No. 138 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force that served in a variety of roles during its career, last disbanded in 1962. It was the first 'V-bomber' squadron of the RAF, flying the

Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response ...

between 1955 and 1962.

History

Formation in World War I as fighter squadron

No. 138 Squadron RAF was originally to be formed as a fighter unit on 1 May 1918, but formation was suspended until officially formed on 30 September 1918 as a fighter-reconnaissance squadron at Chingford, and was disbanded there on 1 February 1919.Rawlings 1982, pp. 104–105.

Special Duties in World War II

During World War II, it was reformed in 1941, from the expansion of No. 1419 Flight, and was the first squadron of the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service. In February 1942 the squadron's Lysander flight and a number of its Whitleys were hived off to make the nucleus of 161 (Special Duty) Squadron. Based initially at RAF Stradishall, in March 1942, 138 Squadron moved to its permanent home at the clandestine airfield at RAF Tempsford. The squadron dropped supplies and agents for the SIS and the

SOE SOE may refer to: Organizations * State-owned enterprise * Special Operations Executive, a British World War II clandestine sabotage and resistance organisation ** Special Operations Executive in the Netherlands, or Englandspiel * Society of Opera ...

to Axis occupied territory. From October 1941 there served several all-Polish volunteer crews.Hodyra, Piotr (2016). ''301 Dywizjon Bombowy 1940-1943'' (in Polish). Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press. . P.44-45 Between 1 April 1943 and November 1943 the squadron included Polish Special Duties Flight, as C Flight.Wacław Król: ''Polskie dywizjony lotnicze w Wielkiej Brytanii 1940–1945'' (Polish air squadrons in Great Britain 1940–1945). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1982. . P. 110 It carried out this role until March 1945 when it was reassigned to Bomber Command, operating under

No. 3 Group No. 3 Group (3 Gp) of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923–26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006. No. 3 Group was fi ...

.Moyes 1976, pp. 164–165. It was disbanded on 1 September 1950.

V-Bomber squadron post-war

On 1 January 1955 the squadron was reformed as the first squadron to be equipped with the

strategic nuclear bomber, based at RAF Gaydon and later moving to RAF Wittering. It flew them from Malta during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

of October 1956, and was finally disbanded on 1 April 1962.

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. ''Squadron Codes, 1937–56''. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. . * Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. ''Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). . * Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald & Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (2nd edition 1976, reprinted 1978). .

External links

No.138 Sqn History RAF.mod.uk

RAF Bomber Command section – 138 Squadron

{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 138 Squadron Raf 138 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1918 Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1962 Special Operations Executive 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom