No. 103 Squadron

Group: 1 Group
Home station: RAF Elsham Wolds

About

No. 103 Squadron entered the war flying the Fairey Battle and went to France in 1939 with the Advanced Air Striking Force. After the fall of France it re-equipped at home with the Vickers Wellington, flew briefly on the Handley Page Halifax, and from late 1942 took the Avro Lancaster, which it operated for the rest of the war.

From July 1941 the squadron was based at RAF Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire as part of No. 1 Group. It flew more operational sorties than any other squadron in the group — and, inevitably, suffered the group’s heaviest losses, the large majority of the aircraft lost from Elsham Wolds being its own. Its badge featured a swan, chosen as a bird both strong in flight and well able to defend itself.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including History of War — No. 103 Squadron (RAF) in the Second World War and Wikipedia: No. 103 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

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. CE126 — Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. LAC E Turner paints the 65th 'raid completed' symbol onto the nose of Avro Lancaster B Mark III, ED731 'AS-T2' "Dante's Daughter", of No. 166 Squadron RAF at Kirmington, Lincolnshire, following the aircraft's return from a raid on Berlin on the night of 15/16 February 1944. ED731 started its operational service with No. 103 Squadron RAF in March 1943, being transferred to 166 Squadron in September of that year. It completed more than 70 Sorties before being lost on the last major Bomber Command raid on Berlin on 24/25 March 1944. The artwork acknowledges a DFC awarded to the pilot and three ice creams among the bomb symbols, indicating raids on Italian targets.

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CE126.jpgView source & full licence →

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1941-1945 CH9030 — Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1941-1945 Avro Lancaster B Mark III, ED724 'PM-M', of No. 103 Squadron RAF pauses on the flarepath at Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire, before taking off for a raid on Duisburg, Germany, during the Battle of the Ruhr. Three searchlights (called 'Sandra' lights), two of which are visible on the left, form a cone to indicate the height of the cloud base for the departing aircraft.

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Miller (Plt Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1941-1945_CH9030.jpgView source & full licence →

AWM P02163.016 — Australian War Memorial summary: "Serny, France. 1918-11. Wing score board recording the results of various flying operations performed by No. 80 Wing RAF. The aircraft tally board was probably in the briefing room or mess of the base and appears to consist of chalk marks on a wall rather than a special board. It is dated 1918-07-01 to 1918-11-11. The squadrons listed are No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), No. 88 Squadron RAF, No. 2 Squadron AFC, No. 92 Squadron RAF, No. 103 Squadron RAF, No. 46 Squadron RAF, and No. 54 Squadron RAF. The other columns are headed `In Flames', `Crashed', `O.O.C.' (Out of Control), `Driven Down' and `Balloons Destroyed'."

ⓘ licence & credit
not stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AWM_P02163.016.jpgView source & full licence →

Aircraft (1)

Serial	Code	Type	Fate
ED888	PM-M2	Avro Lancaster	Scrapped post-war

Known personnel (2)

Name	Rank	Station	Dates
Cross, Ian	Squadron Leader	—	? – ?
Grant, Cyril Ewart Lionel	—	—	? – ?