by a Royal Navy midget submarine attack and a second attack from carrier born aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. But both attacks had failed to sink her. The task was given to No. 9 and No.617 Squadrons who, operating from a base in Russia, attacked the Tirpitz with Tallboy bombs which damaged her so extensively that she was forced to head south to Tromsö fjord to be repaired. This fjord was in range of bombers operating from Scotland. There in October from a base in Scotland she was attacked again. Finally on November 12, 1944, the two squadrons attacked the Tirpitz. The first bombs missed their target, but following aircraft scored three direct hits in quick succession causing the ship to capsize. All three RAF attacks on Tirpitz were led by Wing Commander J. B. "Willy" Tait, who had succeeded Cheshire as CO of No. 617 Squadron in July 1944. Both squadrons claim that it was their bombs that actually sank the Tirpitz, however it was the Tallboy bomb, dropped from a No. 9 Sqn Lancaster WS-Y (LM220) piloted by Flying Officer Dougie Tweddle that is attributed to the sinking of the warship. F/O Tweddle was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in the operations against the Tirpitz. F/O Tweddle's DFC citation reads as follows, "This officer has taken part in all three attacks on the battleship 'Tirpitz'. He has shown great determination and the keenest enthusiasm to operate and bomb his target in spite of all the hazards of enemy opposition and bad weather. In the first attack he made the long and arduous journey to the Russian base, and in the actual attack made every effort to bomb the target, despite cloud and smoke-screen. In the second attack he made the same endeavours to bomb the ship, and on the third occasion, unhampered by weather, launched his attack successfully. F/O Tweddle has always displayed courage and cheerful enthusiasm which has been of utmost value to his crew, whilst his captaincy and airmanship have consistently been of the highest order. In addition, F/O Tweddle undertook the extra hazard of wind finding for the Squadron, a task he accomplished most successfully, thereby contributing to the success of the operations even further". 1419 Flight (became 138 Squadron 1941) 138 Squadron (RAF Tempsford) The squadron's Second World War activities began in 1941 after the formation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - an organisation whose function was to promote sabotage against the enemy by stimulating subversive activities, spreading political discontent, disorganising and dislocating communications. The agents, ammunition and equipment to achieve this were dropped inside enemy territory, the first being flown by Lysanders of No. 419 Flight (later No. 1419 Flight) which formed at North Weald in August 1940. Very quickly the task grew too big for a solitary flight and although Bomber Command was hard pressed at that time for aircraft and crews, it was decided that the strategic importance of sabotage operations warranted the formation of a full squadron. Thus it was that in August 1941, No. 138 Squadron was re-formed at Newmarket from the nucleus of No. 1419 Flight to do the job; it was now designated No. 138 (Special Duties) Squadron. For more than three and a half years the squadron ranged Europe from Norway in the north to Yugoslavia in the south and at times far into Poland. First with Whitleys and Lysanders, then with Halifaxes and later with Stirlings it flew out from Newmarket, Stradishall and Tempsford with, agents, arms, explosives, radio sets and all the other equipment of the saboteur, parachuting them down at rendezvous points where reception committees of local underground members waited. Another, but far less frequent, type of "cloak and dagger" operation undertaken by No. 138 - beginning in September 1941 - was the "pick up" in which the aircraft (always a Lysander) landed to collect some prominent public man, or an agent, or special plans and articles. During 1942 the squadron operated with the bomber force when not required for special duties. 161 Squadron (RAF Tempsford) On 15 February 1942, No.161 reformed at Newmarket from a nucleus supplied by No 138 Squadron and the King's Flight. It joined with No 138 in dropping supplies and agents over occupied Europe and took over the landing and pick-up operations for which it used Lysanders, Havocs and Hudsons. Only a few sorties were flown with the Havoc, and many of these were as convoy escorts under the control of Fighter or Coastal Command. Halifaxes were received in November 1942 and in September 1944, it began using Stirlings with which it continued its covert tasks until the end of the war. 617 Squadron (RAF Scampton) Formed specifically for the Operation Chastise raid against the dams of the Ruhr Valley on 17 May 1943, the history of 617 Squadron; The Dam Busters’ history is well documented both in this forum and elsewhere. The first special weapon deployed by the squadron was the 5 ton “Upkeep” mine otherwise known as Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb. The squadron later became the only other squadron, along with 9 Squadron to be trained in the precision bombing techniques required to deploy the 12,000lb “Tallboy” and the 22,000lb “Grand Slam” bombs. 618 Squadron No 618 Squadron was formed on 1 April 1943 at Skitten from detachments of Nos.105 and 139 Squadrons. Its Mosquitoes were intended to be the carriers of a variation of the Wallis bomb used with such devastating effect by No.617 Squadron on the Ruhr dams. Code-named 'Highball' the device was a spherical depth charge spun backwards by rockets at about 1000 rpm, and was intended to bounce across the sea until it hit a ship to sink alongside. The mining effect of the delayed charge would have probably sunk most warships and the first target was the German Fleet should it emerge into the open sea off Norway. As this did not occur, the squadron never became operational with their new weapon and remained training in Scotland until July 1944, when it was decided to send the unit to the Pacific where suitable targets still existed. After a period of deck landing training with Barracudas on HMS 'Rajah' the squadron embarked in the escort carriers 'Fencer' and 'Striker' on 30 October 1944 with twenty-four Mosquito IVs and three Mosquito XVI, the latter for photographic reconnaissance use. Arriving in mid-December in Australia, the aircraft were taken to Fisherman's Bend aircraft factory for assembly and testing and training began at Narromine in February 1945. A detachment was sent to British Pacific Fleet base at Manus in March, but difficulties arising from the use of an RAF unit in areas under the control of the US Navy resulted in No.618 being unable to go into action against Japanese shipping, the squadron disbanding on 29 June 1945. 