No. 214 Squadron — Federated Malay States

Group
100 Group
Home station
RAF Oulton

About

No. 214 Squadron carried the fuller title “Federated Malay States”, marking the gift of money from Malaya that helped equip it. It served with Bomber Command throughout the war, beginning operations in June 1940 on the Vickers Wellington and later flying the Short Stirling, and bore the highest proportion of losses of any squadron in No. 3 Group.

In January 1944 it took on a new and very different role. Re-equipped with the American Boeing Fortress — the B-17 — and transferred to No. 100 Group at RAF Oulton, it became a radar-countermeasures squadron, using the “Airborne Cigar” jamming system and German-speaking operators to drown out and impersonate the enemy’s night-fighter controllers. Its motto, Ultor in umbris — “avenging in the shadows” — and its nightjar badge both spoke to a unit that did its work in the dark.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including No. 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron RAF Association and Wikipedia: No. 214 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

ⓘ licence & creditBasher Eyre / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VJ_Day_at_the_National_Memorial_Arboretum_(482)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6586122.jpgView source & full licence →
Vickers Valiant BK.1 XD816 wearing the fin markings of No. 214 Squadron RAF at RAF Abingdon in 1968
ⓘ licence & creditRuthAS / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vickers_Valiant_BK.1_XD816_214_Sqn_ABIN_150668_edited-2.jpgView source & full licence →
A Royal Air Force Fortress B Mark III (serial HB796) at Prestwick, Ayrshire (UK), after being fitted with radio counter-measures equipment by Scottish Aviation Ltd. It served with No. 214 Squadron RAF of No. 100 Bomber Group, based at Sculthorpe, Norfolk, from November 1944. Equipment fitted included American AN/APS15 radar in the large radome under the nose, "Airborne Cigar" (ABC) radio-jamming equipment (shown by the large aerial on top of the fuselage), and an "Airborne Grocer" aircraft radar jamming installation, the aerials of which can be seen on either side of the tail turret. HB796 failed to return from a bomber support mission on 9 February 1945.
ⓘ licence & creditUK Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Fortress_B.III_ECM_aircraft_at_Prestwick_1944.jpgView source & full licence →
The Royal Air Force in the 1930s Handley Page Harrows of No. 214 Squadron RAF, parked in front of the hangars at Feltwell, Norfolk, in the spring of 1938.
ⓘ licence & creditUnknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Harrow_-_Feltwell_-_The_Royal_Air_Force_in_the_1930s_HU67364.jpgView source & full licence →
Commonwealth War Graves of three airmen in the General Cemetery of Benschop in the Netherlands. Left to right: Sergeant John Adam, Squadron Leader William Clarke, Sergeant George Johnson. All served in 214 Squadron RAF, and were killed on 3 February 1943.
ⓘ licence & creditNannix / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commonwealth_war_graves_-_The_Netherlands_-_Benschop_general_cemetery.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Maintenance staff overhaul damaged Vickers Wellington Mark IC, T2470 'BU-K', of No. 214 Squadron RAF, in a C-type hangar at Stradishall, Suffolk.
ⓘ 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._CH1416.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Vickers Wellington Mark IC, T2470 'BU-K', of No. 214 Squadron RAF, is towed into a C-type hangar at Stradishall, Suffolk, for repair and overhaul following damage sustained on operations.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vickers_Wellington_-_Stradishall_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941._CH1415.jpgView source & full licence →
A Royal Air Force Boeing Fortress III (s/n HB796, "G") equipped for radio and radar countermeasures work, photographed in August 1944 at the Atlantic air terminal at Prestwick (today Glasgow Prestwick Airport), Scotland (UK), where aircraft were modified for service in this role. The Fortresses operated with No. 214 Squadron in No. 100 Group from January 1944 onwards. Note the RAF Coastal Command Consolidated Liberator on the right.
ⓘ licence & creditRAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_Fortress_Mk.III_(SD)_ECM_aircraft_214_Sqn_RAF_at_Prestwick_1944.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Vickers Wellington. Wellington Mark II, W5442 ‘BU-V’ “Sri Guroh”, of No. 214 Squadron RAF, at Stradishall, Suffolk. Behind W5442 is a Wellington Mark IC, ‘BU-Q’ “Kuala Lumpur”. Both aircraft were presented to the RAF by the Federated Malay States.
ⓘ licence & creditCrouch F W (Flying Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Vickers_Wellington._CH3944.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPa3ems / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:27-Den_Burg_cemetery_-_W.H._Trotter_-_R.A.F._-_5-3-1943.JPGView source & full licence →
Maintenance staff overhaul damaged Vickers Wellington Mark IC, T2470 'BU-K', of No. 214 Squadron RAF, in a C-type hangar at RAF Stradishall, Suffolk.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:214_Squadron_Wellington_repair_at_RAF_Stradishall_WWII_IWM_CH_1416.jpgView source & full licence →
Stirling Mark I, BF382 'BU-Q', of No. 214 Squadron RAF on the ground at RAF Stradishall, Suffolk, at the end of its operational service.
ⓘ licence & creditBritish Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:214_Squadron_Stirling_RAF_Stradishall_IWM_ATP_11154D.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'.