No. 607 Squadron RAF

No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron is an auxiliary squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1930 as a bomber unit in the Auxiliary Air Force and changed in 1936 to the fighter role. It fought in that role during the Second World War in Europe and Asia. After the war, in 1946, the squadron reformed as a fighter unit. Awarded the title Royal Auxiliary Air Force by King George in 1947, 607 Sqn was disbanded with all the other flying units of the RAuxAF on 10 March 1957. It reformed on 5 January 2015, as a General Service Support Squadron (GSS).

No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron RAuxAF
Active17 March 1930 – 31 July 1945
10 May 1946 – 10 March 1957
5 January 2015 -
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Part ofRoyal Auxiliary Air Force
Nickname(s)County of Durham
post 1951 aircraft insignia
Battle honoursFrance & Low Countries, 1939–40
Battle of Britain, 1940
Fortress Europe, 1941–42
Channel & North Sea, 1942
Arakan, 1942–44
Manipur, 1944
Burma, 1944–45
These seven honours are emblazoned on the squadron standard
Commanders
Honorary Air CommodoreThe Marquess of Londonderry (1932–1939)
The Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1939–1957)
Lady Charlotte Peel, The Countess Peel (2015-present)
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldryA winged lion salient, the hind legs also winged[1]
Squadron CodesLW (Mar 1939 – Sep 1939)[2]
AF (Sep 1939 – May 1945)[3]
RAN (Jun 1946 – 1949)[4]
LA (1949 – Apr 1951)[5]

History

Formation and early years

No. 607 Squadron was formed on 17 March 1930 at the then new airfield of RAF Usworth, County Durham[6] as a day bomber unit of the Auxiliary Air Force (AuxAF).[1] They became operational in the summer of 1933, having received their first aircraft in December 1932, flying Westland Wapitis. First commanding officer was Walter Leslie Runciman (later the 2nd Viscount Runciman of Doxford). In September 1936 the squadron was told that it was to re-role to a fighter squadron and was re-equipped with Hawker Demons. In the run up to WW2, 607 received Gloster Gladiators, which arrived in December 1938.

Second World War
Hawker Hurricane I operated by 607 Squadron in 1940 and preserved postwar in period marks including the unit's AF code letters.

Having achieved their first success downing a DO 18 flying boat in the North Sea and still equipped with Gladiators, the squadron was deployed to France as part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force in November 1939. During the Battle of France, the squadron operated from various locations, including Saint-Inglevert. In March 1940, the squadron was re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, just in time to effectively operate against the modern Luftwaffe aircraft during the Blitzkrieg. Following the British withdrawal, the squadron returned to the United Kingdom and served throughout the Battle of Britain, firstly in the air defence of the North East of England then on the South coast with 11Gp. In October 1941, the Squadron moved to RAF Manston and remained there undertaking anti shipping operations and cross channel fighter sweeps until 1942. During this period, 607 became the first unit to operate the Hurricane in the fighter bomber role and using their "Hurri-bombers" destroyed or damaged several enemy support vessels during the German capital ships "Channel dash!" on 12 February 1942.

During 1942, the Squadron was transported to India. There, it joined No. 166 Wing RAF on 25 May 1942. In September 1943, the Squadron's Hurricanes were replaced with Supermarine Spitfires. This change in machine, made the squadron the first unit in South East Asia Command to operate such aircraft. It re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk.VIII in March 1944, and flew these in support of XIV Army, including the Imphal and Kohima actions, until disbanding on 19 August 1945 at Mingaladon in Burma.

607 were one of the last units to finish operations in this theatre.

