Where is 617 squadron based

And I therefore ask your permission to lay the operation on," Eden wrote. The squadron was deployed to Malaya for four months in , returning to RAF Binbrook to be disbanded on 15 December The squadron's assigned role was high-level strategic bombing with a variety of free fall nuclear bombs. Both the B1 and B1A types were equipped with various free-fall nuclear weapons.

The squadron began almost immediately to upgrade yet again to the Vulcan B2, taking delivery of the first on 1 September , [ 9 ] although its high-level strategic bombing role remained unchanged until the advent of effective Soviet Surface-to-Air Missiles forced Bomber Command to re-assign V-bombers from high-altitude operations to low-level penetration operations in March , when the squadron's Vulcans adopted a mission profile that included a 'pop-up' manoeuvre from , ft [ 10 ] to above 12, ft for safe release of Blue Steel.

The squadron's Vulcans were configured for the Blue Steel stand-off bomb and Squadron was the first to be declared operational with it in August Following the transfer of responsibility for the nuclear deterrent to the Royal Navy the squadron was re-assigned to SACEUR for tactical strike missions. In a high-intensity European war the squadron's role was to support land forces on the Continent by striking deep into enemy-held areas beyond the forward edge of the battlefield, striking at enemy concentrations and infrastructure, with WE.

The squadron's eight aircraft were allocated eight WE. The squadron's Vulcan B2s served mainly in that low-level penetration role until disbandment on 31 December [ 15 ]. Their Tornado aircraft were each able to carry two WE. The squadron continued in this role until the WE. The following men have commanded Squadron: [ 21 ] [ 22 ].

Wikimedia Foundation. The Dambusters Raid. London: Cassell. ISBN Access date: October 01, The Avro Vulcan: a complete history. Arthur, Max October Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History.

Virgin Books. ISBN X. Halley, James J. Jefford, Wing Commander C. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, second edition Bomber Command. The Dambusters. Situated close to Conningsby, work on Woodhall Spa airfield started in early Originally the site was wooded and much of the woodland was retained for camouflage purposes. The airfield was built from new with three concrete runways in the standard bomber command pattern with a technical site on the southern side of the airfield.

Woodhall Spa finally opened in February as a 5 group bomber command satellite airfield. The squadron was formed on 21 March as an 'elite within a elite' with selected crews. Its original purpose was to use Barnes Wallis's 'bouncing bomb' in a raid on several Ruhr dams.

The hope was that the destruction of these dams and the resulting loss of water would have a devastating impact on German industrial potential. The new squadron was led by Wing Command Guy Gibson, already a very experienced bomber pilot.

The crews were amongst the best in Bomber Command. The operation required then to train in low level flight and navigation and to perfect the demanding run-ins, different for each dam. Eight of the nineteen aircraft were lost, and only three of their crew survived. Unfortunately the Sorpe Dam was of a different type and wasn't breached, and it provided just enough water to prevent a major disaster for German production.

The raid also played a part in the development of the mast bomber techniques used with great success by Bomber Command later in the war. After the dams raid Bomber Harris insisted that the squadron remained intact and would be rebuilt for use on similar tasks. This took a great deal of effort — on 2 June Air Vice Marshal Cochrane had to tell Harris that after two weeks of effort he'd only been able to find two suitable crews, while the other group commanders had found none.

The problem was that any crew that had survived for two tours and gained the level of experience required was too tired to go on. Eventually enough crews were found, but the squadron then struggled to find an effective role. Mist hit the targets and the raid wasn't a success. In order to reach the targets the bombers then flew on to North Africa to refuel. Maltby was killed when his aircraft crashed into the sea.

The squadron tried again on the following night with even more disasterous results. Eight aircraft, led by the new squadron leader G. Holden made a low level attack on the canal. Five aircraft were lost, including those of Holden and L. Knight, another of the dam busters. After this the squadron abandoned low level attacks and began to train to carry out precision raids from high altitude. The squadron used the Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight for the first time, dropping ten 12,lb bombs without success.

Viaducts and similar targets would prove to be very difficult to destroy until Barns Wallis's 12,lb 'tallboy' bomb entered service. The squadron's increasingly impressive accuracy could count against it. All of the nine 12,lb bombs dropped landed within yards of the target markers, an impressive achievement. When low cloud obscured the target markets the squadron turned back and carried its bombs home. By this point No. Low level raids were too costly, while the Oboe navigation system wasn't quite accurate enough to allow target markets to be placed on small targets.

The squadron's new commanding officer, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, believed that the best way to solve this problem would be for the squadron to carry out its own marking using low flying aircraft to achieve accuracy.

The Germans must have shared this opinion, for the factory was only defended by two machine guns. Cheshire took advantage of this to buzz the factory twice to give the French workers a chance to escape.

He then accurately dropped his markers and eleven more Lancasters from the squadron bombed on target, knocking out production at the factory. The squadron now began a series of accurate attacks on industrial targets in occupied Europe. Most of these raids also involved aircraft from other No.

Cheshire's aircraft was hit repeatedly by German fire but survived intact and he was able to place his target markers accurately. The target was then attacked by Lancasters from No.