Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Royal Naval Air Service 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 ...

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.See Dennis and Edwards (2016) On 14 January 1918, a unit consisting of Airco DH.4s was re-designated No. 17 (Naval) squadron.See Barass (2017) When the Royal Air Force was created four months later on 1 April 1918 by merging the RNAS with the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, this unit was re-numbered No. 217 Squadron RAF, operating out of Bergues, near

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. The new squadron conducted daylight raids using Airco DH.4s on enemy bases and airfields in Belgium until the end of World War I. The squadron returned to RAF Driffield in March 1919, but was disbanded on 18 October 1919.

World War II

No. 217 Squadron was re-formed under the recently created RAF Coastal Command on 15 March 1937, based at RAF Boscombe Down.See Rickard (2011) Equipped with Avro Ansons, the first RAF monoplane with retractable undercarriage, the squadron performed general reconnaissance duties until the outbreak of World War II. It moved between different stations at RAF Tangmere, RAF Warmwell and RAF Bicester until October 1939.

English Channel Operations

In October 1939, No. 217 Squadron moved to its brand-new war station at RAF St Eval on the north Cornish coast, which it occupied in an unfinished state. Its Avro Ansons conducted anti-submarine patrols over the Western Approaches to the English Channel. From May 1940, the squadron started to be equipped with the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber, but serious problems with the new aircraft's Taurus engines meant that the Avro Ansons remained in service until December 1940. The Bristol Beauforts started to see active service from 24-25 September 1940. They were used in anti-shipping and mine-laying missions. Torpedo attacks were difficult because the aircraft had a tendency to roll, the height of weapon release meant that the distance to target was hard to judge and the aircraft were forced to overfly their target ships, rather than expose their belly to flak by turning away. One such anti-shipping mission set out on 12 February 1942 to intercept the German battleships ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' as these fled from their safe haven at Brest, making the daring '' Channel Dash'' for Germany. No. 217 Squadron had a detachment of four Beauforts that were ideally placed at RAF Thorney Island, near Portsmouth. On their first sortie, two aircraft made contact with a different warship, believed to be the German cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' but their torpedoes missed. On their second sortie, the same pair found the ''Scharnhorst'' but their torpedoes missed again. The other two Beauforts reached the French coast, after misdirection due to a mix-up over radio frequencies. A later sortie by the remaining aircraft from RAF St Eval only found four small minesweepers. In February 1942, the squadron moved briefly to

RAF Skitten Royal Air Force Skitten or more simply RAF Skitten is a former Royal Air Force satellite station directly east of the village of Killimster, located north east of Watten, Caithness, Scotland and northwest of Wick, Caithness, Scotland. On 19 No ...

and then

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...

in Scotland, where they conducted few operations, as they were being earmarked for duty in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

.

Mediterranean Operations

In May 1942 the squadron was ordered to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, via

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and Malta. The ground echelon left on 7 May 1942, with orders to proceed directly to the Far East, and the aircraft followed on 7 June 1942, arriving in Malta on 10 June 1942. However, many of the Bristol Beauforts were found to be unserviceable on arrival, having problems with their torpedo loading and dropping mechanisms. All nine aircraft were grounded for repairs. The aircraft were detained in Malta, in order to provide cover two for Allied convoys that were to resupply Malta from both ends of the Mediterranean in June 1942. Operation Harpoon sailed eastward from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, while

Operation Vigorous Operation Vigorous (known in Italy as 1942, "the Battle of mid-June 1942") was a British operation during the Second World War, to escort supply convoy MW11 from the eastern Mediterranean to Malta, which took place from 11 to 16 June 1942. Vigor ...

sailed westward from Alexandria. On the morning of 15 June 1942, a force of eight Bristol Beauforts attacked an Italian fleet that was steaming south, seeking to intercept the convoys.See Aldridge (2013) A single torpedo from one

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

See Telegraph (2016) crippled the Italian cruiser ''Trento'', which was later sunk by the British submarine HMS ''Umbra'' (P.35). On 21 June 1942, eight Beauforts of No. 217 Squadron flying out of RAF Luqa located and attacked an enemy convoy, scoring two hits on each merchant vessel and one possible hit by one of three Beauforts which failed to return.See MaltaGC70 (2018) On 23 June 1942, twelve Beauforts of No. 217 and No. 39 Squadrons attacked four destroyers and two large merchant vessels, scoring three hits and one probable hit on one merchant ship and two hits on the other, immobilising the ships. One aircraft of No. 217 Squadron crashed on landing; two from No. 39 Squadron failed to return. Three aircraft were slightly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. In another incident, on 28 June 1942, the crew of a ditched

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

were rescued by an Italian

CANT Z.506 The CANT Z.506 ''Airone'' ( Italian: Heron) was a trimotor floatplane produced by CANT from 1935. It served as a transport and postal aircraft with the Italian airline "Ala Littoria". It established 10 world records in 1936 and another 10 in 19 ...