Post-war

On 10 May 1946, No. 607 Squadron reformed at RAF Ouston as a day fighter squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. After flying Spitfire F.14 and F.22s for five years, it converted to De Havilland Vampires. These were flown until February 1957 when, along with all the other flying units of the RAuxAF, it was disbanded on 10 March 1957.[7]

Reformation

Re-formed 5 January 2015, the squadron is now a General Service Support Squadron (GSS)[8][9] and operates from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.[10] The squadron has an established strength of almost 120 staff and has won awards for its recruitment and retention abilities.[11]

Aircraft operated
A Spitfire F.22 from No. 607 Squadron with the squadron badge on the cowling and racing number "4" for the Cooper Trophy race of 1948[12]
Aircraft operated by no. 607 Squadron RAF, data from[7][13][14]
From To Aircraft Version
December 1932January 1937Westland WapitiMk.IIa
September 1936August 1939Hawker Demon
December 1938May 1940Gloster GladiatorMks.I, II
March 1940September 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.I
June 1941November 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.IIa
July 1941March 1942Hawker HurricaneMk.IIb
June 1942February 1943Hawker HurricaneMk.IIc
February 1943September 1943Hawker HurricaneMk.IIb
September 1943March 1944Supermarine SpitfireMk.Vc
March 1944July 1945Supermarine SpitfireMk.VIII
November 1946March 1949Supermarine SpitfireF.14
January 1949June 1951Supermarine SpitfireF.22
March 1951March 1957De Havilland VampireFB.5
April 1956February 1957De Havilland VampireFB.9

Squadron locations
Airfields used by no. 607 Squadron RAF, data from[7][12][14][15]
From To Airfield
17 March 193012 August 1939RAF Usworth, County Durham
12 August 193924 August 1939RAF Abbotsinch, Renfrewshire, Scotland Annual Summer Camp only.
24 August 19399 October 1939RAF Usworth, County Durham
9 October 193914 November 1939RAF Acklington, Northumberland (Det. at RAF Drem, East Lothian, Scotland)
14 November 193915 November 1939RAF Croydon, Surrey
15 November 193913 December 1939Merville, France
13 December 193912 April 1940Vitry-en-Artois, France (Dets. at Abbeville and Saint-Inglevert)
12 April 194026 April 1940Abbeville, France
26 April 194018 May 1940Vitry-en-Artois, France
18 May 194022 May 1940Norrent-Fontes, France
22 May 19404 June 1940RAF Croydon, Surrey
4 June 19401 September 1940RAF Usworth, County Durham
1 September 194010 October 1940RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
10 October 19408 November 1940RAF Turnhouse, Fife, Scotland
8 November 194012 December 1940RAF Drem, East Lothian, Scotland
12 December 194016 January 1941RAF Usworth, County Durham
16 January 19412 March 1941RAF Macmerry, East Lothian, Scotland
2 March 194116 April 1941RAF Drem, East Lothian, Scotland
16 April 194127 July 1941RAF Skitten, Caithness, Scotland
27 July 194120 August 1941RAF Castletown, Caithness, Scotland
20 August 194110 October 1941RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk
10 October 194121 March 1942RAF Manston, Kent
21 March 194225 May 1942en route to British India
25 May 194223 August 1942RAF Alipore, Bengal
23 August 194216 December 1942RAF Jessore, Bengal
16 December 194223 January 1943RAF Feni, Bengal
23 January 19432 April 1943RAF Chittagong, Bengal
2 April 19431 October 1943RAF Alipore, Bengal
1 October 194315 October 1943RAF Amarda Road, Bengal
15 October 194329 November 1943RAF Alipore, Bengal
29 November 194325 February 1944RAF Ramu, Bengal
25 February 194421 March 1944RAF Nidania, Bengal
21 March 194417 April 1944RAF Rumkhapalong ('Rumkha'), Bengal
17 April 194427 April 1944RAF Wangjing, Manipur
27 April 19446 July 1944RAF Imphal, Manipur
6 July 194424 November 1944RAF Baigachi, Bengal
24 November 194411 December 1944RAF Sapam, Manipur
11 December 194416 January 1945RAF Tulihal, Manipur
16 January 19455 April 1945RAF Tabingaung, Burma
5 April 194519 April 1945RAF Dwehla, Burma
19 April 194528 April 1945RAF Kwetnge, Burma
28 April 19458 May 1945RAF Kalaywa, Burma
8 May 194514 May 1945RAF Thedaw, Burma (Det. at 'Tennant' airfield, Burma)
14 May 194519 August 1945RAF Mingaladon, Burma
10 May 194610 March 1957RAF Ouston, County Durham
16 July 195120 August 1951RAF Thornaby, North Yorkshire (detachment)
20 August 195110 September 1951RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire (detachment)
10 September 195110 October 1951RAF Acklington, Northumberland (detachment)
10 October 195110 March 1957RAF Ouston, Northumberland
January 2015presentRAF Leeming, North Yorkshire

