No. 21 Squadron RAF

No. 21 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1979.

The squadron is famous for Operation Jericho on 18 February 1944, when the crews of Mosquitoes breached the walls of a Gestapo prison at Amiens, France, allowing members of the French Resistance to escape.

History

World War One

No. 21 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed at Netheravon on 23 July 1915, equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7. After six months of training, the squadron was sent to the France in January 1916. The main role for its R.E.7s was reconnaissance, while it also operated small numbers of Bristol Scout Ds and a single Martinsyde G.100 as escort fighters. Although the R.E.7 was badly underpowered, 21 Squadron used its R.E.7s as bombers during the Battle of the Somme, being the first Squadron to drop bombs.

It discarded its R.E.7s in August 1916, replacing them by single seat Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12s. These were used as bombers, and despite being almost useless at the role, as fighters. In February 1917, the Squadron re-equipped again, receiving the R.E.8, and gave a good account of itself in the Corps Reconnaissance role. On one day, 7 June 1917, at the beginning of the Battle of Messines, its artillery spotting was responsible for putting 72 German batteries out of action.. This led General Trenchard, the commander of the Royal Flying Corps in France, to describe No. 21 as "the best artillery squadron in France".

In April 1918, 21 Squadron were based at Saint Inglevert. After the end of the war the squadron handed over its aircraft to 13 Squadron and was disbanded on 1 October 1919.

Light bomber squadron

The squadron was reformed on 3 December 1935 at RAF Bircham Newton as a light bomber squadron equipped with the Hawker Hind biplane. It moved to RAF Abbotsinch, Glasgow on 22 July 1936 and transferred to No. 2 Group on 1 August that year but transferred again, this time to No. 1 Group on 6 October. The squadron moved to RAF Lympne in Kent in November 1936. By August 1938 it began to receive the more modern Bristol Blenheim monoplane and moved to RAF Eastchurch, also in Kent.. The Munich crisis saw the squadron mobilise in preparation for war with Germany. The squadron temporarily joined 2 Group on 27 September and moved to RAF Cottesmore, before the end of the crisis on 8 October saw the squadron return to 1 Group and Eastchurch. On 1 January 1939, the squadron rejoined 2 Group, and moved to RAF Watton in Norfolk on 2 March 1939.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, the squadron was converting to the Blenheim IV and so was not fully operational, mainly flying reconnaissance missions. In May 1940, during the Battle of France it began daylight attacks on advancing German columns in the Low Countries and France, flying its first mission of the campaign on 11 May, when 11 Blenheims attacked a bridge at Maastricht for no result except for two Blenheims shot down and eight damaged. From June to October 1940 the squadron operated from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland to attack German shipping off the coast of Norway and to deter any German invasion across the North Sea. Back in Norfolk the squadron began regular low-level attacks on enemy shipping. On 26 April, a detachment of six Blenheims from 21 Squadron was detached to Malta in April 1941, serving there until May. The operation was considered successful, and as a result squadrons of 2 Group were regularly despatched to Malta, operating there for about five weeks before ferrying the aircraft to North Africa, with some pilots returning home and some remaining in theatre. At the end of 1941 the squadron again moved to Malta to attack Italian shipping and targets in Italy and Libya. By this time Malta was under heavy air attack and the squadron took heavy losses both during combat (with landing back at Malta becoming increasingly dangerous owing to the heavy presence of enemy fighters), and owing to bombing of the aircraft on the ground at RAF Luqa. The squadron was disbanded in Malta on 14 March 1942.

On the same day a new 21 Squadron was formed at RAF Bodney, still with the Blenheim, but re-equipped a few months later with the Lockheed Ventura. It was the first RAF squadron to use the Ventura, moving to RAF Methwold on 1 November. It flew its first operational mission using the Ventura, a low-level attack by three aircraft on railway lines near Hengelo in the Netherlands, on 3 November.. On 6 December it took part in Operation Oyster, a large-scale attack by 2 Group on the Philips works at Eindhoven

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