No. 157 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 active as a

night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

unit in the

Second World War 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 First World War

No. 157 Squadron

formed on 14 July 1918 at

RAF Upper Heyford RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the Second World War the airfield was used by Bomber Command. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford was one ...

and was eventually equipped with Sopwith TF.2 Salamander aircraft for ground support duties, but disbanded on 1 February 1919 without becoming operational.Jefford 2001, p. 66.

Reformation in Second World War

The squadron reformed in December 1941 at

RAF Debden Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden in North Essex, England History The airfield was opened in April 1937 ...

as a night fighter unit and was eventually equipped with the latest

Mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

night-fighter aircraft at

RAF Castle Camps RAF Castle Camps was listed as being in Cambridgeshire as it is close to its namesake Cambridgeshire village. It is very near the Suffolk border and the airfield straddled the Essex and Cambridgeshire county border. Construction of the statio ...

. The squadron flew patrols over

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

and by July 1943, after moving to

RAF Hunsdon Hunsdon is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is around east of Ware and north-west of Harlow. The population of the village taken at the 2011 Census was 1,080. See also *Baron Hunsdon *Hunsdon Airfield *The Hundred Pa ...

, began intruder attacks on German fighter bases with its new Mosquito Mk VIs. In November 1943, it moved to

RAF Predannack Predannack Airfield is an aerodrome near Mullion on The Lizard peninsula of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The runways are operated by the Royal Navy and today it is a satellite airfield and relief landing ground for nearby RNAS Culdrose. R ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, closer to the German bases. In March 194, it moved to

RAF Valley Royal Air Force Valley or more simply RAF Valley ( cy, Llu Awyr Brenhinol Y Fali) is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides both basic and advanced fast-jet training ...

and flew defensive patrols over the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. In May 1944, it moved back to

, receiving Mosquito Mk XIXs and supporting

bomber stream The bomber stream was a saturation attack tactic developed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command to overwhelm the nighttime German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II. The Kammhuber Line consisted of three layers of ...

s as part of

No. 100 Group RAF No. 100 (Bomber Support) Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command. The group was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures in one organisation. The g ...

. It disbanded on 16 August 1945 at

RAF Swannington Royal Air Force Swannington, or more simply RAF Swannington, was a Royal Air Force station located south of Cawston and north west of Norwich in Norfolk, England. It was opened in April 1944, being developed from the estate of Haveringland ...

.Rawlings 1978, pp. 297-298.

Aircraft operated

De Havilland Mosquitoat NF II at RAF Predannack

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bowyer, Chaz. ''Mosquito Squadrons of the Royal Air Force''. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Ltd., 1984. . * 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, 1918-88''. 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, 2001. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976 (reprinted 1978). .

External links

History of No.'s 156–160 Squadrons at RAF Web

157 Squadron history on the official RAF website
{{Royal Air Force

157 Year 157 ( CLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Civica and Aquillus (or, less frequently, year 910 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Military units and formations established in 1918 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom