No. 235 Squadron

No. 235 Squadron reformed at RAF Manston on 30 October 1939 and transferred from Fighter Command to Coastal Command on 27 February 1940, beginning a career as one of the command’s most active maritime strike units. Initially equipped with Fairey Battles for training and then Bristol Blenheims for fighter-reconnaissance patrols, the squadron re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighters from December 1941 and took the fight to enemy shipping along the Norwegian and Dutch coasts. In mid-1943 the squadron was detached to sweep the Bay of Biscay against German long-range aircraft that were hunting Allied convoys and attacking Coastal Command patrols. Converting to de Havilland Mosquitoes in June 1944, the squadron moved north to RAF Banff in September 1944 and joined the Banff Strike Wing, mounting low-level rocket and cannon attacks against enemy shipping in Norwegian waters. In April 1945, operating alongside Nos. 143 and 248 Squadrons, the squadron shared in the destruction of two U-boats — U-804 and U-251 — in the Kattegat as the war drew to a close. The squadron disbanded on 10 July 1945, its badge of a double wyvern spouting fire and its motto Jaculamur Humi — “We Strike Them to the Ground” — a fitting summary of six years of relentless offensive operations.