No. 550 Squadron RAF

No. 550 Squadron RAF
Active	25 Nov 1943 - 31 Oct 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Bomber
Motto	Latin: Per Ignem Vincimus (Translation: "Through fire we conquer")[1][2]
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	In front of flames of fire a sword erect point upwards.[2] The badge is symbolic of the squadron's power to force its way through barrage of fire and fighter opposition to drop its bombs. It can also be taken as symbolic of the squadron's raids with both incendiary and high-explosive bombs.[1]
Squadron Codes	BQ (Nov 1943 - Oct 1945)[3][4]
Aircraft flown
Bomber	Avro Lancaster Four-engined heavy bomber

No. 550 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II.

History

No. 550 squadron was formed at RAF Waltham (near Grimsby), Lincolnshire on 25 November 1943 from 'C' Flight of 100 Squadron.^[5] Equipped with Avro Lancasters, they began operating in the same month, as part of No. 1 Group RAF. On November 26/27, 8 of their Lancasters were dispatched to make bombing runs over Berlin; 7 succeeded, with the other failing to return after the mission.^[6] In early 1944, it was moved to RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire where it continued operations over German targets until May 1945, when it began dropping food over the Netherlands as relieve effort.^[6] The squadron completed 3,582 operational sorties with the Lancaster with a loss of 59 aircraft.^[7] It was disbanded at North Killingholme on 31 October 1945.,^[2] the same day that North Killinghome closed.^[8]

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster B1 bomber in the markings of No 550 squadron on one side (BQ-B) and No 100 squadron on the other (HW-R).

Operation Banquet

Before standing up as an operational bomber unit 550 Squadron was allocated to the Air Fighting Development Unit under 'Operation Banquet' anti-invasion plans.^[9]

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 550 Squadron RAF, data from^[2][5]

From	To	Aircraft	Version
November 1943	October 1945	Avro Lancaster	Mks.I, III

Notable aircraft

Three of the Lancasters that flew with 550 squadron managed to survive one hundred operations or more, and one nearly did so:

No. 550 Squadron RAF aircraft with the most number of operations, data from^[10]

Serial no.	Name	Operations	Call-sign	Fate	Remarks
EE139	"Phantom of the Ruhr"	121	BQ-B	Scrapped 19-02-1946	Also flew with No. 100 Squadron RAF. Current Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster flies BQ-B call-sign.[11]
PA995	"The Vulture Strikes"	101	BQ-V	Failed to return, 11-03-1945	Flew all missions with 550 Squadron[12]
ED905	"Ad Extremum/Press on Regardless"	100+	BQ-F	Crashed 20-08-1945 with No. 1656 Conversion Unit	Also flew with No. 103 Squadron RAF and No. 166 Squadron RAF[13]
W5005	"SS-Nan"	94	BQ-N	Ditched in Humber estuary 26/27-08-1944	Also flew with No. 460 Squadron RAF

Squadron bases

Bases and airfields used by no. 550 Squadron RAF, data from^[2][5]

From	To	Base
25 November 1943	3 January 1944	RAF Waltham, Lincolnshire
3 January 1944	31 October 1945	RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Moyes 1976, p. 267.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Halley 1988, p. 411.
3. ^ Bowyer and Rawlings 1979, p. 23.
4. ^ Flintham and Thomas 2003, p. 65.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Jefford 2001, p. 98.
6. ^ ^{a b} Moyes 1976, p. 268.
7. ^ Falconer 2003, p. 255.
8. ^ 550 Squadron and North Killingholme Association Official website
9. ^ Lake, Alan. "Flying Units of the RAF".Airlife Publishing. Shrewsbury. 1999. ISBN 1 84037 086 6
10. ^ Moyes 1976, p. 362.
11. ^ Franks 1994, pp. 9–96.
12. ^ Franks 1994, pp. 199–202.
13. ^ Franks 1994, pp. 79–84.

Bibliography

• Bowyer, Michael J.F.; John D.R. Rawlings (1979). Squadron Codes, 1937-56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd.. ISBN 0-85059-364-6. 
• Falconer, Jonathan (2003). Bomber Command Handbook 1939-1945. Stroud, England: Sutton Publishing. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0-7509-3171-X. 
• Flintham, Vic; Andrew Thomas (2003). Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd.. ISBN 1-84037-281-8. 
• Franks, Norman (1994). Claims to Fame: The Lancaster. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-220-0.. 
• Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.. ISBN 0-85130-164-9. 
• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G. (2001). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd.. ISBN 1-85310-053-6. 
• Moyes, Philip J.R. (1976). Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd.. ISBN 0-354-01027-1. 

• Lake, Alan. "Flying Units of the RAF".Airlife Publishing. Shrewsbury. 1999. ISBN 1 84037 086 6

External links

• No 541 - 598 Squadron Histories RafWeb.org
• 550 Squadron Royal Air Force new site
• 550 Squadron Royal Air Force old site
• 550 Squadron and North Killingholme Association Official website
• 550 squadron association

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