No. 198 Squadron 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 ...

aircraft squadron that operated during the Second World War particularly in the ground attack role as the allies advanced through continental Europe. The RAFAC counterpart of the squadron resides in Hinckley, sharing its current HQ with 121 Squadron

History

Typhoon IBs 198 Sqn RAF at Plumetot July 1944

No. 198 Squadron was formed at

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

on 1 June 1917 with

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

K biplanes to teach pilots elementary night flying and later a comprehensive night flying course for home defence pilots. It disbanded at Rochford in September 1919. The squadron reformed at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organi ...

as a fighter squadron equipped with the

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

on 8 December 1942. From March 1943 198 Squadron joined 609 Squadron at

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 ...

where it provided fighter-escorts to the twin-engined

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fighter-bombers on sorties into continental Europe. Over the next nine months 198 Squadron and 609 Squadron were the only Typhoon units to operate full-time on escort duties for RAF and USAAF bombers and long-range fighter sweeps (code-named " Ramrods") over France, Belgium and the Netherlands; during these operations the squadron used long-range Typhoons each equipped with a cigar-shaped 45 imp gallon fuel tank mounted below each wing. In these roles the unit was very successful, becoming one of the top scoring Typhoon units. During this time most of the other Typhoon units began to be equipped with bomb racks or

RP-3 The RP-3 (from Rocket Projectile 3 inch) was a British air to ground rocket projectile introduced during the Second World War. The "3 inch" designation referred to the nominal diameter of the rocket motor tube. The use of a warhead gave rise to ...

rocket rails and had started training to carry out ground attack operations in preparation for the cross-Channel invasion. After building up a score of enemy aircraft destroyed the squadron changed role to ground attack at the beginning of 1944, when the Typhoons were fitted with

rockets. In January 1944 the squadron became part of the

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

's " 123 Airfield" (later known as 123 Wing),These combined units of two or more squadrons were to be designated "Airfields" rather than "Wings" for several months. partnered with 609 Squadron. Initially 123 Airfield was commanded by

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Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Desmond J. Scott Group Captain Desmond James Scott, (11 September 1918 – 8 October 1997) was a New Zealand fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of at least five enemy aircraft. Born in Ashburton, he learn ...

. The squadron lost several of its pilots during this re-organisation to bring them into line with 2nd TAF's established strength requirements, and the ground crew echelon was completely changed. Morale slumped for a short while, but soon picked up as the squadron became familiarised with its new role.Shores and Thomas 2004, p.77 In March 1944 Scott was replaced by Wg Cdr R. E. P Brooker and 123 Wing moved to an "Armament Practice Camp" (APC) at

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The APC at Llanbedr -called 13 APC - was one of several which had been set up throughout the UK to provide training for all 2nd TAF units. before moving in April to

RAF Thorney Island Royal Air Force Thorney Island or more simply RAF Thorney Island is a former Royal Air Force station located on Thorney Island, West Sussex, England, west of Chichester and east of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Station history The airfield was bu ...

in preparation for D-Day. After the landings the squadron was heavily involved in fighting around

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Wunstorf Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen ...

in Germany in May 1945. On 15 September 1945 the squadron was disbanded. The RAF's top scoring Typhoon pilot was 198 Squadron's John Robert Baldwin, who claimed 15 aircraft shot down during 1942–44. Baldwin became commanding officer of the squadron in November 1943 and relinquished command in April 1944. He continued his association with 198 Squadron and ended the war as a

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

commanding No, 84 (Typhoon) Group.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft and pilot Losses

Commanding officers 1942 to 1945

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * Shores, Christopher and Thomas, Chris. ''Second Tactical Air Force Volume One. Spartan to Normandy, June 1943 to June 1944.'' Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, 2004. * Shores, Christopher and Thomas, Chris. ''Second Tactical Air Force Volume Two. Breakout to Bodenplatte July 1944 to January 1945.'' Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, 2005. * Thomas, Chris and Shores, Christopher. ''The Typhoon and Tempest Story''. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1988. .

External links

THE ASSOCIATION OF 198 SQUADRON RAF PILOTS & GROUND CREWS; 198 Sqn History
{{RAF squadrons 198 Squadron Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations established in 1917 1917 establishments in England