No. 215 Squadron RAF

No. 215 Squadron RAF
Active	1918–1919 1935–1940 1940–1946 1947–1948 1963–1967
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Motto(s)	Surgite nox adest Latin: "Arise, night is at hand"
Equipment	Vickers Wellington Consolidated Liberator Douglas Dakota

No. 215 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron formed as a night bomber squadron in World War I and again in World War II, becoming a transport squadron near the end of the Second World War.

No. 215 Squadron RAF was formed in France on 1 April 1918 by renumbering No. 15 squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service. No. 15 Squadron RNAS had been formed on 10 March 1918 to operate the Handley Page 0/100 as a night bomber squadron against targets in Germany. Soon after the squadron became part of the Royal Air Force it returned to England to re-equip with the Handley Page O/400 before returning to France as part of the Independent Air Force. After World War I hostilities ended (November 1918), the squadron disbanded on 18 October 1919.

The squadron was reformed on 1 October 1935 from 'A' flight of No. 58 Squadron at RAF Worthy Down. It was merged into 11 OTU. The squadron re-formed at RAF Honington on the same day with the Vickers Wellington only to be merged into 11 OTU the following month.

The squadron was reformed in December 1941 at RAF Newmarket ready for movement to India. The squadron was posted to Calcutta in 1942 and was involved in bombing operations using first Vickers Wellington and then later, Consolidated Liberator aircraft.

In April 1945 it re-equipped with the Douglas Dakota and assumed a transport squadron role for the remainder of the war. The squadron disbanded on 15 February 1946 and was renumbered No. 48 Squadron.

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