No. 467 Squadron RAAF
| No. 467 Squadron RAAF | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Aircrew and ground staff from No. 467 Squadron RAAF with one of the squadron's Lancaster bombers in August 1944. The Lancaster is K-Kitty. Standing second from the right is navigator, Robert Sillett from Australia.
|
|
| Active | 7 November 1942 – 30 September 1945 |
| Country | Australia |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Role | Bomber squadron |
| Part of | No. 5 Group RAF, Bomber Command |
| Motto(s) |
Recidite Adversarius Atque Ferociter (Loosely translated as: "Your opponents will retreat because of your courageous attack") |
| Battle honours |
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
John Balmer (1943–44) William Brill (1944) |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron badge | A Kookaburra with a snake in its beak (unofficial) |
| Squadron code | PO (1942–45) |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Bomber | Avro Lancaster |
No. 467 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber squadron during World War II, active in the European Theatre of Operations. Formed in November 1942 as an Article XV Squadron in Britain, the squadron was notionally an Australian squadron under the command of the Royal Air Force, and consisted of a mixture of personnel from various Commonwealth nations. After becoming operational in early 1943, the squadron flew operations in Occupied Europe until the end of the war flying Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. It was scheduled to deploy to the Far East to take part in further operations against Japan, but the war ended before it could complete its training and the squadron was disbanded in September 1945.
No. 467 Squadron was formed at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) on 7 November 1942 and was equipped with Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Under the terms of the EATS, the squadron was nominally a Royal Australian Air Force unit, but it was manned by a mixture of Commonwealth personnel, the majority being British originally, although as the war progressed more Australians were posted in. Soon after becoming operational the squadron moved to RAF Bottesford, Leicestershire; it remained for a year before moving back to Lincolnshire, at RAF Waddington.
The squadron formed part of No. 5 Group, RAF Bomber Command, and flew its first operation on 2 January 1943, laying mines off the French coast near Furze. Five days later, it undertook a bombing raid on Essen in Germany. It suffered its first combat loss in April 1943 during a bombing raid on Thieuloy L'Abbaye, and after this it conducted raids on Germany, France, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Italy from until 1945. According to the RAAF Museum, during these raids the squadron gained a reputation for accurate bombing and was selected to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal, an important and heavily defended German transport artery, on several occasions.
...
Wikipedia