No. 148 Squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

has been part of the RAF since the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

First World War

The squadron was formed at Andover Aerodrome on 10 February 1918, it moved to Ford Junction Aerodrome on 1 March 1918 where it was equipped with the

Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 (Farman Experimental 2) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and ...

and moved to France on 25 April 1918. It returned to the UK on 17 February 1919 and disbanded at Tangmere on 4 July 1919.

Second World War

It was reformed at

RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a Firs ...

on 7 June 1937 with the

Hawker Audax The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

and the

Vickers Wellesley The Vickers Wellesley was a medium bomber that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey. It was one of two aircraft to be named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of ...

and moved twice before being disbanded and merged into No. 15 Operational Training Unit on 8 April 1940. With the expansion of the Royal Air Force Special Duties Service the unit was reformed in 1943 as No. 148 (Special Duties) Squadron. The unit's Halifaxes dropped supplies to partisans in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and the Balkans, while its flight of Lysanders under the command of Peter Vaughan-Fowler did agent pick-up operations to Greece, Yugoslavia and southern France. It participated in the

Warsaw airlift The Warsaw airlift or Warsaw air bridge was a British-led operation to re-supply the besieged Polish resistance Home Army (AK) in the Warsaw Uprising against Nazi Germany during the Second World War, after nearby Soviet forces chose not to come to ...

, where it suffered heavy losses. The unit continued its work through the end of the war.

Cold War

No. 148 operated the Vickers Valiant nuclear bomber out of

RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

from 1 July 1956 until 1 May 1965.

Aircraft operated

Date of introduction of aircraft into 148 squadron: * 1918 –

* 1937 –

* 1938 – Handley Page Heyford III * 1939 – Vickers Wellington I * 1939 – Avro Anson I * 1940 – Vickers Wellington IC * 1941 – Vickers Wellington II * 1943 – Consolidated Liberator II * 1943 – Handley Page Halifax II * 1944 – Westland Lysander IIIA * 1944 – Handley Page Halifax V * 1944 – Short Stirling IV * 1945 – Consolidated Liberator VI * 1946 – Avro Lancaster B.1 (FE) * 1949 – Avro Lincoln B.2 * 1956 – Vickers Valiant B1 and B(K).1 * 1957 – Vickers Valiant B(PR).1 * 1958 – Vickers Valiant B(PR)K.1 Records from 58RSU indicate 148 Sqdn also operated Blenheims as 58RSU carried out an engine change on Blenheim Z6157 of 148 Sqdn at Maryut in July 1943, after which it was flown to Heliopolis.Operations Record Book 58RSU, National Archive, 7 Jul 1943

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

*
148 Squadron (Special duties-SOE) RAF Commemorative Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:148 Squadron Royal Flying Corps squadrons Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Military units and formations established in 1918 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom