No. 51 Squadron

Group
No. 4 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Snaith

In the database: 11 aircraft · 35 service members · 6 sorties.

History

No. 51 Squadron reformed in 1937 as a night-bomber unit and spent the Second World War in No. 4 Group. Flying the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, it was in action from the very first night of the war, dropping leaflets over Hamburg, and after a spell loaned to Coastal Command for anti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay it returned to the bomber offensive.

In February 1942 the squadron’s Whitleys, led by Wing Commander Percy Pickard, carried the airborne troops of the Bruneval raid to the French coast, where they seized vital components from a German Würzburg radar and brought them back to Britain — one of the war’s most successful combined operations. Later that year the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Halifax and moved to RAF Snaith in Yorkshire, flying the four-engined heavy through the strategic campaign over Germany. It had earlier operated from RAF Dishforth.

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) B Mark II Series 1A, HR952 'MH-X', of [No. 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF receiving a mixed load of 500-lb MC bombs and incendiaries in its dispersal at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire, for a night raid on Germany.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH11622.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The crew of a [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) of [No 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF hand in their parachutes at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire on their return from a bombing raid on the Ruhr, Germany.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10293.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The Station Commander at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire, Group Captain N H Fresson, is joined by other officers on the balcony of the control tower as they await the return of [Handley Page Halifaxes](/aircraft/2/) of [No. 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF from a night raid on Nuremberg. Note the ambulance and crash tenders with their crews standing by below the tower, and the searchlight beam pointing skywards to show the cloud base. Five aircraft failed to return to Snaith on this night, and a sixth crashed on landing.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (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._CH12601.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Trolleys loaded with 500-lb GP and MC bombs, and their attendant armourers, are towed by tractors from the Bomb Store at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire, towards aircraft dispersals on the northern side of the airfield, and the awaiting [Handley Page Halifaxes](/aircraft/2/) of [No. 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF which were operating in support of the Allied Armies in Normandy.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH13407.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Squadron Leader Peter Hill, briefs crews of [No. 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF on the forthcoming raid to Nuremberg, Germany in the Operations Room at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire. The Station Commander, Group Captain N H Fresson, sits third from the left in the front row. No. 51 Squadron lost six [Handley Page Halifaxes](/aircraft/2/) that night (30/31 March 1944), suffering 35 men killed (including Sqn Ldr Hill) and seven made prisoners-of-war. Sqn Ldr Frederick Peter Hill (Service Number: 60532) is buried in Section 4, Row D, Grave 16 at Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany. GPS Location of the Cemetery is:- N 47° 46' 42" E 11° 44' 0.7"
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (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._CH12598.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The Officer of the Watch in the Watch Office at [Snaith](/airfields/42/), Yorkshire, guiding [Handley Page Halifaxes](/aircraft/2/) of [No. 51 Squadron](/squadrons/22/) RAF back to base after a night raid on Nuremberg. The Station Commander of Snaith, Group Captain N H Fresson, can be seen waiting outside on the balcony of the Control Tower.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH18743.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown