No. 463 Squadron — RAAF

Group
No. 5 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Waddington

In the database: 1 aircraft.

History

No. 463 Squadron was an Australian Lancaster squadron formed at RAF Waddington in November 1943, raised from a flight of No. 467 Squadron and going into action against Berlin the very next day. It served in No. 5 Group and flew the Avro Lancaster throughout, moving late in the war to RAF Skellingthorpe.

In a relatively short career it flew over 2,500 sorties and suffered the highest casualty rate of any of the Australian bomber squadrons in Europe. Its motto was “Press on regardless”.

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark I, PD337 'JO-V', of [No. 463 Squadron](/squadrons/36/) RAAF, preparing for take off from [Waddington](/airfields/2/), Lincolnshire, on a daylight operation. PD337 was specially converted for filming Bomber Command operations, being fitted with a number of camera positions and used by cameramen of the Royal Air Force Film and Photographic Unit. It was later transferred to No. 5 Group Film Unit.
ⓘ licence & creditIWM staff photographers / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._IWMFLM2229.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A snow-clearing vehicle sweeps the perimeter track at [Waddington](/airfields/2/), Lincolnshire, to enable the night's raid, on Stuttgart, Germany, to take place. In the background, [Avro Lancasters](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 463 Squadron](/squadrons/36/) RAAF await their bomb-loads in an already-cleared dispersal.
ⓘ licence & creditBellamy W (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12426.jpgView source & full licence →