No. 128 Squadron

No. 128 Squadron RAF was first constituted in February 1918 but disbanded without becoming operational before the war’s end. It was reformed on 7 October 1941 at Hastings, Sierra Leone, flying Hurricane fighters in defence of British bases in West Africa against the threat posed by Vichy French forces based at Dakar; this period of service ended with disbandment on 8 March 1943. The squadron was reformed a second time on 5 September 1944 at RAF Wyton, this time equipped with de Havilland Mosquitoes and assigned to No. 8 Group’s Light Night Striking Force within Bomber Command. Operating under squadron code M5, the unit flew high-speed, high-altitude night bombing sorties over Germany, contributing to the sustained pressure on German air defences that crews described as the “Mosquito panic.” The squadron moved to the Continent in 1945, serving at Melsbroek in Belgium and later at Wahn in Germany as part of the post-war occupation forces under No. 2 Group. It was finally disbanded on 31 March 1946, its identity passing to No. 14 Squadron RAF the following day.