No. 616 Squadron RAF
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No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron is an active Reserve unit of the
Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...
(RAuxAF) assigned to the RAF ISTAR Force at RAF Waddington. It was originally formed as a unit of the British
Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...
in 1938, active throughout World War 2 as a fighter unit, becoming the 1st operational RAF unit to fly jets and disbanded in 1957. The unit reformed in its current guise in April 2019 as 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force.


History and Operations


Formation

No. 616 Squadron was formed on 1 November 1938 at
RAF Doncaster Royal Air Force Doncaster or more simply RAF Doncaster, also referred to as Doncaster Aerodrome, is a former Royal Air Force station near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The first Aviation meeting in England In 1909, Doncaster and specif ...
and was at first allotted the bomber role, receiving
Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...
s for that role. The role soon changed however and the squadron's first operational fighter aircraft were
Gloster Gauntlet The Gloster Gauntlet was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and produced by the British aeroplane manufacturer Gloster Aircraft in the 1930s. It was the last fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to have an open cockpit, and ...
biplane fighters received in January 1939.
Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...
monoplane light bombers were delivered in May 1939 for training duties to assist the squadron in preparing for re-equipment with
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
Mk.Is in October 1939. During that month No. 616 moved to
RAF Leconfield Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield (near Beverley), East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield or D ...
and by the end of November conversion to the modern fighter was complete. The squadron's first operational sorties were over the
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
No. 616 was based at Leconfield, moving south to
RAF Kenley The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...
on 19 August to be nearer the front line. The improved Spitfire Mk.II was received in February 1941 and was used from April on sweeps over occupied France from
RAF Tangmere RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...
, continuing until October. Further periodic updating with Spitfire Mks.V, VI and VII continued through the mid-war years. From March 1943 onwards, No. 616 was stationed in southwest England.


First on Meteors

On 12 July 1944 the unit became the first RAF squadron to receive jet equipment in the form of Gloster Meteor Mk.I fighters, testing them at
RAF Culmhead Royal Air Force Culmhead or more simply RAF Culmhead is a former Royal Air Force station, situated at Churchstanton on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England. It had three tarmac runways that are now in poor condition and the control towers a ...
. The first Meteor operational sortie was on 27 July from
RAF Manston Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...
when it intercepted
V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...
flying bomb A flying bomb is a manned or unmanned aerial vehicle or aircraft carrying a large explosive warhead, a precursor to contemporary cruise missiles. In contrast to a bomber aircraft, which is intended to release bombs and then return to its base for ...
s launched against southern England. The first victories came on 4 August when one V1 was tipped over after a pilot's cannon jammed and another was shot down. The loss rate of the still unproven Meteor Mk.I was high, with three being written off in non-combat incidents between 15 and 29 August. Re-equipment with improved Meteor Mk.IIIs began in January 1945 and in February a detachment was deployed to
Melsbroek Melsbroek Air Base is a Belgian Air Component facility in Steenokkerzeel, northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It is located on the northern side of the same site as Brussels Airport, with which it shares runways and ground and air co ...
near
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in Belgium. It was intended as a defence against Me 262s but in the event they did not ever face them. In early April the complete squadron moved to
Gilze-Rijen Gilze en Rijen () is a municipality in the southern Netherlands. The municipality contains four villages: Rijen, Gilze, Hulten and Molenschot. It is home to the Gilze-Rijen Air Base. Rijen grew in the 19th century due to its leather factories. P ...
in the Netherlands, commencing ground attack sorties on 16 April. The squadron was disbanded at
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
, Germany on 29 August 1945 by being renumbered to
No. 263 Squadron RAF No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadron ...
.


Post-war

No. 616 squadron was officially reformed at
RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...
as the South Yorkshire Squadron on 10 May 1946, with volunteers being recruited over the following few months till embodied on 11 July 1946. It was allocated the night fighter role within Reserve Command and the first Mosquito T.3 trainers were received in October, but it was not until January 1948 that the operational Mosquito NF.30s were delivered to Finningley. At the end of 1948 No. 616 was redesignated as a day fighter squadron and began to receive Meteor F.3s in January 1949. Conversion to the updated Meteor F.8 took place in December 1951, which wore the distinctive Green and Gold Diamond markings of 616 Sqn on the rear fuselage. The squadron moved base to
RAF Worksop Royal Air Force Worksop or more simply RAF Worksop was a former Royal Air Force station located at Scofton, north east of Worksop, Nottinghamshire and west of Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. Station history * No. 18 Operational Training Un ...
on 23 May 1955, where it either disbanded on 10 March 1957 (per Halley and Jefford or Pitchfork), together with all RAuxAF flying units, or disbanded on 15 January 1957 according to Rawlings in ''Fighter Squadrons of the Royal Air Force'', at RAF Finningley.


Re-Activation & Current Role

In April 2019, the unit reformed as 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) at RAF Waddington to augment the RAF’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Force and delivering a Combat Air capability. Personnel assigned to 616 Sqn are former Regular RAF specialists, providing expertise, experience and mentoring to augment the RAF's Front Line ISTAR Squadrons.


Aircraft operated


Squadron bases


Commanding officers


Notable Members of 616 Squadron

*Air Vice Marshal James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson CB CBE DSO & Two Bars DFC & Bar *Group Captain Sir
Hugh Dundas Sir Hugh Spencer Lisle Dundas, (22 July 1920 – 10 July 1995), nicknamed List of aviators by nickname#C, "Cocky", was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War and later a senior broadcasting executive. He was prom ...
CBE DSO & Bar DFC *Group Captain Denys Gillam DSO & Two Bars DFC & Bar AFC *Group Captain Sir
Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...
CBE DSO & Bar DFC & Bar DL FRAeS


See also

*
List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Squadron (aviation), Squadrons are the main form of flying unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF). These include Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) squadrons incorporated into the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918, dur ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Squadron histories for Nos. 611–620 Squadrons

Squadron History 616 Sqn
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 616 Squadron Raf
616 __NOTOC__ Year 616 ( DCXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 616 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...
Fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II RAF squadrons involved in the Battle of Britain Military units and formations established in 1938