No. 57 Squadron

Group
5 Group
Home station
RAF East Kirkby

About

No. 57 Squadron began the Second World War flying the Bristol Blenheim and was among the first RAF units sent to France in 1939, working as a strategic reconnaissance squadron. When the German offensive opened in May 1940 it suffered heavily in costly attacks on the advancing enemy columns and was withdrawn to England. After a spell of anti-shipping work over the North Sea it converted to the Vickers Wellington late in 1940 and flew its first night bombing operation in January 1941.

In September 1942 the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster and joined No. 5 Group, moving first to RAF Scampton and then, in August 1943, to RAF East Kirkby, from where it flew for the rest of the war. It took part in most of the major operations of the bomber offensive, including the attack on Hitler’s retreat at Berchtesgaden in April 1945 and, in the final days, minelaying sorties in Oslo Fjord. Over the war it flew more than 5,000 sorties and lost 172 aircraft.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including History of War — No. 57 Squadron (RAF) in the Second World War and Wikipedia: No. 57 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

{{En-gb| (RAF) Victor K2 XL231 of based at in . 57 Squadron was disbanded four weeks after this picture was taken; and XL231 passed to , who gave it 'Lusty Lindy' during (the 1991 Gulf War). On 25 November 1993, when 55 Squadron was wound up, it made its last flight from Marham to the at Elvington. It was kept 'live' and taxiable, with some parts being salvaged from XL190 at when that aircraft was broken up in January 1999. Photo: Dick Gilbert, 70th Anniversary Open Day, 31 May 1986.}}
ⓘ licence & creditDick Gilbert / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Victor_XL231_at_Manston_1986_(52094517662).jpgView source & full licence →
The aeroplane is an Avro Lincoln of No. 57 Squadron, Royal Air Force, at RAF Tengah, Singapore. Aerial warfare was a key part of British military strategy to defeat communist guerrillas during the Malayan Emergency. News of non-combatants being killed by RAF saturation bombing campaigns sparked heated debates in the British House of Commons over the military tactics employed by the British as part of Britain's counterinsurgency strategy against the guerilllas. The original photograph is a black and white copy negative, held by the UK Imperial War Museum, Catalogue number GOV 2267A.
ⓘ licence & creditUK Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OPERATIONS_OF_THE_ROYAL_AIR_FORCE_IN_MALAYA_MAY_1950_IWM_GOV_2267A.pngView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Scene in the Flying Control Room at West Kirkby, Lincolnshire, during a night raid on the marshalling yards at La Chapelle, near Paris, France in which No. 57 Squadron RAF, based at West Kirkby, were taking part. Standing behind the consoles, studing a weather map, is the Station Commander, Group Captain Taaffe (right), with the meteorological officer. The Flying Controller and his assistant are sitting at the consoles, second and third from left respectively. In the far corner sits the Group Intruder Control Officer.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH18718.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Operation POINTBLANK. A refuelling team replenish Avro Lancaster B Mark III, ND560 'DX-N', of No. 57 Squadron RAF at East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, in preparation for a night attack on the railway yards at La Chapelle, France.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12868.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Sergeant J B Mallett, a flight engineer on board an Avro Lancaster B Mark I of No. 57 Squadron at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, checks the readings on the aircraft's control panel.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (Plt Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH8792.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The wrecked rear turret of Avro Lancaster B Mark I, ED413 'DX-M' "Minnie the Moocher", of No. 57 Squadron RAF at Scampton, Lincolnshire, after returning from a night raid to Oberhausen, Germany, on the night of 14/15 June 1943, during which it was attacked by German night fighters. A cannon shell exploded in the rear turret, killing the gunner, Sergeant R F Haynes of Nuneaton Cheshire, while further strikes smashed the radio and navigational equipment, and riddled the fuselage of the aircraft with holes. The pilot, Sergeant A H Moores of Bromley, Kent, who was on his fifth operation over Germany, carried on nevertheless and bombed the target before making a succesful return to Scampton.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CE76.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Avro Lancaster B Mark Is of No. 57 Squadron RAF parked in a dispersal area at Scampton, Lincolnshire.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (Plt Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH9127.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Laden with parachutes and flight equipment, a Lancaster crew of No 57 Squadron at Scampton board the van which will take them to dispersal and their waiting aircraft, February 1943. This image was part of a sequence taken for an Air Ministry picture story entitled 'T for Tommy Makes a Sortie', which portrayed the events surrounding a single Lancaster bomber and its crew during a typical operation.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH8781.jpgView source & full licence →
Handley Page Victor K.1 tanker XA926 of No. 57 Squadron RAF at RAF Abingdon in 1968
ⓘ licence & creditRuthAS / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HP_Victor_BK1A_XA926_57_Sq_ABIN_15.06.68_edited-3.jpgView source & full licence →
Imperial War Museum, Duxford
ⓘ licence & creditDavid Merrett from Daventry, England / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Victor_(5781658130).jpgView source & full licence →
Imperial War Museum, Duxford
ⓘ licence & creditDavid Merrett from Daventry, England / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Victor_(5781637332).jpgView source & full licence →
Handley Page Victor at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, 2001. Own photo.
ⓘ licence & creditJohn at English Wikipedia / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2001victorwiki.jpgView source & full licence →
57 Squadron Royal Air Force Solo Badge
ⓘ licence & creditGhoststalker000 / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:57_Squadron_Royal_Air_Force_Solo_Badge.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'.