No. 177 Squadron

No. 177 Squadron RAF was formed on 28 November 1942, with personnel assembling at Amarda Road in India from January 1943 before moving through Allahabad and Phaphamau to receive their Bristol Beaufighter VIs. The squadron flew its first operation on 10 September 1943, attacking Japanese communications on the Burmese coast, operating from Feni as its main forward base. Flying at low level to evade radar — a tactic that earned the Beaufighter the nickname “whispering death” among Japanese troops — the squadron struck enemy shipping, railway lines, and ports along the Burmese coastline and river systems. In September 1944 it participated in a large-scale attack on a Japanese coastal convoy making for Rangoon, and in May 1945 provided support for the amphibious landings to retake that city. The squadron converted from cannon armament to rocket projectiles during 1944, further increasing its destructive capability against ground targets. It disbanded on 5 July 1945 at Hathazari, and its operational history was later recorded in the book Silently into the Midst of Things by Atholl Sutherland Brown, a title drawn directly from the unit’s motto.