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> Units and Formations
Flying
Squadrons
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Heavy
Conversion Units
1654
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6
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1485
Gunnery Flight
2782
Defence Sqn
178 Support Unit
399 Signals Unit
Nationality
based Sqns
Formed: 7 Jan 1917, Montrose
Disbanded: 31 Dec 1919
Reformed: Aug 1936
Disbanded: 1 Jan 1956
Reformed: 21 May 1957
Disbanded: 31 Aug 1969
Squadron was based at:
RAF Hemswell :: ??
RAF Turnhouse :: - Mar 1938
RAF Scampton :: Mar 1938 - 15 Aug 1942; Oct 1960 - 31 Aug 1969
RAF Wyton :: 15 Aug 1942 - 18 Apr 1944
RAF Coningsby ::18 Apr 1944 - Jul 1946
RAF Hemswell :: Jul 1946 - 1 Jan 1956
RAF Waddington :: 21 May 1957 - Oct 1960
Squadron code: QQ (pre-Sep 1939), OL
Aircraft operated:
FE2b :: Jan 1917 - Dec 1919
Hampden :: Nov 1938 - Jan 1942
Manchester :: Dec 1941 - May 1942
Lancaster Mk I, Mk III :: May 1942 -
Vulcan B1 :: Jul 1957 - Aug 1960
Vulcan B2 :: Dec 1960 - Aug 1969
83 Sqn RFC formed on 7 Jan 1917 at Montrose. It departed for France in Feb 1918, conducting night bombing and recce until the close of the war. When it returned to the UK in Feb 1919 it was reduced to cadre strength, disbanding on 31 Dec 1919.
Reformed in Aug 1936 as a bomber sqn, 83 Sqn moved to RAF Scampton in 1938 with the Hampden. During Aug 1940 the Sqn participated in the attack on an aqueduct forming part of the Dortmund-Ems together with 49 Sqn. It also attacked the Scharnhost, von Scheer and Tirpitz. At the end of 1941 it re-equipped to the Manchester using this type in the 1000 bomber raids against Cologne and Essen. The Lancaster soon replaced it and the Sqn moved to RAF Wyton in Aug 1942 to join the Pathfinder Force and 8 Gp.
Other notable wartime missions included the Battle of the Ruhr from Mar 1943, the Battle of Hamburg in Jul/Aug 1943 and the raid on Peenemunde on 17 Aug targeting the V-weapons research facilities. 83 Sqn was by now dropping 250 lb target indicator bombs in its Pathfinder role.
In Apr 1944 83 Sqn transfered from 8 Gp at Wyton to 5 Gp at RAF Coninsby to act as a Pathfinder Sqn specifically for independent operations by 5 Gp. During Operation OVERLORD Lancaster from 83 Sqn bomber gun emplacements of the night of 5 Jun 1944 then acted as a target illuminating force for the Saumur Tunnel attack on 8 Jun, enabling 617 Sqn to drop 12 000 lb Tallboy bombs. 83 Sqn's final wartime sortie came in Apr 1945 against Vallo/Tonsberg oil refinery.
In Jul 1946 the Sqn converted to the Lincoln, moving to RAF Hemswell in Nov, staying until disbandment in Jan 1956. It reformed at RAF Waddington on 1 Jul 1957, to become the first to be equipped with the Vulcan bomber. In 1960 it was upgraded to the Vulcan B2 and was equipped with free-fall nuclear weapons; these were later upgraded to the Blue Steel missile. The Sqn was disbanded at RAF Scampton in August 1969.
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