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No. 199 Squadron was a
The squadron reformed at RAF Blyton on 7 November 1942 equipped with the 
In July 1943 the squadron commenced mine laying duties using the Stirling and from February 1944 performed supply drops for 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) an ...
aircraft squadron that operated during the Second World War and later in the 1950s as a radar countermeasures squadron.
History
No. 199 Squadron was formed at Rochford on 1 June 1917 with Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2e biplanes to teach pilots advanced bomber training. Renumbered as No. 99 (Depot Training) Squadron RFC the squadron moved to RFCS Harpswell, Lincolnshire in 1918, as a night bomber training unit, where it was disbanded on 13 June 1919.
The squadron reformed at RAF Blyton on 7 November 1942 equipped with the Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...
, after a few months the squadron moved to RAF Lakenheath
Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon.
Despite being an RAF sta ...
and was re-equipped with the Short Stirling heavy-bomber. Between February 1943 and June 1943 the squadron was based at RAF Ingham in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
training for maritime mine laying over The Wash
The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it is fed by the riv ...
. Following training the squadron returned to RAF Lakenheath for marine operations over the English Channel and North Sea.
In July 1943 the squadron commenced mine laying duties using the Stirling and from February 1944 performed supply drops for the Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
. In May 1944 the squadron was moved to No. 100 (Radio Countermeasures) Group with tasking to perform radar jamming operations during the D-Day landings. The squadron aircraft also joined the heavy bomber raids over Germany but was equipped with advanced radar jamming equipment to disrupt the German air defences. In 1945 the Stirlings were exchanged for the Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its orig ...
until the squadron was disbanded on 29 July 1945 at RAF North Creake.
In 1951 the squadron was formed again at RAF Watton
Royal Air Force Watton or more simply RAF Watton is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of East Dereham, Norfolk, England.
Opened in 1937 it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) d ...
as part of No. 90 Signals Group to operate in the electronic countermeasures role with the Avro Lincoln and de Havilland Mosquito. The Mosquitos were replaced by the English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
and the squadron operated with other pathfinder Canberra squadrons at RAF Hemswell
Royal Air Force Hemswell or more simply RAF Hemswell is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located east of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England.
Located close to the village of Hemswell in Lincolnshire, England the disestablished airfield ...
. The Lincolns were replaced by the Vickers Valiant in 1957. The squadron was disbanded on 15 December 1958 with the Valiants of C Flight becoming 18 Squadron 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 ...
.
Aircraft operated
References
Sources
* * * {{RAF squadrons Military units and formations established in 1917 199 Squadron 199 Squadron 1917 establishments in England