No. 44 Squadron — Rhodesia

Group
5 Group
Home station
RAF Waddington

About

No. 44 Squadron earned its lasting fame as the first unit in the Royal Air Force to convert entirely to the Avro Lancaster, receiving its first aircraft at the end of December 1941 and flying the type’s first operational sortie in March 1942. Serving in No. 5 Group and flying earlier from the Handley Page Hampden, it was retitled No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in 1941 in recognition of the many airmen drawn from Southern Rhodesia and southern Africa.

On 17 April 1942 the squadron led one of Bomber Command’s most daring operations: a low-level daylight raid on the MAN diesel works at Augsburg, deep in southern Germany. Acting Squadron Leader John Nettleton pressed the attack home through heavy losses — five of the six aircraft in his formation were shot down — and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership. He was later killed on a raid in 1943. The squadron flew from Lincolnshire stations including RAF Waddington and RAF Dunholme Lodge, and carried the motto Fulmina regis iusta — “the King’s thunderbolts are righteous”.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including RAF Museum — For Valour: Squadron Leader John Nettleton VC and Wikipedia: No. 44 Squadron RAF. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

The Royal Air Force in Britain, October 1942 A rigger touches up the code letters KM-O of Avro Lancaster R5540, No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force at Waddington, Lincolnshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Waddington_-_Royal_Air_Force_in_Britain,_October_1942_TR195.jpgView source & full licence →
The Royal Air Force in Britain, October 1942 Royal Air Force mechanics carrying out repairs to the mid-upper turret of Avro Lancaster bomber R5540 at Waddington, Lincolnshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Waddington_-_Royal_Air_Force_in_Britain,_October_1942_TR194.jpgView source & full licence →
The Royal Air Force in Britain, October 1942 Rod cleaning the front machine guns of Avro Lancaster R5666/`KM-F', while another member of the ground crew cleans the cockpit windows. Comment : Squadron code KM appears to identify this as as a Lancaster B Mk I of No. 44 Squadron RAF, at RAF Waddington, England.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Waddington_-_Royal_Air_Force_in_Britain,_October_1942_TR188.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Lancaster I R5729/KM-A of No 44 Squadron at Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire, before setting out for Berlin on 2 January 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH11929.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.52 Hampden and Hereford. Hampden Mark Is, AE257 ‘KM-X’ and AE202 ‘KM-K’, of No. 44 Squadron RAF based at Waddington, Lincolnshire, in flight. Both aircraft were lost on raids over Germany, AE257 on the night of 21/22 October 1941 flying to Bremen, and AE202 over Hamburg on 26/27 July 1942.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (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.52_Hampden_and_Hereford._CH3478.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Three Handley Page Hampden Mk Is of No 44 Squadron RAF based at Waddington, Lincolnshire, in flight.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941._CH3482.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A tractor-drawn train of 4,000-lb Mark I HC bombs ('cookies') pauses on its journey from the bomb-dump at Mildenhall, Suffolk, while groundcrew chalk appropriate messages on them. In the background an Avro Lancaster Mark I, L7540 'OL-U', of No. 83 Squadron RAF's Lancaster Conversion Flight, normally based at Scampton, Lincolnshire, undergoes repairs: the unit code-letters of its previous operators, No. 44 Squadron RAF, are still visible under those of 83 Squadron.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Brock (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH17903.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Avro Lancaster B Mark I, R5729 'KM-A', of No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force runs up its engines in a dispersal at Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire, before setting out on a night raid to Berlin. This veteran aircraft had taken part in more than 70 operations with the Squadron since joining it in 1942. It was finally shot down with the loss of its entire crew during a raid on Brunswick on the night of 14-15 January 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Devon S (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH11927.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Leading Aircraftwoman Lilian Yule tractors Avro Lancaster B Mark III, DV238 'EA-O', of No. 49 Squadron RAF to its dispersal slot at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire. DV238 later went to No. 44 Squadron RAF with whom it was lost during a raid on Berlin on 16/17 December 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._CH13716.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command A member of the ground crew poses in the narrow 'fighter-type' cockpit of one of No 44 Squadron's Hampdens, September 1941. Note his 'Rhodesia' shoulder title and the bomb tally painted on the fuselage.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH3484.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Lancaster I, R5740/KM-O of No 44 Squadron, running up its engines at Waddington, 12 October 1942.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Woodbine G (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH7491.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12-Den_Burg_cemetery_-_J.W._Loree_-_R.C.A.F_-_17-12-1942.JPGView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10-Den_Burg_cemetery_-G.W._Jones_-_R.A.F._-_17-12-1942.JPGView source & full licence →
Testing the tyre pressure of Avro Lancaster R5540 of No 44 Squadron Conversion Flight at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, UK.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0Testing_the_tyre_pressure_of_Avro_Lancaster_R5540_of_No_44_Squadron_Conversion_Flight_at_Waddington,_Lincolnshire.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:08-Den_Burg_cemetery_-_G._Beckett_-_R.A.F._-17-12-1942.JPGView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:06-Den_Burg_cemetery_-_K.R._Mac_Leod_-_R.A.F._-_17-12-1942.JPGView source & full licence →

Operations flown

Aircraft (6)

SerialCodeTypeFate
L7536 KM-H Avro Lancaster Lost on operations
L7548 KM-T Avro Lancaster Lost on operations
L7565 KM-V Avro Lancaster Lost on operations
R5506 KM-P Avro Lancaster Lost on operations
R5508 KM-B Avro Lancaster Survived the war
R5510 KM-A Avro Lancaster Lost on operations

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'.