No. 106 Squadron

Group
No. 5 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Metheringham

In the database: 3 aircraft · 1 service member.

History

No. 106 Squadron served in No. 5 Group, flying the Handley Page Hampden in a training role in the war’s early months before returning to front-line night bombing in 1941. Early in 1942 it became one of the few squadrons to operate the underpowered Avro Manchester, and from May that year took the Avro Lancaster, which it flew until the end of the war. Its main bases were RAF Coningsby and later RAF Metheringham in Lincolnshire.

The squadron’s most famous commander was Guy Gibson, who led it through 1942 and into 1943 before leaving to form No. 617 Squadron for the dams raid. Over the war No. 106 flew well over 5,000 sorties and lost 187 aircraft.

Photographs

Armourers prepare to load 1,000-lb MC bombs into the bomb-bay of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark III of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) RAF at [RAF Metheringham](/airfields/19/), Lincolnshire, for a major night raid on Frankfurt, Germany.
ⓘ licence & creditBellamy W (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombing_up_106_Squadron_Lancaster_WWII_IWM_CH_12541.jpgView source & full licence →
{{En-gb|Aircrew of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) photographed in front of a Lancaster at [Syerston](/airfields/21/), Nottinghamshire, on the morning after the raids on Genoa, 22-23 October 1942. Crews of No 106 Squadron (RAF), photographed in front of a Lancaster at in Nottinghamshire, on the morning after the raids on Genoa, 22-23 October 1942. Fourth from the right is David Shannon, a future ' ' and leading light of .}}
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force (RAF) official photographer, Watkins J R (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircrew_of_No._106_Squadron_photographed_in_front_of_a_Lancaster_at_Syerston,_Nottinghamshire,_on_the_morning_after_the_raids_on_Genoa,_22-23_October_1942._View source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. An 8,000-lb HC bomb ('super cookie') is brought by tractor to a waiting [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) RAF in its dispersal at [Syerston](/airfields/21/), Nottinghamshire. The target on this particular night was Stuttgart, Germany.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Clark N S (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12595.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Armourers prepare to load 1,000-lb MC bombs into the bomb-bay of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark III of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) RAF at [Metheringham](/airfields/19/), Lincolnshire, for a major night raid on Frankfurt, Germany. The chalk markings on the bombs indicate that each has been fuzed with a No. 43 air-armed nose pistol, the safety pins of which can be seen hanging from the nose rotor. These will be removed shortly before the crew board the aircraft.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Bellamy W (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12541.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The damaged fuselage and mid-upper turret of [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark I, R5700 'ZN-G', of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) RAF based at [Elsham Wolds](/airfields/12/), Lincolnshire, after crash-landing at [Hardwick](/airfields/6181/), Norfolk, following an attack by a German fighter over Essen. R5700, was among 60 aircraft taking part in the first "Oboe" raid on Essen on the night of 13/14 January 1943, when it was twice attacked by a Focke Wulf Fw 190 "Wilde Sau" night-fighter shortly after bombing the target. The aircraft was severely damaged, the rear gunner was badly wounded and the mid-upper gunner, Sergeant J B Hood, was killed, but the pilot, Sergeant P N Reed, managed to fly the crippled bomber as far as the USAAF base at Hardwick before executing a successful crash-landing. Three weeks later, Sergeant Reed and his crew failed to return from a raid on Hamburg.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CE3.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Heavily-laden [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark IIIs of [No. 106 Squadron](/squadrons/34/) RAF taxy from their dispersals to the head of runway 20 at [Metheringham](/airfields/19/), Lincolnshire, for take-off on a raid to Frankfurt, Germany. The resulting attack on 22/23 March 1944 caused extensive destruction to eastern, central and western districts of the city, including the Opera House and the preserved medieval quarter.
ⓘ licence & creditBellamy (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._CH12543.jpgView source & full licence →