Squadron 617
| No. 617 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
Squadron badge
|
|
| Active |
|
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 Royal Air Force
|
| Type | Flying squadron |
| Role | Multi–role combat |
| Part of | No. 1 Group RAF |
| Home station | MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina |
| Nickname(s) | 'The Dambusters' |
| Motto(s) |
Après moi le déluge (French for After me, the flood) |
| Aircraft | Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II |
| Battle honours | * Honours marked with an asterisk may be emblazoned on the Squadron Standard |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Guy Gibson Leonard Cheshire Willie Tait John Fauquier |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron badge heraldry | On a roundel, a dam in fesse, fractured by three flashes of lightning in pile and issuant from the breach water proper. The broken dam is indicative of the successful attack on the dams in May 1943. Approved by King George VI in March 1944. |
| Squadron roundel |  |
| Squadron codes |
AJ (1943-1946) KC (1943-1952) (used alongside AJ) YZ (1945) (only used on aircraft used to carry 'Grand Slam' bombs) AJ-A to AJ-Z (Tornados) |
No. 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, currently based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in the United States. It is commonly known as the "Dambusters", for its actions during Operation Chastise against German dams during the Second World War. In the early 21st century it operated the Tornado GR4 in the ground attack and reconnaissance role until being disbanded in the Spring of 2014. The squadron reformed on 17 April 2018, and is expected to return to RAF Marham during 2018 as the first British frontline squadron with the F-35 Lightning II.
According to the Squadron's entry in Flying Units of the RAF by Alan Lake, 617 was allocated the unit identification code MZ for the period April to September 1939, even though the unit did not actually exist at the time.
The squadron was formed under great secrecy at RAF Scampton during the Second World War on 21 March 1943. It included Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel and was formed for the specific task of attacking three major dams that contributed water and power to the Ruhr industrial region in Germany: the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe. The plan was given the codename Operation Chastise and carried out on 17 May 1943. The squadron had to develop the tactics to deploy Barnes Wallis's "Bouncing bomb", and undertook some of its training over the dams of the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, as the towers on the dam walls were similar to those to be found on some of the target dams in Germany.
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