Air
of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation
No 146 - 150 Squadron Histories
No 146 Squadron
|
Plans
for its formation appeared in January 1918 for deployment to Egypt in
April as a DH9 equipped bomber unit. Deployment was later changed to June
and then July but on 31 May, its formation was deferred, as a result it never
formed in WW1. It eventually formed at Risalpur from 'B' Flight of No 5
Squadron on 15 October 1941. Equipped with Audaxes, these were taken to
Dum Dum in November 1941 to provide air defence of the region. In March
1942, the elderly Audaxes were replaced by Mohawks but in April these went to No
5 Squadron and it received Buffaloes instead. However, these were also to
be short-lived as in May, the squadron moved to Calcutta, receiving Hurricanes,
although a few Audaxes were retained for communications purposes. The
squadron then moved to Bengal to provide fighter cover for the area until
January 1943, when it began ground attack operations over Burma using advanced
bases, where necessary. The squadron moved to Burma itself in April 1943,
where it continued it ground attack operations but also resumed an air defence
role. In February 1944, rumours of an impending carrier borne attack led
the squadron being sent to Southern India to combat this, but the attack never
happened and in Jun it converted to the Thunderbolt. It returned to
operations over Burma in September continuing its ground attack role until
disbanding on 30 June 1945. |
Squadron Codes used: -
YZ |
Allocated Apr 1939 - Sep 1939 |
[Aircraft & Markings |
Commanding Officers]
No 147 Squadron
|
Plans
for its formation appeared in January 1918 for deployment to Egypt by the
end of May as a DH9 equipped bomber unit. Deployment was later changed to
June and then August and on 31 May, its formation was deferred, as a result it
never formed in WW1. Formation was eventually authorised on 17
October 1941 as a transport unit but this was later changed to a Liberator
equipped bomber unit in Egypt. Its ground personnel began arriving in
February 1942, but when no aircraft were received these were attached to No 104
Squadron. 147 regained its personnel in April but the lack of aircraft led
to them being attached to No 159 Squadron from April and then No 160 Squadron
from August. The squadron was eventually disbanded at Shandur on 15
February 1943, when its was absorbed into No 178 Squadron. The
squadron eventually reformed as a flying unit on 5 September 1944 at Croydon in
the transport role. Operating as part of Transport Command's No 110 Wing, it
flew Dakotas on both freight and passenger services between the UK and various
destinations in liberated Europe. Ansons were received to supplement the
Dakotas on the shorter ranged destinations in September 1944 and the squadron
maintained these services until disbanding on 13 September 1946.
The squadron was reformed on 1 February 1953 by redesignating No 1 Long Range
Ferry Unit. it was mainly involved in ferrying jet fighters to various
part s of the world starting with Sabres from Canada to Britain and Germany,
Venoms to both the Middle as Far East and Swifts and Hunters to Germany.
It was disbanded by being amalgamated with No 167 Squadron on 15 September 1958
into the Ferry Squadron.
Derek Wilson (SAC - 4087101), who served with the squadron during its time as a
ferry unit writes: -
"I served in the RAF. for 4 years from 1951 to 1955 (initially) stationed at
Abingdon from there I was transferred to 147 Sqn. Being a Turbine mechanic I
then did a course on the J47 engine at North Luffenham, Rutland. When I
returned I cleared from Abingdon I had 3 days leave, came back to camp and next
day boarded a HP Hastings with the rest of the ferry sqn and off we went to
Canada via Iceland, Greenland, Goose Bay,( Labrador) then finally landed at
Bagotville, (Quebec) half of us stayed there the others flew to St. Hubert,
Montreal.
This was winter time so we had to wait until the snow cleared before we could
receive F86 Sabre jets from the factory (Canadairs) outside Montreal. When we
received 72 aircraft which had taken about 7-8 weeks to |
be delivered and air tested for 5 hrs by our pilots then we were ready to start
ferrying the aircraft to England.
