No. 138 Squadron — Special Duties

No. 138 Squadron was the first of the Royal Air Force’s special-duties units, formed in August 1941 around the nucleus of No. 1419 Flight. Its work was secret and quite unlike ordinary bombing: dropping agents, arms and supplies by parachute to the resistance movements of occupied Europe on behalf of the Special Operations Executive and the secret intelligence service, and occasionally landing to pick people up.

It flew a mixed fleet suited to that clandestine trade, including the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, the Handley Page Halifax and the small Westland Lysander. After beginning at RAF Stradishall the squadron moved in March 1942 to its lasting home at the secret airfield of RAF Tempsford, working alongside its sister unit No. 161 Squadron. It kept up the special-duties role until March 1945, when it was returned to ordinary bomber work in No. 3 Group. Fittingly, its badge showed a released shackle, with the single-word motto “Liberate”.