No. 163 Squadron

No. 163 Squadron RAF had two distinct periods of service during the Second World War. The first began on 10 July 1942 when the squadron reformed at Suez and moved almost immediately to Asmara in Eritrea, operating Lockheed Hudsons on transport and communications duties — mail runs between Asmara and Khartoum, liaison flights across Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, and occasional longer sorties as far as Nigeria and Madagascar — under No. 216 Group, RAF Middle East. That incarnation was reduced to a cadre in December 1942 and formally disbanded on 16 June 1943. The squadron’s second and more combative existence began on 25 January 1945 when it reformed at RAF Wyton as part of No. 8 Group’s Light Night Striking Force, flying de Havilland Mosquitoes on night raids over Germany from as early as 28 January 1945. It contributed to the final months of the strategic bombing campaign until Germany’s surrender, and was disbanded on 10 August 1945. No badge or honorific name was ever authorised for the squadron.