When the aircraft took off from St. Hubert in groups of 4 they flew to us at
Bagotville where they were serviced and repaired if any faults were found of
course, meanwhile the other group then with their gear flew to Goose Bay ready
to receive the planes from us and then we would fly to Bluey West in Greenland,
they would fly to Iceland and we would fly to Scotland and they of course to
England, then we all had some leave and returned to camp and we started all over
again, I think we ferried about 500 sabres that I think went to Europe." |
Squadron Codes used: -
RT |
Allocated Apr 1939 - Sep 1939 |
5F |
Allocated Sep 1944, no evidence of use |
[Aircraft & Markings |
Commanding Officers]
No 148 Squadron
|
Formed
on 10 February 1918 as a night bomber unit at Andover, equipped with FE2b and 2d
aircraft, which were taken to the Western Front in April 1918, where it
began attacks against German airfields, communications and other targets behind
the lines. It continued to operate the out-dated FE2s until the end of the
war and it eventually returned to the UK in February 1919, disbanding at
Tangmere on 30 June 1919.
The squadron reformed on 7 June 1937 at
Scampton as a light bomber squadron equipped with Audaxes. However, within a
month these had been replaced by Wellesleys, but it soon became obvious that
this aircraft possessed inadequate defences for a European war and these were
replaced by Heyfords in November 1938. Modern equipment arrived in March 1939
in the form of Wellingtons, however, the following month it became a Group Pool
Squadron. In this role it acted as an operational training unit for the other
units in its group, operating Ansons as well as the Wellingtons, moving to
Harwell on the outbreak of war, where on 9 April 1940 it was disbanded by being
redesignated No 15 Operational Training Unit.
Following the entry of Italy into the war on 10
June 1940, detachments of UK bomber squadrons had been sent to Malta to carry
out attacks against targets in North Africa. Three of these detachments (from
No 38, 99 and 115 Squadrons) were amalgamated into a new No 148 Squadron on 14
December 1940 at Luqa. It continued its attacks against targets in Libya,
Sicily and also the Italian mainland, from Malta, until March 1941 when it moved
to a new home at Kabrit in Egypt. From here it supported the 8th Army during
its battles for control of the North African Desert, operating from a number of
desert landing grounds. On 7 December 1942 a detachment of 12 Wellingtons was
sent to Malta, leaving six at LG167 in Libya, which were transferred to No’s 30
and 70 Squadrons. A week after arriving in Malta, the squadron disbanded, with
the crews being absorbed by other units on the island.
Three months later on 14 March 1943, No 148
Squadron reformed at Gambut in the ‘Special Duties’ role, equipped with
Halifaxes and Liberators. It was now responsible for supplying Partisan groups
throughout the Balkans and as far afield as Poland as well as undertaking normal
bombing missions when not otherwise occupied. With the end of the war the
squadron re-equipped with standard bomber Liberators, moving back to Egypt in
November 1945, where it disbanded on 15 January 1946.
|
It was soon back on the
battle order, when it reformed at Upwood in November 1946, equipped with
Lancasters, with Lincolns arriving in February 1950. The Lincolns were
used operationally in Malaya as part of Operation Firedog during 1954
and 1955, but
the unit disbanded again in July 1955. Its final incarnation began on 1 July
1956 at Marham as a Valiant V-bomber unit and again used this type operationally
during the Suez crisis of 1956. However, when metal fatigue was found in the
main spars of the entire Valiant fleet, the type was grounded and No 148
disbanded in April 1965. |
Standards |
Battle
Honours* |
Award
of Standard originally announced on 30 Jun 1964, effective from 1 Apr 1964
but presented:-
? |
? |
Squadron Codes used: -
BS |
Apr 1939 - Sep 1939 |
FS |
Mar 1943 - Jan 1945 |
AU |
Nov 1946 - Apr 1951 |
[Aircraft & Markings |
Personnel, aircraft and locations
|
Commanding Officers]
No 149
(East India) Squadron
|
Formed at Ford on 3 March 1918 in the night bomber role, equipped with FE2bs, it
moved to France in June and carried out raids against targets in Belgium and
Northern France until the end of the war. Remaining in Germany from
December 1918, it moved to Ireland in March 1919 and disbanded there on 1 August
of the same year. It was reformed from 'B' Flight of No 99
Squadron on 12April 1937 at Mildenhall, where it remained until April 1942.
