No. 34 Squadron

No. 34 Squadron RAF was re-formed on 3 December 1935 at Bircham Newton as a light bomber unit, equipping with Hawker Hinds before converting to Bristol Blenheims. In August 1939 the squadron left Watton for the Far East, arriving at RAF Tengah, Singapore, in September that year and immediately entering the war; it flew its first combat sorties attacking Japanese landings at Kota Bharu on 8 December 1941. Sustaining severe losses during the Japanese advance through Malaya, the squadron withdrew through Sumatra and Java and effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit by the end of February 1942, its surviving ground personnel evacuating to India. It reformed at Chakrata in northern India on 1 April 1942 and resumed bombing operations against Japanese targets in Burma with Blenheims until mid-1943. From late 1943 the squadron converted to the ground-attack role, flying Hawker Hurricane IICs before re-equipping with Republic Thunderbolts in March 1945 and continuing operations over Burma until disbandment on 15 October 1945. The squadron’s motto is “Lupus vult, lupus volat” — “Wolf wishes, wolf flies.”