No. 7 Squadron

No. 7 Squadron badge
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Group
8 Group
Home station
RAF Oakington

About

No. 7 Squadron holds a special place in the story of the strategic bomber offensive as the first unit in the Royal Air Force to operate a four-engined heavy bomber in the Second World War. Reformed in August 1940, it took delivery of the new Short Stirling and flew the type’s first bombing raid, against oil storage near Rotterdam, on the night of 10/11 February 1941.

The squadron made its home at RAF Oakington in Cambridgeshire as part of No. 3 Group, and was unusual in Bomber Command for remaining at the same station throughout its operational war. In August 1942 it became one of the squadrons of the Pathfinder Force, marking targets for the main bomber stream over cities such as Berlin and Nuremberg, and it converted from the Stirling to the Avro Lancaster in 1943. Its motto, Per diem per noctem, means “by day and by night”.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including History of War — No. 7 Squadron (RAF) in the Second World War and Wikipedia: No. 7 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. Short Stirling B Mark Is of No. 7 Squadron RAF, taking on their load of 250-lb and 500-lb MC bombs at Oakington, Cambridge, for a night raid on Dortmund, Germany.
ⓘ licence & creditBrock F J (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._CH5287.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and his party approach a Short Stirling Mark I of No. 7 Squadron RAF with its air and ground crew lined up for inspection, during a review of British and American bombers in service with the RAF at Northolt, Middlesex. Accompanying the Prime Minister, but obscured by him, is Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, followed by Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air and Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group, Fighter Command. The aircraft lined up beyond the Stirling include a Handley Page Halifax, the Avro Lancaster prototype, and a Boeing Fortress.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J H (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Bomber_Command_Short_Stirling_with_HP_Halifax_behind,_1939-1941._CH17535.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Short Stirling B Mark Is of No. 7 Squadron RAF are refuelled on the flight line at Oakington, Cambridgeshire, prior to a night raid on Dortmund, 15 April 1942.
ⓘ licence & creditBrock F J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH5282.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1942. Oblique aerial photograph showing Short Stirling B Mark Is of No. 7 Squadron RAF, lined up on the perimeter track on the north-eastern side of the airfield at Oakington, Cambridge, for a night raid on Dortmund, Germany. The Cambridge-Huntingdon railway line, skirting the eastern boundary of the airfield, can be seen at upper left.
ⓘ licence & creditBrock F J (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1942._CH5290.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Squadron Leader The Reverend E T Killick (second from right), Station Chaplain at RAF Oakington, hands out 'winter warmers' from the RAF Comforts Fund to ground crew on a crisp autumnal morning, 24 October 1942. Two No. 7 Squadron Stirlings are in the background.
ⓘ licence & creditBaker L H (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_CH8741.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command A Stirling crew of No 7 Squadron being interrogated at Newmarket on their return from the raid on the Renault factory at Billancourt in Paris, 3-4 March 1942. At the time, it was the largest Bomber Command operation despatched against a single target, with 235 aircraft carrying out the concentrated attack. They achieved considerable success, destroying a significant portion of the plant and putting back lorry production by several months.
ⓘ licence & creditBrock F 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_CH5126.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircrew and Nose art on "S-Sugar", a Short Stirling of No. 7 Squadron RAF, in a dispersal at RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire.
ⓘ licence & creditMinistry of Information Photo Division Photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:7_Squadron_Stirling_at_RAF_Oakington_WWII_IWM_D_4752.jpgView source & full licence →
[Australian War Memorial description] ID number UK0837 Collection Photograph Object type Black & white Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London Date made 9 December 1943 Physical description Black & white Description Portrait of 415270 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) John Verdun Newton, Mingenew, WA, a member of the Western Australian Parliament, at RAAF Overseas Headquarters. He is a pilot in the RAAF serving in the UK, and the only flying Australian member of Parliament. Flt Lt Newton was killed in operations over Germany on 14 January, 1944 while attached to RAF 90 Squadron, and is buried in the Hanover War Cemetery.
ⓘ licence & creditPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work has been released into the public domain by its author, the Government of Australia. This applies worldwide.In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:the Government of Australia grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpoView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Chinook and Army Air Corps Apache helicopters are pictured practicing deck landings onboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Two Apache helicopters from 664 Squadron, Army Air Corps embarked for a two week training package, to enable pilots and ground crews to acclimatise to working in a maritime environment. They were joined by a Chinook from 7 Squadron, Royal Air Force which flew out to the ship for a few hours deck landing practice.
ⓘ licence & creditUK Government / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defence_Imagery_-_Helicopters_landing_aboard_HMS_Illustrious_07.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Chinook and Army Air Corps Apache helicopters are pictured practicing deck landings onboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Two Apache helicopters from 664 Squadron, Army Air Corps embarked for a two week training package, to enable pilots and ground crews to acclimatise to working in a maritime environment. They were joined by a Chinook from 7 Squadron, Royal Air Force which flew out to the ship for a few hours deck landing practice.
ⓘ licence & creditUK Government / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defence_Imagery_-_Helicopters_landing_aboard_HMS_Illustrious_06.jpgView source & full licence →
Photograph taken by POA(Phot) Ray Jones. Royal Air Force Chinook and Army Air Corps Apache helicopters are pictured practicing deck landings onboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Two Apache helicopters from 664 Squadron, Army Air Corps embarked for a two week training package, to enable pilots and ground crews to acclimatise to working in a maritime environment. They were joined by a Chinook from 7 Squadron, Royal Air Force which flew out to the ship for a few hours deck landing practice.
ⓘ licence & creditUK Government / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defence_Imagery_-_Helicopters_landing_aboard_HMS_Illustrious_04.jpgView source & full licence →
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ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:No._7_Squadron_RAF_badge.pngView source & full licence →

Operations flown

Aircraft (2)

SerialCodeTypeFate
JB722 MG-Q Avro Lancaster Lost on operations
ND433 MG-L 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'.