Initially equipped with Heyfords, these were replaced by Wellingtons in January
1939, which it used on some of the earliest daylight raids of the war, but
following the mounting losses experienced on these, it moved to night raids in
April 1940, along with the rest of Bomber Command. In
November 1941, the squadron converted to Stirlings and in April 1942 moved to a
new base at Lakenheath. Continuing to operate as part of Bomber Command's
main Force the squadron moved to Methwold in May 1944, where it re-equipped with
Lancasters in August and where it remained until April 1946. Having been
retained as part of the post-war RAF, it moved to Tuddenham in April 1946 and
then in November to Stradishall. In February 1949, it returned to
Mildenhall, where it re-equipped with Lincolns in October, remaining there until
disbanding on 1 March 1950. The squadron reformed on 14 August
1950 at Marham as the RAF's first Washington bomber unit, moving to Coningsby in
October. These were intended as a interim nuclear bomber pending the
arrival of the RAF's own jet bomber, the Canberra. These were
received in March 1953 and in August of the following year, it re-located to
Ahlhorn in Germany, where it joined No 125 Wing. The following moth it
moved again, this time to Gutersloh, where it disbanded on 31 August 1956. |
Squadron Codes used: -
LY
|
Jan 1939 - Sep 1939 |
OJ |
Sep 1939 - Mar 1950, Aug 1950 - Apr 1951 |
TK |
Apr 1943 - Jun 1945 (only used by ''C' Flt) |
[Aircraft & Markings |
Personnel, aircraft and locations |
Commanding Officers]
|
Uncle Joe" and crew (and Roy). 149 Squadron 1944 |
|
Aircrew of 149
Squadron, signature not clear but last 5 letters of surname are iplow. |
|
Squadron Leader
Reece DSO, DFC, AFC and crew of "A" Able 149 Squadron (survived)
All
Photos courtesy - Mildred Seager via
Chris Seager© |
No 150 Squadron
|
By
April 1918, there were two squadrons operating in Salonika, No 17 and No 47,
both operating a variety of types and both carrying out reconnaissance and
fighter operations. On 1 April the fighter flight of each squadron was
withdrawn and combined to form a new unit, No 150 Squadron. The squadron
remained in Macedonia after the war until disbanding on 18 September 1919.
When the squadron reformed at Boscombe Down on 8 August 1938, it was as a Battle
equipped light bomber unit. Moving to Benson in April 1939, it became part
of the Advanced Air Striking Force shortly before the outbreak of war and moved
onto the continent on 2 September. Until the German attack of May 1940, it
flew reconnaissance and leaflet dropping operations, but after the attack it was
involved in offensive operations in an attempt to stem the German advance.
Withdrawn from France in mid June 1940, by the beginning of July it was bases at
Newton, where in October it re-equipped with Wellingtons. Until December
1942, the squadron flew night raids against a variety of targets in occupied
Europe and Germany, initially from Newton before moving to Snaith in July 1941
and then Kirmington in October 1942. In December 1942, the
squadron was withdrawn from operations in Europe and sent to the Middle East.
Operating from Blida, it carried out attacks against Axis targets in North
Africa, Sicily and Italy. In December 1943 it moved to bases in Italy,
where it remained until disbanding on 5 October 1944. However, the
squadron was soon revived, when 'C' Flight of No 550 Squadron at Fiskerton was
renumbered 150. In November the squadron moved to its final wartime base
at Hemswell, operating its Lancasters from there until the end of the war,
disbanding on 7 November 1945. The squadron only re-appeared in
the RAF's post-war order of battle once, when it became a Thor equipped
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile unit at Carnaby from 1 August 1959 to 9
April 1963. Linked with No 83 Sqn, 1/2/49 - 1/1/56 |
Squadron Codes used: -
DG
|
Oct 1938 - Sep 1939 |
JN
|
Sep 1939 - Oct 1944 |
IQ |
Nov 1944 - Nov 1945 |
[Aircraft & Markings |
Personnel, aircraft and locations |
Commanding Officers]
Squadron badge image on this page is courtesy of Steve
Clements
© Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Directorate of
Intellectual Property Rights
This page was last updated on
08/05/24©
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