No. 466 Squadron

No. 466 Squadron RAAF was formed at RAF Driffield, Yorkshire, on 15 October 1942 as an Article XV Empire Air Training Scheme unit — nominally Australian but initially staffed mainly by British aircrew. Moving to RAF Leconfield in December 1942, it flew its first Wellington sorties in January 1943 as part of No. 4 Group, Bomber Command. In autumn 1943 the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Halifax, which it flew for the remainder of the war. Its operations ranged from the strategic bombing campaign over Germany and the Ruhr to naval mine-laying in the North Sea, pre-invasion attacks on French coastal batteries and marshalling yards, and anti-V-weapon strikes. Between January 1943 and May 1945 the squadron flew 3,326 sorties against 269 targets, dropping 8,804 tons of bombs and laying 442 tons of mines; 81 aircraft were lost and 184 RAAF personnel killed. Transferred to Transport Command in May 1945, the squadron disbanded at RAF Bassingbourn on 26 October 1945.