No. 108 Squadron
Viribus contractis
- Command
- Fighter Command
- Formed
- 1 January 1937
- Disbanded
- 28 March 1945
In the database: 17 aircraft · 4 service members · 2 sorties.
History
No. 108 Squadron RAF was reformed in January 1937 at RAF Upper Heyford as a bomber unit, and entered the Second World War flying Blenheims as part of No. 2 Group before being absorbed into No. 13 Operational Training Unit in April 1940. The squadron was reconstituted at Kabrit in Egypt on 1 August 1941 as a night bomber unit, operating Wellingtons and Consolidated Liberators against Axis-held ports in Libya and Greece until November 1942. It was raised for a third time on 15 March 1943 at RAF Shandur, Egypt, this time as a night fighter squadron, with Bristol Beaufighters flying defensive patrols over Egypt, Libya and Malta. De Havilland Mosquitoes supplemented the Beaufighters from February 1944 and were used on intruder missions over the Balkans and Aegean before being withdrawn in July of that year. The squadron relocated to Hassani near Athens in late 1944, where its Beaufighters provided air support during the civil conflict that followed the German withdrawal from Greece. Transferred to Italy in March 1945 as the war drew towards its close, the squadron was disbanded on 28 March 1945. Its motto, Viribus contractis, translates as “With gathered strength.”
Stations operated from
Airfields this squadron flew from during the Second World War.
Photographs
Wing Commander R J Wells (far left), the Commanding Officer of No. 108 Squadron RAF, addresses his crews in front of a Vickers Wellington Mark IC, before taking off from Fayid, Egypt, on an operation.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:108_Squadron_Wellington_crews_Egypt_WWII_IWM_CM_2380.jpgView source & full licence →American Aircraft in Royal Air Force Service, 1939-1945- Consolidated Liberator. Consolidated Liberator B Mark II, AL530 ‘Q’, of ‘B’ Flight, No. 108 Squadron RAF based at Fayid, Egypt, in flight. On the disbandment of the Squadron in December 1942, this aircraft was transferred to the Special Liberator Flight.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Aircraft_in_Royal_Air_Force_Service,_1939-1945-_Consolidated_Liberator._ME(RAF)3495.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force- Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1940-1943. Consolidated Liberator Mark II, AL574 ‘O’, one of the handful of Liberators operated by No. 108 Squadron RAF in the Middle East at this time, parked on a dispersal pan at Fayid, Egypt, with its crew standing in front.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Consolidated_Liberator_-_Fayid_-_Royal_Air_Force-_Operations_in_North_Africa,_1940-1943._CM3386.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force- Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1940-1943. Armourers hauling a trolley of 500-lb Gp bombs towards Consoldiated Liberator Mark II, AL574 ‘O’, of No. 108 Squadron RAF, at Fayid, Egypt. As far as is known only two Liberators were employed operationally on long-range bombing sorties by the Squadron before it disbanded in December 1942.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Consolidated_Liberator_-_Fayid_-_Royal_Air_Force-_Operations_in_North_Africa,_1940-1943._CM3390.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Operations in Malta, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, 1940-1945. Vickers Wellington B Mark ICs, formerly of No. 15 Operational Training Unit, parked at North Front, Gibraltar, while staging through the Mediterranean to join operational units in Egypt. BB459 ‘K’ (right) went to No. 108 Squadron RAF at Fayid, while Z8960 ‘P’ (left) joined 70 Squadron RAF at LG 104/Qotafiyah II.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J H (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_Malta,_Gibraltar_and_the_Mediterranean,_1940-1945._CM6621.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force- Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1940-1943. An intelligence officer illustrates a target by the use of a sand model to bomber aircrews of No. 108 Squadron RAF at Fayid, Egypt.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_Operations_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa,_1940-1943._CM3383.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943 Wing Commander R J Wells (far left), the Commanding Officer of No. 108 Squadron RAF, has a final word with his crews in front of a Vickers Wellington Mark IC, before taking off from Fayid, Egypt, on an operation. Wells lost his life on 16 March 1942.