![]() ![]() Outbreak of war to the end of hostilities, operating for the first time on the day after war was declared. This volume is a story of an ordinary bomber squadron manned by extraordinarily brave young men who faced deathġ02 (Ceylon) Squadron was a mainstay of 4 Group from the In November 1943 the squadron left Bomber Command and moved to RAF Leicester East in preparation for airborne forces operations. The unit's grievous losses are reflected in the book, which gives a candid monthly report on the squadron's morale. Rocket Establishment at Peenemunde and the early clashes of the Battle of Berlin. The six months the squadron operated with Bomber Command would include the Battle of Hamburg, the attack on the Were few, but they left an indelible mark on the history of RAF Bomber Command. However, amongst the crews were young men who would defy the flak, fighters and the weather and survive. The Short Stirling wasconsidered a liability by HQ Bomber Command and hated by the C-in-C Arthur Harris, so it would never be a smooth Formed in June 1943 in No.3 Group and equipped with the four-engine Short Stirling, on paper at least the odds wereĪlready stacked against it. No.620 Squadron was one of a number of BomberĬommand squadrons that operated briefly during the bomber offensive over Germany. The Dortmund-Ems and Mittelland canals, which resulted in their destruction. From late summer onwards, the squadron was involved in a second Ruhr campaign and in 1945 took part in frequent attacks on Officer, in an attack on a synthetic oil refinery at Wesseling near Cologne. The squadron suffered its heaviest loss on Midsummer's Night 1944, when losing six crews, including that of its commanding Ground forces and in on-going campaigns against railways, V-Weapons and oil. pre-invasion against railways and coastal defences and post-invasion in tactical support of Independence from Bomber Command's main force in April 1944 and remained at the forefront of operations. Thereafter,Ĥ9 Squadron went to war in Lancasters and played a major role in the campaigns of 1943 against the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, the last mentioned continuing until the spring of 1944. Two months of operations, which included the three "Thousand Bomber Raids on Cologne, Essen and Bremen, the last-mentioned bringing down the curtain on the Manchester's ill-fated career. The great hope was the Avro Manchester, the type intended to replace the Hampden,īut its engine design was fatally flawed and the type was approaching the end of its brief operational career by the time that 49 Squadron converted in the early summer of 1942. Vessels' progress and four 49 Squadron Hampdens were among fifteen aircraft lost. A massive daylight commitment of aircraft by Bomber and Coastal Commands and the Fleet Air Arm failed to halt the Noses of the British defences, through the English Channel and on to German ports. The squadron took part in the infamous "Channel Dash" episode on the 12th of February 1942, during which the German fleet escaped from its long-time lodgings at Brest and passed under the At the limit of its range, the Hampden took 49 squadron crews to Berlin on many occasions, often arriving back over England flying on little more thanįumes. Service and in which 49 Squadron crews took part in the first mining operations in April 1940, the first strategic bombing operations over G ermany in May and the attacks on invasion barges assembling in ports along the occupied coast as the Battle of Britainĭrew to a close in the late summer and autumn. Operations during the first two years and nine months of WWII were carried out in the trusty but increasingly obsolete twin-engine Hampden, a type which rendered magnificent War was declared, and apart from a brief spell on attachment to Coastal Command between the 26th of January and 19th of March 1940, spent its entire career in Bomber Command operating under theīanner of 5 Group. It was in action against the enemy on the day that Se rving with 5 Group at the outbreak of war. 49 Squadron was one of six front-line Hampden units
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