No. 217 Squadron

No. 217 Squadron was reformed on 15 March 1937 at RAF Boscombe Down as a general reconnaissance unit under Coastal Command, initially flying Avro Ansons on maritime patrols over the Western Approaches. By 1940 it had re-equipped with Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers and moved to RAF St Eval in Cornwall, from where it conducted anti-shipping strikes along the French Atlantic coast and participated in the unsuccessful effort to intercept the German warships during the Channel Dash of February 1942. In the summer of 1942 the squadron deployed to Malta, where a torpedo attack on an Italian fleet approaching from the north succeeded in crippling the cruiser Trento, which was later finished off by a submarine. After Malta the aircrew transferred to Ceylon, trading their Beauforts for Lockheed Hudsons on anti-submarine patrol duties before re-equipping with Bristol Beaufighter strike aircraft in 1944 under No. 222 Group, Air Command South East Asia. Plans for a major strike against Japanese shipping at Singapore, codenamed Operation Jinx, were overtaken by Japan’s surrender, and the squadron was disbanded on 30 September 1945.