seaplane. The rescued crew overpowered their Italian rescuers and the CANT was flown to Malta where the Italians were made

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

.See Denney (2005) No. 217 Squadron remained on Malta for two months, carrying out anti-shipping attacks across a wide section of the Mediterranean, reaching as far as Greece. These missions were very costly in terms of materiel and crew. On 3 July 1942, a mixed force of seven Bristol Beauforts escorted by five

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 flying out of

RAF Ta Kali Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in functio ...

was due to assault an Italian convoy south of the island of Zante in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

. However, two of the

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

s failed to start; and another two were forced to turn back due to engine trouble. Of the remaining three, two of the aircraft were shot down by flak and the third aircraft, having been hit in the tail, crashed on return to Malta, with the loss of all three crews. Aircrew losses were so severe, that it was thought the squadron might be wiped out entirely.See Mackie (2017a)

Far East Operations

The surviving aircrew arrived in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in July 1942, but had no aircraft, having left their battered Bristol Beauforts behind in the Middle East. The ground crews arrived by sea in August 1942. Their mission was to defend the approaches to India from the Japanese navy, after successful Japanese attacks on Colombo and Trincomalee between 5-10 April 1942. No. 217 Squadron was initially based at RAF Minneriya, an airstrip located in the east central part of Ceylon.See McNeill (1999) It was not until October 1942 that they started to receive Lockheed Hudsons. In November 1942,See Nesbit (2014) crews converted from the

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

to the

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

, which was used in anti-submarine patrols. A detachment was sent to a location 20 km south of Colombo, to clear and construct a new airstrip at RAF Ratmalana in the jungle. In February 1943, the squadron relocated to RAF Vavuniya, some 50 miles further north of RAF Minneriya, where the climate was more comfortable; and for a period, crews seemed to move between these two bases. New Bristol Beauforts started to arrive in April 1943, whereupon No. 217 Squadron joined forces with

No. 22 Squadron RAF Number 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is an operational testing and evaluation squadron for all the Joint Helicopter Command helicopter types including Chinook, Puma HC2, Merlin HC4, Apache and Wildcat AH1. Formerly the Rotary Wing Op ...

to become a torpedo-carrying anti-shipping force; however the Imperial Japanese Navy failed to show up, as they were busy in the Pacific Ocean at the time. By June 1944, it seemed that the Japanese had been deterred from attacking again. The bored crews referred to themselves jokingly as the ''Ceylon Home Guard''. In April 1944, No. 217 Squadron relocated to the airfield at RAF Ratmalana. From June-July 1944, they started to receive the new Bristol Beaufighter TF.X, an aircraft far better suited to maritime anti-shipping operations. The Beaufighter TF.X, affectionately known as the ''Torbeau'', had four nose-cannon, an under-belly torpedo (or two wing-mounted bombs) and wing-mounted rocket projectiles. Their new commander, Wg Cdr John G Lingard, DFC, trained the crews in the use of rocket projectiles and raised the squadron to an effective strike unit. The similarly re-equipped No. 22 Squadron was moved in a ground attack role to the Burma theatre, where Gen Wingate's Chindits had been more successful than expected. No. 217 Squadron relocated to RAF Vavuniya in September 1944.

Operations Jinx and Zipper

In early 1945, a secret operation was conceived by

No. 222 Group RAF No. 222 Group was a group of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Formed on 1 September 1941, based at Ceylon. Squadrons were stationed around the Indian Ocean. The group undertook long-range bombing and mine-laying operations that too ...

in Colombo, which was later authorised by Vice-Admiral Louis Mountbatten,

Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Comm ...

South East Asia Command. The idea was to attack Japanese capital ships while they resupplied in Singapore harbour. The direct distance from Ceylon to Singapore was 2,300 miles, well beyond the range of the aircraft. However, it might be possible to fly 1,700 miles to an intermediate staging post on the Cocos Islands, a pair of volcanic atolls in the Indian Ocean, and from there to cross the 1,040 miles to Singapore, by flying over the 12,000 ft high mountains of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. This plan was codenamed ''Operation Jinx''.See Mackie (2017b)See Burgess (2005) In March, 1945 a group of Royal Engineers on Direction Island, one of the Cocos Islands, was secretly joined by an advance group of 15 airmen, later supplemented by 200 airmen in three transport ships, to prepare ''Station Brown'', the staging post. On West Island, they cleared palm-trees from the beach and laid steel planking on crushed coral to serve as an airstrip. With Air Cdre A W Hunt commanding, the base was finished in April 1945. It was fitted out as a refuelling depot and supplied with 81 torpedoes. Unaware of this clandestine activity, groups of up to 12

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 ...

crews practised long-distance formation flying down the east coast of India from Karachi to Colombo in Ceylon, without being told their true target. To extend their range, the aircraft were fitted with an extra 90 gal fuselage tank and a 200 gal external drop-tank instead of the torpedo. Switching over sometimes led to air-locks in the fuel lines, causing two

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 to ditch in the sea. Fortunately, both crews were rescued. The strike crews were told on 2 May 1945, the day before the planned assault, what the real target was. They were to attack three battleships, an aircraft carrier and several destroyers, protected by fighters from three airfields. This was clearly a dangerous, if not suicidal, mission. Aircraft would be lost on the 1,700 mile outbound journey to the staging post, or would be spotted flying over Sumatra and finally, if they survived the attack, the planes would run out of fuel and have to be abandoned on Phuket Island. However, on 3 May, the crews were told that ''Operation Jinx'' had been postponed, in favour of ''

Operation Zipper During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it wa ...

'', supporting the invasion of the Malayan mainland at Mountbatten's directive. Conditions had changed: there were not enough targets in Singapore harbour to be worth the sacrifice of the squadron. On 22 June 1945, some air and ground crews were relocated to RAF Gannavaram on the Indian east coast in preparation for ''

Operation Zipper During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it wa ...

''. All other operations were suspended in the meantime, and ''Operation Jinx'' was rescheduled for September 1945. However, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Japan surrendered soon afterwards on 14 August 1945. The aircraft of No. 217 Squadron never went to the Cocos Islands. No. 217 Squadron was officially disbanded on 30 September 1945.

Post-War Years

From 15 February 1949 the squadron number was kept active by being linked to

No. 210 Squadron RAF ("Hovering in the Heavens")Halley 1988, p. 274. , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= Western Front, 1916–18 Ypres 1917 Lys Atlantic 1939–45 A ...

, but this ceased on 13 January 1952. No. 217 Squadron re-formed officially the following day on 14 January 1952 as a Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron at their old base RAF St Eval. They received two Lockheed Neptune MR.1s for trials (Maritime Reconnaissance, Mark 1 was the British designation for the Lockheed Neptune PV-5). On 7 April 1952, the squadron moved its base of operations to RAF Kinloss and was fully equipped with Neptune MR.1s by July 1952. They conducted maritime reconnaissance for five years. The squadron disbanded again on 31 March 1957.

Operation Grapple

No. 217 Squadron was re-formed on 1 February 1958 out of No. 1630 Flight, a helicopter unit based at RAF St Mawgan. In this last incarnation, the squadron operated the Westland Whirlwind HAR.2 helicopter, and acted in a supporting role in '' Operation Grapple'', the series of British hydrogen bomb trials being conducted at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. The Westland Whirlwinds of No. 217 Squadron were part of a much larger task force that included Avro Shackletons, English Electric Canberras and

Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response ...

s from other squadrons. Once these trials were completed, the squadron was disbanded on 13 November 1959.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

References

Bibliography

*Aldridge, Arthur (2013). ''The Last Torpedo Flyers: the True Story of Arthur Aldridge, Hero of the Skies''. London: Simon and Schuster. 352pp. *Banks, Sir Donald, ed. (1938).
''The Air Force List, January 1938''.
London: HMSO. Archive retrieved from National Library of Scotland. *Burgess, Jack, ed. (2005). ''Well... You Wanted to Fly! A Collection of Aircrew Reminiscences''. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing. 227pp. . *Nesbit, Roy C (2014). ''An Expendable Squadron: The Story of 217 Squadron, Coastal Command, 1939-1945''. Bradford: Pen & Sword Aviation. 256pp. . *Pine, Leslie G (1983). ''A Dictionary of Mottoes''. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 320pp. .

External links

*Barass, Malcolm B (2017).

''Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation''. *Denney, Glenn (2005).
"Chronology of the Siege of Malta, 1940-43".
''Merlins over Malta – the Defenders Return''. *Dennis, Ian and Edwards, Martin (2016).

''Royal Air Force, Roll of Honour''. *Mackie, John (2017).

''Library Ref 154, Aircrew Association, Scottish Saltire Branch''. *Mackie, John (2017).

''Library Ref 019, Aircrew Association, Scottish Saltire Branch''. *MaltaGC70 (2018).
"21-27 June 1942".
''Malta War Diary: the Story of a George Cross''. *McNeill, Ross (1999).

''RAF Coastal Command Index, RAF Commands''. *Quirke, Robert (2007)
"160 Squadron RAF, 1945."
''Public Records Office, Air 27, 1066-1067''. *Rickard, John (2011).

''History of War''. *Telegraph (2001).

''The Telegraph, Obituaries, 7 March 2001''. *Telegraph (2016).
"Wing Commander Arthur Aldridge".
''The Telegraph, Obituaries, 29 March 2016''. {{RAF Squadrons

217 Year 217 (Roman numerals, CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Praesens and Extricatus (or, less frequently, yea ...

Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II