No. 211 Squadron RAF
No. 211 Squadron RAF | |
---|---|
Active | 1917 1918–1919 1937–1946 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Role | Light bomber / fighter-bomber squadron |
Motto(s) | Toujours à propos ("Always at the right moment")[1] |
Aircraft | |
Engagements |
|
Insignia | |
Squadron badge | An azure lion disjointed, ducally crowned. |
Squadron code |
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No. 211 Squadron RAF was a squadron in the Royal Air Force active from 1917 to 1919 and from 1937 to 1946. In World War I it operated as a bomber and later a reconnaissance unit on the Western Front. In World War II it operated as a medium bomber unit in the Middle East and Far East and later as a strike fighter unit in the Far East, equipped with, successively, the Bristol Blenheim, the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito.
Squadron history
World War I
No. 11 (Naval) Squadron was formed in March 1917 as a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service.[3] It was primarily an operational training squadron, flying single-seat fighter aircraft, mainly Sopwith Pups and Triplanes, and a few Camels. It also flew standing patrols over the British naval ships stationed in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands.[4] It was disbanded in August 1917.[3]
On 10 March 1918 it was reformed as an RNAS bomber squadron at
The squadron was disbanded at
Squadron members were awarded three
World War II
The squadron was re-formed at
In August 1937 the squadron was re-equipped with the
Following the
The squadron then moved to
The squadron was re-established in December 1941 at RAF Helwan,[5] equipped with 24 Blenheim IVs with around 90 aircrew and over 400 ground staff.[6] In January 1942, it was sent to the Far East to operate from Sumatra and Java in a short-lived campaign against the Japanese.[5] The squadron suffered heavy casualties, losing ten aircraft and 19 aircrew killed or missing during operations from 6 February to 21 February 1942.[10] By the first week of March, Allied forces were withdrawing from Java but only 87 of 211 Squadron's personnel were evacuated before the surrender on 8 March 1942. At least 340 personnel of the squadron were taken prisoner by the Japanese, of whom 179 died in captivity.[10]
The squadron re-formed at
In May 1945 the squadron was stood down from operations
Between 1937 and 1946 the members of 211 Squadron were awarded three Distinguished Service Orders, 27 Distinguished Flying Crosses and one Bar, eight Distinguished Flying Medals, five mentions in dispatches, and four awards from other countries.[11]
Commanding officers
1918–1919[3] | ||
---|---|---|
Name | Dates | Notes |
Major H.G. Travers | March–May 1918 | |
Major R. Loraine | May–July 1918 | |
Major G.R.M. Reid |
July 1918 – March 1919 | Retired as Air Vice-Marshal, 1946 |
Captain H.N. Lett | March–June 1919 | |
1937–1946[6] | ||
Name | Dates | Notes |
Squadron Leader R.J.A. Ford | July 1937 – March 1938 | Retired as Group Captain, 1954 |
Squadron Leader S.H. Ware | March 1938 – February 1939 | Retired as Air Commodore, 1948 |
Squadron Leader J.W.B. Judge | February 1939 – July 1940 | Retired as Group Captain, 1952 |
Squadron Leader A.R.G. Bax | July–September 1940 | Retired as Wing Commander, 1955 |
Squadron Leader J.R. Gordon–Finlayson | September 1940 – March 1941 | Retired as Air Vice-Marshal, 1967 |
Squadron Leader R.J.C. Nedwill | March 1941 | Killed in air accident, 26 March 1941 |
Squadron Leader A.T. Irvine | March–April 1941 | KIA, 13 April 1941 |
Squadron Leader K.C.V.D. Dundas | April–May 1941 | KIA, 10 February 1942 |
Squadron Leader A.S.B. Blomfield | May–July 1941 | KIA, 7 October 1943 |
Wing Commander D.C.R. Macdonald | July–November 1941 | |
Wing Commander R.N. Bateson | January–March 1942 | Retired as Air Vice-Marshal, 1967 |
Acting Squadron Leader J.E.S. Hill | October 1943 | |
Wing Commander P.E. Meagher | October 1943 – August 1944 | |
Squadron Leader J.S.R. Muller–Rowland | August–October 1944 | Killed in DH 108 accident, 15 February 1950 |
Squadron Leader H.E. Martineau | October–December 1944 | |
Squadron Leader R.N. Dagnall | December 1944 – January 1945 | KIA, 13 January 1945 |
Wing Commander R.C.O. Lovelock | January–August 1945 | |
Wing Commander D.L. Harvey | August 1945 – March 1946 | Retired as Wing Commander, 1966 |
References
- Notes
- ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ Clark, D. (24 December 2010). "211 Squadron Markings". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Clark, D. (2014). "World War I". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Constable, Miles (2008). "Arthur Roy Brown, World War I Fighter Ace: A Short History". Canadian Air Aces of WWI, WWII and Korea. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Clark, D. (2014). "211 Squadron Movements". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Clark, D. (2014). "211 Squadron personnel rolls". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d Clark, D. (2014). "No. 211 Squadron RAF History". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Playfair, I.S.O. (2009), pp.110, 112–113
- ^ Clark, D. (2014). "C.F.R. Clark". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ a b Clark, D. (2014). "The Far East". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Clark, D. (2014). "211 Squadron Gallantry awards". 211squadron.org. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- Bibliography
- Clark, C.F.R. (1998). 211 Squadron Greece 1940–1941: An Observers Notes and Recollections. Canberra: D.R. Clark.
- Dunnet, J. (2001). Blenheim Over the Balkans. Durham: Pentland Press. ISBN 9781858218823.
- ISBN 978-1-84574-065-8.
- Squire, S/Ldr H.F. (1997). "RAFMO". Middle East Scrapbook. Durham: Pentland Press.
- Spencer, D.A. (2009). Looking Backwards Over Burma — Wartime Recollections of a RAF Beaufighter Navigator. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing. ISBN 9781846830730.
- Wisdom, T.H. (1942). Wings Over Olympus. London: George Allen & Unwin.
- Wright, P.A. (2011). The Elephant On My Wing — The Wartime Exploits of Flight Lieutenant Bobby Campbell, a Blenheim Pilot with 211 Squadron RAF 1939–1943. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing. ISBN 9781846831195.
External links
- Clark, D. (2014). "No. 211 Squadron RAF". Retrieved 22 December 2014.
- "211 Squadron". Royal Air Force. 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- Rickard, J. (2013). "No. 211 Squadron (RAF) during the Second World War". History of War. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- "Squadron Histories 211–215". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- "211 Squadron". RAF & Airfield History in Lincolnshire. 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.