Commanding officers
Officers commanding no. 607 Squadron RAF, data from[16][17]
From To Name
March 1930January 1939S/Ldr. W.L. Runciman
January 1939May 1940S/Ldr. L.E. Smith
May 1940May 1940S/Ldr G.M.Fidler Sqd OB May 1940
18 May 1940October 1940S/Ldr J.A. Vick Sqd OB May 1940
October 1940March 1941S/Ldr. A.W. Vincent
March 1941November 1941S/Ldr. G.D. Craig
November 1941December 1941S/Ldr. H.C. Dawson
December 1941October 1942S/Ldr. N.J. Mowatt, DSO
October 1942March 1943S/Ldr. R.H. Holland, DFC
March 1943April 1943S/Ldr. N.J. Mowatt, DSO
April 1943March 1944S/Ldr. P.J.T. Stephenson, DFC
March 1944May 1945S/Ldr. G.G.A. Davies
May 1945June 1945S/Ldr. C.M. Humphreys
June 1945August 1945S/Ldr. C.O.J. Pegge, DFC
May 19461949S/Ldr. J.R. Kyall, DSO, OBE, DFC
19491951S/Ldr. J.M. Bazin, DSO, DFC
1951September 1953S/Ldr. A.B. Dunford, DFC
September 1953June 1956S/Ldr. J.A. Stephen
June 1956March 1957S/Ldr. G. Gray
January 2015 January 2015 Sqn Ldr A Hall
January 2015June 2018 Wing commander A Dobson[10]
February 2019 Wg Cdr M Shuttleworth

See also

References

Notes
  1. Halley 1988, p. 423.
  2. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 14.
  3. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 16.
  4. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 138.
  5. Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 66.
  6. Moyes 1976, p. 277.
  7. Halley 1988, p. 424.
  8. "RAF - 607 (Country of Durham)Reserves". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  9. "RAF Reservist Squadron welcomes first recruits". Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  10. "Newly Reformed Sqn Remembers Its Past". raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  11. Copeland, Alexa (21 July 2017). "Honour for Durham squadron following successful recruitment". The Northern Echo. ProQuest 1966200867.
  12. Rawlings 1978, p. 490.
  13. Rawlings 1978, pp. 490–491.
  14. Jefford 2001, p. 100.
  15. Jefford 2001, pp. 270–271.
  16. Rawlings 1978, p. 491.
  17. Hunt 1972, pp. 163–181.

Bibliography
  • Bowyer, Michael J.F.; Rawlings, John D.R. (1979). Squadron Codes, 1937–56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
  • Dixon, Robert (2004). A Gathering of Eagles. London: PublishAmerica. ISBN 1-4137-3498-7.
  • Dixon, Robert (2008). 607 Squadron: A Shade of Blue. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4531-1.
  • Dixon, Robert (2011). Men of the North A Few of the Few. Wolf's Nick Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4664-4683-0.
  • Flintham, Vic; Thomas, Andrew (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.
  • Halley, James J. (1980). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-083-9.
  • 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.
  • Hunt, Leslie (1972). Twenty-One Squadrons: The History of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1925–1957. London: Garnstone Press. ISBN 0-85511-110-0.
  • Jefford, C.G. (2001). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912 (2nd ed.). 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.
  • Rawlings, John (1978) [1969]. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft (Revised ed.). London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
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