No. 77 Squadron

Group
4 Group
Home station
RAF Elvington

About

No. 77 Squadron reformed in 1937 and moved to RAF Driffield in Yorkshire as part of No. 4 Group, flying the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Its crews were over Germany on the very first night of the war, dropping propaganda leaflets. In May 1942 the squadron was loaned to Coastal Command for anti-submarine patrols, operating from RAF Chivenor in Devon, before returning to the bomber offensive.

Late in 1942 it settled at RAF Elvington and re-equipped with the Handley Page Halifax, flying its first operation with the type against the U-boat base at Lorient in February 1943. In May 1944 the squadron moved to RAF Full Sutton and took the improved, Hercules-engined Halifax III. Its motto, Esse potius quam videri, means “to be, rather than to seem”.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Wikipedia: No. 77 Squadron RAF and Yorkshire Air Museum — No. 77 Squadron, RAF Elvington. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Borculo_CWGC_-_E.C.E._Myers.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Borculo_CWGC_-_C.M._Evans.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Borculo_CWGC_-_A.J._Hannigan.jpgView source & full licence →
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ⓘ licence & creditArjanH / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algemene_Begraafplaats_Ede_-_5.jpegView source & full licence →
In the General Cemetery in Ede, Gelderland, the Netherlands is a plot with 32 war fatalities. On the left are two graves of Dutch soldiers who died during the German invasion in the Netherlands in May 1940. The other graves are 23 Allied airmen, five British Army soldiers and two unidentified soldiers. The airmen include seven members of 15 Squadron RAF, who died on 23 June 1943, and six members of 77 Squadron RAF, who died on 22 June 1944. The airmen also include 12 members of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, five members of the RNZAF, two members of the RAAF and two members of the RCAF.
ⓘ licence & creditArjanH / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algemene_Begraafplaats_Ede_-_3.jpegView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Aircrew a No. 77 Squadron RAF Detachment at Villeneuve/Vertus, France, prepare to board Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V, N1357 'KN-H', for a leaflet-dropping ("Nickelling") sortie to Prague and Vienna. The leather 'apron' worn by the air gunner on the left is the unzipped trousers section of his two-piece Irvin flying suit. N1357 was shot down on the night of 27/28 March 1940, after straying into neutral Holland while returning from a similar mission to the Ruhr.
ⓘ licence & creditDevon S A (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941._C496.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Sergeant H C Clayton, the bomb-aimer of a Handley Page Halifax "N for Nuts", of No. 77 Squadron RAF, shows the crew's mascot "Wakee Wakee" to Air Commodore G A Walker, Air Officer Commanding No. 42 Base, at Elvington, Yorkshire. On the left is the Station Commander of Elvington, Group Captain S S Bertram, and to Clayton's immediate right two pilots of 77 Squadron, Flight Lieutenant P M Cadman and Flight Lieutenant S E Wodehouse, both of whom were to lose their lives on bombing raids in June 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12362.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Farm labourers stack a load of late hay by a dispersal at Elvington, Yorkshire, in which Handley Page Halifax B Mark II Series I (Special), DT807 'KN-R' "Rita", of No. 77 Squadron RAF is standing.
ⓘ licence & creditClarke N S (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Elvington_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10598.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Crews of No. 77 Squadron RAF about to be driven to the dispersals at Elvington, Yorkshire, for the Squadron's fourth raid on Berlin, Germany. Note the two WAAF drivers by the tailboard of the lorry.
ⓘ licence & creditRAF Elvington, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12231.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Handley Page Halifax B Mark II Series I (Special), JB781 'KN-W', of No. 77 Squadron RAF gathers speed on the runway at Elvington, Yorkshire as it takes off for a bombing raid on Dusseldorf, Germany. This was the first occasion on which more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid, of which 12 were lost. Extensive damage was caused to the centre of Dusseldorf, which suffered its most destructive attack of the war. The aerial of the 'Monica' tail-warning radar can be seen protruding below the rear turret of JB781.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Elvington_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10240.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945-handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark III of No. 77 Squadron RAF, taking off from Elvington, Yorkshire. Note the censor’s attempt to obliterate the H2S radome under the fuselage
ⓘ licence & creditBellamy W (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._CH12532.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945-armstrong Whitworth Aw.38 Whitley Two Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark Vs, N1373 'KN-J' and N1347 'KN-E', of No. 77 Squadron RAF, overfly Driffield, Yorkshire, on return from a night-reconnaissance sortie.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Flying Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-armstrong_Whitworth_Aw.38_Whitley_C928.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark II Series 1 (Special), JB911’ KN-X’, of No. 77 Squadron RAF, making a low level pass over other aircraft of the squadron at Elvington, Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditClarke N S (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._CH10594.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:05-Den_Burg_-_Cemetery_-_S.F._Clarke_-23-09-1943.JPGView source & full licence →
Den Burg - Cemetery - A.S. Corlett -23-09-1943 - navigator - Halifax II - LW 224 - Crashed on 23-09-1943 in the Waddensea - Southeast from Den Helder
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:03-Den_Burg_-_Cemetery_-_A.S._Corlett_-23-09-1943.JPGView source & full licence →

No service records linked to this squadron yet. Aircraft, crews and sorties will appear here soon.

Further reading & sources

External sites — facts only are reused here; their text and images remain their authors'.