No. 514 Squadron

Group
No. 3 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Waterbeach

In the database: 7 aircraft · 36 service members · 6 sorties.

History

No. 514 Squadron formed at RAF Foulsham in September 1943 as a heavy-bomber unit of No. 3 Group, and soon moved to RAF Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, which was its home for the rest of the war. It flew the Avro Lancaster — at first the unusual Mark II, fitted with Bristol Hercules radial engines instead of the more familiar Merlins, and later the Merlin-engined Mark I and Mark III.

From Waterbeach the squadron flew over 3,600 operational sorties in the main offensive against Germany before disbanding in August 1945. Its motto was Nil obstare potest — “nothing can withstand”.

Photographs

Ground crew loading supplies into the bomb bay of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF at [RAF Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, UK, during Operation 'Manna', the dropping of food to the starving Dutch population.
ⓘ licence & creditPenfold (Plt Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loading_Lancaster_at_RAF_Waterbeach_for_Operation_Manna_1945_CL_2489.jpgView source & full licence →
[Avro Lancasters](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF, lined up at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, before taking part in a daylight attack on fortified villages east of Caen, in support of the Second Army's armoured offensive in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD).
ⓘ licence & creditDevon S A (Flt Lt) : Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lancasters_at_RAF_Waterbeach_ready_for_bombing_Caen_area_July_1944_IWM_CL_4214.jpgView source & full licence →
[Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark IIs of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF taxy onto the main runway at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, for a daylight attack on fortified villages east of Caen, in support of the Second Army's armoured offensive in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD).
ⓘ licence & creditDevon S A (Flt Lt), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lancaster_B_Mark_IIs_at_RAF_Waterbeach_July_1944_IWM_CL_4213.jpgView source & full licence →
Lancaster B Mark II, LL734 ‘JI-O’, of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF based at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, returning from a daylight attack on the flying-bomb launch site at Les Catelliers in northern France ("Noball" operation).
ⓘ licence & creditBreeze (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lancaster_B_Mark_II_Operation_Crossbow_WWII_IWM_CL_561.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Avro Lancasters](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF, lined up at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, before taking part in a daylight attack on fortified villages east of Caen, in support of the Second Army's armoured offensive in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD)..
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Devon S A (Flt Lt) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CL4214.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Operation MANNA](/operations/23/). Ground crew loading food supplies into slings for hoisting into the bomb bay of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire. Between 29 April and 7 May 1945, Lancasters of Bomber Command dropped 6,672 tons of food to the starving populace of a large area in Western Holland still in German hands.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Goodchild A (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH15159.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. An [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark I or III of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF based at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, releases its bombs through cloud, during a daylight attack on a flying-bomb launch site at Les Catelliers in northern France, ("Noball" Operation), as another aircraft behind it prepares to bomb.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Breeze (?) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CL560.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark IIs of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF taxy onto the main runway at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, for a daylight attack on fortified villages east of Caen, in support of the Second Army's armoured offensive in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD).
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Devon S A (Flt Lt) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CL4213.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Four [Avro Lancasters](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF flying over complete cloud cover during a daylight attack on fortified villages east of Caen, in support of the Second Army's armoured offensive in the Normandy battle area (Operation GOODWOOD).
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CL4198.jpgView source & full licence →
An [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark I or III of [No. 514 Squadron](/squadrons/20/) RAF based at [Waterbeach](/airfields/35/), Cambridgeshire, releases its bombs through cloud, during a daylight attack on a flying-bomb launch site at Les Catelliers in northern France, ("Noball" Operation).
ⓘ licence & creditBreeze (?) : Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:514_Squadron_Lancasters_over_France_1944_IWM_CL_560.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown