No. 227 Squadron RAF was a

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 ...

Squadron that formed as bomber unit in

World War I 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 ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

Formation and World War I

No. 227 Squadron was formed on 1 April 1918 as a day bomber unit and operated former

RNAS The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Capronis from Pizzone,

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 ...

, but it did not become operational and it disbanded on 9 December 1918.

Reformation in World War II

227 squadron was formed in Dec 1941. Personal sailed from Glagow in the ss. Viceroy of India on 4 January 1942 in convoy. The convoy was attacked by submarines in the North Atlantic about 11 January. One of the Castle ships was hit and left for the Azores. After four weeks the first port of call was Freetown. The next port of call was Durban. The entire personnel marched through Durban to the Town Hall where a Scotsman from 221 sang to the crowd after speeches by local dignitaries. After four days the convoy split. Some ships headed for the Far Easf. 227 squadron headed North unaccompanied and anchored at Aden for about 3 days. A Russian ship was anchored nearby and entertained the crew from a distance with some Russian songs. The Viceroy docked at Suez on 4 March. 227 disembarked and camped in tents at RAF. Kasfareet. Personal were employed attached to the MU assembling aircraft in temperatures that reached 129 degrees F. After a few weeks 227 equipped with about 16 Beaufighters moved to RAF Gianakalas in the Western Desert and went straight into action against Rommel's advance under its CO, Squadron Leader O'Reilly.....he was an Irishman known Mad Mick. Within a few weeks after heavy losses of aircraft, personnel were evacuated in lorry convoy to Palestine camping at RAF Aqir awaiting the arrival of some Halifax. Bombers from the UK (No 10 and No 76 squadron). Of the 17 taking off from East Anglia only about 10 arrived - all too late to take part in the intended relief of Malta. Bombers of 10 Squadron pending the arrival of

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

s. The squadron merged with 76 Squadron and 462 Squadron. On 20 August 1942, Beaufighters at

Luqa Luqa ( mt, Ħal Luqa, , ) is a town located in the Southern Region of Malta, 4.3 km away from the capital Valletta. With a population of 5,945 as of March 2014, it is a small but densely populated settlement which is typical of Malta's old ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

were named 227 Squadron and the unit then moved to Egypt, Libya and Italy. On 12 August 1944, it was renumbered 19 Squadron,

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

. It reformed again at

RAF Bardney Royal Air Force Bardney or RAF Bardney is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Bardney, Lincolnshire, England and east of the County town of Lincoln. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943 and the airfield closed i ...

on 7 October 1944 and flew Lancasters against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. No. 227 Squadron was based at

RAF Balderton Royal Air Force Balderton or more simply RAF Balderton was a former Royal Air Force station located south of Newark-on-Trent, sandwiched between the now extinct Great Northern Railway (GNR) Bottesford-Newark line and the A1 road in Notting ...

, Nottinghamshire with Avro Lancasters between October 1944 - April 1945. 227 Squadron moved to RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire on 5 April 1945, then in June to

RAF Graveley RAF Graveley is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Huntingdon. The station was originally intended to operate under No. 3 Group RAF, alongside RAF Tempsford and RAF Gransden Lodge. Station history Work on the site started in 194 ...

, where it was finally disbanded on 5 September.

Aircraft operated

References

External links

History of No.'s 226–230 Squadrons at RAF Web

227 Squadron history on the official RAF website
{{Royal Air Force 227 Military units and formations established in 1918 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom