"the RAF Officer Training College after the formation of the RAF in April 1918. RAF Swinderby was a Polish-manned RAF station and from 1964, the RAF's main Recruit Training Camp. RAF Scampton, was the home base of 617 Squadron. Lincolnshire still has the strongest claim to being the 'home' of RAF Bomber Command, playing host to many squadrons, including the Lancaster bombers of the famous 617 ""Dambusters"" squadron who were based at RAF Scampton. There were two Bomber Groups based in the county – No. 1 in the north and No. 5 Group in the centre and south. The Battle"
"originally referred to as ""Squadron X"", was formed at Scampton in order to carry out the proposed raid, codenamed Operation Chastise. More commonly referred to as the ""Dambusters Raid"", the raid would go down as the most famous and widely remembered in the history of the Royal Air Force. On the night of 16–17 May 1943, 617 Sqn despatched 19 Lancasters from Scampton. Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the main bulk of the squadron attacked the Sorpe, Eder and Möhne dams with an additional aircraft tasked to perform an attack on the Schwelm Dam. Both the Eder and Möhne"
"in his act, while riding a torpedo. The lion went to the Los Angeles Zoo. A new design replaced the cub with a tiger and parrot on the torpedo, and was approved on 18 April 1949. Sometime in the 1950s, the squadron adopted a shield insignia that featured an eagle's head and a torpedo. On 1 May 1951, squadron aircraft disabled the heavily defended Hwacheon Dam in North Korea, earning them the nickname ""Dambusters"", echoing the original Dam Busters of No. 617 Squadron RAF. Destruction of the dam had been previously attempted by other units many times. In August 1985,"
"Africa. It remained at Bathurst until 30 June 1945, when it disbanded. The squadron lost 19 Sunderlands during the Second World War. No Axis submarines were sunk by the squadron, although it did claim at least one German Junkers Ju 88 shot down. On 1 August 1947 the squadron was reformed at RAF Station Kabrit, Egypt as a transport squadron and flew Douglas Dakotas, until these were replaced by Vickers Valettas in July 1949. On 20 February 1953, the squadron was disbanded by being renumbered to No. 84 Squadron RAF. The squadron was reformed once more on 1 January 1954"
"bomb sight was introduced. By the time the SABS was available, the Mark XIV was in widespread use and proving good enough that there was no pressing need to replace it. The SABS briefly saw use with the Pathfinder Force before being turned over to No. 617 Squadron RAF, the famed ""Dambusters"", starting in November 1943. This squadron's Avro Lancasters were undergoing conversion to dropping the Tallboy bomb as a precision weapon, and required the higher accuracy of the SABS for this mission. In this role the SABS demonstrated superb accuracy, routinely placing bombs within of their targets when dropped"
"Division, travelling to engage the newly landed allied forces in Normandy. The panzers were expected to use the railway to cross the Loire. No. 83 Squadron RAF illuminated the area with flares by four Avro Lancasters and marked the target at low level by three de Havilland Mosquitos. 25 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF, the ""Dambusters"" then dropped their Tallboys from 18,000 ft with great accuracy. They hit the approaches to the bridge, blocked the railway cutting and one pierced the roof of the tunnel, bringing down a huge quantity of rock and soil which blocked the tunnel, badly"
"VFA-195 (U.S. Navy) Strike Fighter Squadron 195 (VFA-195), also known as the ""Dambusters"", is a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi. They are a part of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) and their tail code is ""NF"".Their radio callsign is ""Chippy"". The squadron, originally known as the ""Tigers"", had its first insignia approved by Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on 4 March 1944, consisting of a lion cub riding a torpedo. Bob Burns gave the squadron a lion cub. On the patch the cub is holding the musical ""bazooka"" that Burns used"
"Dave Shannon David John Shannon, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (27 May 1922 – 8 April 1993) was an Australian bomber pilot of World War II, known for his part in the ""Dambusters"" raid on the night of 16/17 May 1943. Born in South Australia, Shannon joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1941 and learned to fly under the Empire Air Training Scheme. After further training in the United Kingdom he was posted to No. 106 Squadron RAF, operating Avro Lancaster heavy bombers, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in January 1943. In March he"
"built in Oxford and is still used today. Its walls are painted in the school colours. In the Second World War air raid shelters were dug into the grass of the Quad. The School was presented with a stained glass window by the RAF at the end of the War in recognition of """"the superb contribution to the war effort made by former pupils of the School"""". These included, among many others, Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC DSO DFC of 617 Squadron, who led 'The Dambusters', flying ace Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader DSO DFC, and Adrian Warburton DSO &"
"Leader David Maltby, were transferred to 617 Squadron to be part of the secretive Dambusters raid forming at RAF Scampton. The squadron was created to attack the dams of the Ruhr in an effort to wreck the industrial capacity of Germany. It was initially called Squadron ""X"", as the speed of its formation outstripped the RAF process for naming squadrons. Twenty-one bomber crews were selected from existing squadrons in 5 Group. These crews included RAF personnel of several different nationalities, as well as members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand"
"transport and survey duties before disbanding on 1 June 1946. Flight Sergeant Stanley James Woodbridge, a wireless operator who served with 159 squadron, was awarded the George Cross posthumously in 1948. Woodbridge had steadfastly refused to divulge his codes and other details of his radio equipment to his Japanese captors. Woodbridge was tortured and eventually beheaded along with three other members of his crew Wing Commander James Blackburn DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, DFC (US)[1] (1916–1993) was a Royal Air Force officer who completed a record five tours of operations during World War II. No. 159 Squadron RAF No."
"version of the bouncing bomb, was used to destroy the Mohne and Eder dams by Lancasters from the specially recruited and trained 617 Squadron, often known as the Dambusters, under Wing Commander Guy Gibson. In March and April 1945, as the war in Europe was ending, Lancasters dropped Grand Slams and Tallboys on U-boat pens and railway viaducts across north Germany. At Bielefeld more than of railway viaduct was destroyed by Grand Slams creating an earthquake effect, which shook the foundations. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a development of the Fortress, but a larger design with four Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone"
"end of October a Bristol Blenheim fighter and escort Squadron arrived, No. 29 Squadron RAF. With the squadron came the soon-to-be-famous officer Guy Gibson, who would be awarded a Victoria Cross as the commander of the Dambusters. It was Gibson's second tour at Digby as he had learned to fly at the station while attending No. 2 FTS in 1936. Gibson was still based at Digby in 1940 when he was married in Penarth, South Wales; he flew his Blenheim from RAF Wellingore satellite field to RAF Pengam Moors in Cardiff docks for the wedding, returning three days later with"
"accommodation for over 1000 men. As it was intended to be a heavy bomber base for Royal Air Force Bomber Command, there were also large bomb stores, situated to the north of the flying field, The airfield was mainly used by 97 Squadron and then 617 Squadron (famous as the Dambusters). In the latter part of the war 617 Squadron were involved in dropping powerful ""Grand Slam"" bombs. After the war flying ceased but the site was reactivated as a Bristol Bloodhound Missile site between 1960-1967. In 2000 part of the site remained in use by the RAF for testing"
"the Second World War. Later used again by RAF Bomber Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967. On 19 March 1940 RAF Hemswell-based Handley Page Hampdens of No. 61 Squadron RAF were the first Bomber Command aircraft to drop bombs on German soil during the Second World War. The target was the Hörnum seaplane base on the northern Germany coast. RAF Hemswell was immortalised on film when it was used as a substitute for RAF Scampton in all the ground-based filming of the 1954 war film The Dambusters. The"
"One of the most anticipated highlights of the show included a special ""Dambusters Tribute Flypast"" featuring an Avro Lancaster of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight accompanied by a Panavia Tornado and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft, all operated by the No. 617 Squadron RAF. Other flying highlights included displays by the US Air Force Heritage Flight; a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27; a Royal Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet; a French Aeronavale Dassault Rafale duo; the Italian Air Force's Frecce Tricolori aerobatic display team, and the RAF's Red Arrows. Visitors on Saturday were treated to a"
"1 March 1942. As one of the earliest squadrons to be equipped they were heavily involved with the early operations with this aircraft, including the low level mission to bomb the MAN diesel engine factory in Augsburg on 17 April 1942. New Zealander Les Munro (as of 2013 the last surviving pilot who flew on 617 Squadron's Dambuster raid), served with 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa before being posted to Scampton to join 617 in early 1943. He came back to Woodhall Spa in January 1944 when 617 moved there for the rest of the war. 97 Squadron moved to"
"The Dam Busters (book) The Dam Busters is a non-fiction book by Paul Brickhill about Royal Air Force Squadron 617 Originally commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson V.C. during World War II. The squadron became known as the ""Dam Busters"" because of Operation Chastise, a mission using highly specialised bombs to destroy Ruhr dams in Germany. The book also covers the subsequent history of 617 Squadron, as an elite squadron specializing in attacking difficult targets with outsize weapons and precision techniques. Among Gibson's successors as commander was Group Captain Leonard Cheshire V.C., and the book describes Cheshire's unorthodox leadership style"
"and became the first squadron to convert completely to Lancasters, flying their first operational missions in the aircraft on 3 March 1942. Total sorties and losses for the war were: The squadron suffered the third highest overall casualties of RAF Bomber Command. In July 1945 the squadron exchanged places with No. 75 Squadron in RAF Mepal in Cambridgeshire to prepare for transfer to Tiger Force in the Far East for the war on Japan. After the war (from 1946–1947) the squadron was re-equipped with Avro Lincolns, converting to the Boeing Washington (the RAF name for the B-29 Superfortress in British"
"June 1943, the original ""Phantom"" was transferred to 101 Squadron in November that year and finished the war as part of 550 Squadron at Ludford Magna. The Lancaster currently carries the markings of 'Thumper' for the 2014 display season, an aircraft which served with No 617 Squadron after the Dams Raid. Some of the specially-modified Lancasters, which survived the Dams Raid, remained in service with the squadron afterwards. However, these aircraft were not suitable for all operations and they were replaced with standard Lancasters, one example being B Mk1 DV385. PA474 displays the markings of bombs for operations over Germany,"
"No. 550 Squadron RAF No. 550 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. No. 550 squadron was formed at RAF Waltham (near Grimsby), Lincolnshire on 25 November 1943 from 'C' Flight of 100 Squadron. Equipped with Avro Lancasters, they began operating in the same month, as part of No. 1 Group RAF. On 26/27 November, 8 of their Lancasters were dispatched to make bombing runs over Berlin; 7 succeeded, with the other failing to return after the mission. In early 1944, it was moved to RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire where it"
"20:12. The attack on ""Yellowfin"", the RAF's code name for Pforzheim, included 379 aircraft. The main force bombers were 367 Avro Lancasters of No. 1, No. 6, and No. 8 Groups along with one Film Unit Lancaster, and 13 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group (the Pathfinders). The master bomber for the raid was Major Ted Swales, DFC, a South African, aged 29, who would be awarded Bomber Command's last Victoria Cross of the war for his actions on this night. Despite severe damage to his plane he remained over the target directing the raid and died when his Lancaster crashed"
"of the Banff Strike Wing, comprising aircraft from 143, 235, 248 and 333 Squadrons, Royal Air Force, led by Wing Commander Max Guedj attacked the damaged ""Claus Rickmers"". Also attacked were the flak ships ""Seehund"" and ""O B Rogge"" and Räumboot ""R 34"". Five Mosquitos and three Focke-Wulf Fw 190s of 9 Staffeln, Jagdgeschwader 5 were shot down in the attack. ""Claus Rickmers"" was towed to Bergen for repairs. In May 1945, she was seized as a war prize and passed to the MoWT. Repairs were completed in 1947 and she was renamed ""Empire Carron"". The United Kingdom Official Number"
"project was further cut back from five drifts to three, even though work had begun on some of the other drifts. The site was finally put out of commission on 6 July 1944, when bombers of RAF Bomber Command's 617 Squadron (the famous ""Dambusters"") attacked using ""Tallboy"" deep-penetration bombs. The project eventually came under the control of the SS, and SS General Hans Kammler ordered it to be ready for action in late 1944, assisted by Walter Dornberger. A battery was constructed of two shorter V-3 guns approximately long with 12 side-chambers, and it was placed in the hands of"
"and finally Avro Lancasters, they completed their tour in October 1942, Martin being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Martin's penchant for low flying contributed to his selection in March 1943 for assignment to the newly formed No. 617 Squadron under Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Martin took part in the ""Dambusters"" raid on the night of 16/17 May 1943. He piloted the Lancaster bomber AJ-P ""Popsie"" (officially known as AJ-P ""Peter"") in the first formation, which was assigned to attack the Möhne Dam in Western Germany. Martin's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the attack, but he successfully accomplished"
"No. 625 Squadron RAF No. 625 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The squadron was formed on 1 October 1943 at RAF Kelstern, Lincolnshire from 'C' flight of 100 Squadron. It was equipped with Avro Lancasters, as part of No. 1 Group RAF in Bomber Command, of which it formed part between 18 October 1944 and 25 April 1945. The squadron mainly carried out night raids against Germany. On 5 April 1945, it moved to RAF Scampton. At the end of the war, the squadron dropped food to the"
"Lancaster squadrons - were dispatched in daylight to bomb the MAN factory producing diesel engines for U-boats, with the loss of seven aircraft from the dozen-strong force. Next was Operation Robinson, the Le Creusot raid of 17 October 1942, when 94 Lancasters, led by Wing Commander Leonard Slee of No. 49 Squadron RAF, made a dusk attack on the Schneider-Creusot munitions complex in Burgundy, ingressing at treetop height from the Bay of Biscay and recovering to England in darkness, for the loss of only one aircraft. Reconnaissance pilot Tony Hill, whose pictures had done so much for British understanding of"
"commander on 1 March 1944. He returned to operational duties in May 1944, becoming Master Bomber of 5 Group. His service in this role resulted in his being awarded a second bar to his DSO. He succeeded Leonard Cheshire as commander of No. 617 Squadron RAF in July 1944. 617 Squadron, the famous ""Dambusters"" squadron, specialised in low-level target marking and precision attacks. Under his command, the squadron bombed a series of V-1 storage sites and V-2 launching sites using Barnes Wallis's ""Tallboy"" 12,000 lb earthquake bomb. Tait was awarded a bar to his DFC for pressing home a low-level"
"of 13 Lancasters. Following its last raid on 25 April 1945 against Berchtesgaden it concentrated on dropping relief supplies into the Netherlands and transporting prisoners of war and troops back to England from Germany. With its job done it was disbanded on 14 November 1945. There is a 170 Sqn. memorial at the former RAF Hemswell site. 1945 - Sqn Ldr Basil Templeman-Rooke 1944-19945 - Pilot Officer Robert Byron Pattison No. 170 Squadron RAF No. 170 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force squadron that operated the North American Mustang in the fighter-reconnaissance role and later the"
"Bawtry in 1987 and entire Married Quarter sites also nearby at RAF Scampton, RAF Finningley and RAF Cranwell. Throughout the years of operation, RAF Hemswell's mascot and motto were a large weasel rearing-up on its hind legs ready to strike and the words ""Bold and Tenacious"" emblazoned over (or under) it. Hemswell was used as a substitute for RAF Scampton in the ground-based filming of the 1954 film ""The Dam Busters"" as the wartime layout of both Scampton and Hemswell was similar in many places. The film ""Night Bombers"" remains the best known filmed record of what RAF Hemswell looked"
"and many other targets, as well as mine-laying in sea traffic lanes. It was also in September 1941 that the Squadron received the proto-type Lancaster bomber, the first squadron of the RAF to receive the new aircraft. On a visit to the Squadron in December, Guest and Meredith were taken on a flight in the new plane. Although the order was given in December to cease operations in the Hampdens, it was not until 3 March 1942 that the Lancaster was put on active service on its first battle mission for the entire RAF. The Squadron, with its Lancasters, was"
"the Dambusters raid was marked by a flypast of the last operational Lancaster over the cliffs at Reculver, site of secret tests of inventor Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb. (This flight was part of a larger series of flypasts over key locations by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.) On 16 May 2008, Les Munro, the last surviving Squadron Leader, and Richard Todd, star of the celebrated film ""The Dambusters"", attended the 65th Anniversary service and flypast over Ladybower Reservoir. At 100 feet, as compared to 60 feet of the Dambusters' practice runs, a single Lancaster aircraft passed three times over"
"October 1945, and converted to Avro Lancasters in January 1947, before disbanding in April 1947. The squadron reformed in December 1947 at RAF Abingdon, flying Avro York transport aircraft. Taking part in the Berlin Airlift, it was later stationed at RAF Bassingbourn from June 1949 until disbanding in March 1950. In December 1953, the squadron reverted to the bomber role, reforming with English Electric Canberra B.2s at RAF Coningsby, moving to RAF Wittering and then RAF Upwood before disbanding for what became the last time in February 1957. No. 40 Squadron was later twice slated for reformation, firstly as the"