No. 58 Squadron

No. 58 Squadron was formed on 8 June 1916 at Cramlington from a nucleus of No. 36 Squadron RFC, and after disbandment and reformation served continuously from the late 1930s until its final wartime disbandment on 25 May 1945. At the outbreak of the Second World War it was based at Linton-on-Ouse as part of No. 4 Group, Bomber Command, flying Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers on night operations over Germany including early leaflet raids and attacks on Berlin, Italy, and industrial targets in the Ruhr. In April 1942, after logging 1,757 sorties across 227 operations with Bomber Command, the squadron transferred permanently to Coastal Command for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties. Re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax aircraft from late 1942, it operated from stations including Stornoway and St. Eval, sinking at least five U-boats and sharing credit for two further kills. From the autumn of 1944 the squadron shifted to anti-shipping strikes against German vessels off the Norwegian coast and in the Skagerrak, under No. 18 Group, until the end of the war in Europe. The squadron’s motto, “Alis nocturnis” (“On the wings of the night”), reflects its origins as a night-bombing unit and its long experience of nocturnal operations over both sea and land.