644 Squadron (RAF Tarrant Rushton) When the build up for Operation Overlord got under way, an increasing need for transport and airborne assault squadrons became apparent. Therefore personnel and aircraft from No. 298 Squadron RAF at RAF Tarrant Rushton were formed into No. 644 Squadron on 23 February 1944 as part of No. 38 Group RAF. Operations also included supply dropping to SOE forces and glider towing during the operations Overlord, Market Garden and Varsity. They also carried out supply drops over Norway and even some tactical night-bombing missions towards the end of the war. 1586 (PAF) Flight (attached 138 Squadron) No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight was first formed at RAF Derna, in Libya on 4 November 1943, equipped with Handley Page Halifax II special duties aircraft. The flight was disbanded on 7 November 1944 at RAF Brindisi to resume operations as No. 301 Squadron RAF. The origin of 1586 flight was the remnants of 301 (Polish) Squadron after disbandment by the Polish HQ due to lack of staff and trained crews. Remaining crews and aircraft formed C Flight of 138 Squadron, which was temporarily renamed as 301 Squadron Special Duties Flight RAF, before becoming 1586 Flight. Missions flown by the flight included partisan supply drops and agent insertion * * * Middle East and Mediterranean 148 Squadron (SD from 14.3.1943) As No. 148 (SD) Squadron it was reformed as a special duties squadron and part of the Balkan Air Force in World War II. It dropped men and materiel behind enemy lines in the occupied countries such as Yugoslavia, Poland etc. 624 Squadron No. 624 Squadron was formed by raising No. 1575 Flight RAF to squadron status at Blida in Algeria, North Africa on 20 June 1943. The squadron continued to carry out special duties operations formerly done by 1575 flight into Italy, Southern France, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. These operations included supply dropping and the insertion of agents to the resistance. For these duties the squadron operated at first with Lockheed Venturas and Handley Page Halifaxes, and later Short Stirling Mk.IVs. As a result of the allied advances in France and Italy, the need for 624 squadron in this role had declined and it was therefore disbanded on 5 September 1944. Mine spotting No. 624 Squadron was reformed on 28 December 1944 at Grottaglie in Italy. Equipped with Walrus amphibians, it was now tasked with the role of mine-spotting along the Italian and Greek coasts. It had detachments and bases at Foggia, Hassani, Falconara, Rosignano, Treviso, Hal Far, Sedes and Littorio, until the squadron finally disbanded on 30 November 1945. * * * Far East 357 Squadron 357 Squadron was formed on 1 February 1944 at Digri, Bengal from No. 1576 (Special Duties) Flight. The squadron was equipped with Consolidated Liberator and Lockheed Hudson aircraft, which formed "A" Flight, whilst "B" Flight consisted of four Consolidated Catalina aircraft operated by the squadron from Red Hills Lake, Madras. The Catalina flight eventually became No. 628 squadron on 21 March 1944. On the 15 September 1944, No. 357 squadron moved to Jessore, Bengal. Early in 1945 the Hudsons were replaced by Douglas Dakotas, and "C" Flight equipped with Westland Lysanders joined the squadron. The squadron disbanded on 15 November 1945 358 Squadrons 358 Squadron was formed on 8 November 1944 at Kolar, India with personnel of the disbanded 1673 Heavy Conversion Unit. Its role was as a heavy bomber unit flying the Consolidated Liberator. The squadron performed only one bombing mission on 13 January 1945, bombing Mandalay and by then flying from Digri. Thereafter the squadron role changed to a special duties squadron, starting operations as such in the night from 22 to 23 January 1945. On 10 February 1945 the squadron moved to Jessore. For the rest of the war the squadron dropped agents and supplies to resistance groups in Japanese-held territory. After the Japanese surrender the squadron then dropped supplies to POW camps and repatriated released prisoners. It was disbanded on 21 November 1945 at Bishnupur.
Another special duties squadron was 192 Squadron established when 1474 Flight at RAF Gransden Lodge was renumbered and given squadron status. The squadron was equipped with a number of different aircraft types during its period of wartime service between 1943 and 1945, including Wellingtons, Mosquitos, Halifaxes, Ansons and Airspeed Oxfords. 192 Squadron’s primary role was in Electronic Countermeasures or ECM, identifying German radar patterns and frequencies. Following it’s relocation to RAF Foulsham from RAF Feltwell at the end of 1943 the squadron was attached to 100 (Bomber Support) Group providing airborne ECM for the main bomber streams jamming German radars. The squadron disbanded at the end of the Second World War on 22 August 1945 to form the basis of the Central Signals Establishment, the Radio Warfare Establishment (RWE). Post-war, the squadron was reformed at RAF Watton in 1951 as part of that same Central Signals Establishment for Operational Signals Research. Equipped with the Boeing (B-29) Washington at first it continued with its traditional ELectronic Signals INTelligence role; now called ELINT. Re-equipped with the English Electric Canberra, the squadron continued in this role until it was finally disbanded in August 1958.
