No. 630 Squadron

Group
No. 5 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF East Kirkby

In the database: 3 aircraft · 21 service members · 3 sorties.

History

No. 630 Squadron was formed in November 1943 at RAF East Kirkby in Lincolnshire from a flight of No. 57 Squadron, with which it shared the station, and flew the Avro Lancaster in No. 5 Group. From its first operation that month until the end of the war it took part in the main offensive against Germany, including every one of the sixteen heavy raids of the Battle of Berlin.

It flew over 2,500 sorties at a heavy price — sixty-four of the crews who served with it were lost. After the bombing ended it helped ferry prisoners of war home before disbanding in July 1945. Its motto, Nocturna mors, meant “death by night”.

Photographs

Flight -Sergeant J Morgan, the rear gunner of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 630 Squadron](/squadrons/41/) RAF at [East Kirkby](/airfields/5/), Lincolnshire, checks his guns in the Nash & Thompson FN120 tail turret before taking off on a night raid on the marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lancaster_tail_gunner_IWM_CH_12776.jpgView source & full licence →
Flight Sergeant J Morgan, the rear gunner of an [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) of [No. 630 Squadron](/squadrons/41/) RAF at [East Kirkby](/airfields/5/), Lincolnshire, checks his guns before taking off on a night raid on the marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, 18 April 1944. Flight -Sergeant J Morgan, the rear gunner of an Avro Lancaster of No. 630 Squadron RAF at East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, checks his guns in the Nash & Thompson FN20 tail turret before taking off on a night raid on the marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Forward (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flight_Sergeant_J_Morgan,_the_rear_gunner_of_an_Avro_Lancaster_of_No._630_Squadron_RAF_at_East_Kirkby,_Lincolnshire,_checks_his_guns_before_taking_off_on_a_night_raidView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. BBC war correspondent Richard North interviews the crew of [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) "S for Sugar" of [No. 630 Squadron](/squadrons/41/) RAF on their return to [East Kirkby](/airfields/5/), Lincolnshire, after bombing the marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Forward (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12778.jpgView source & full licence →
BBC war correspondent Richard North interviews the crew of [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) "S for Sugar" of [No. 630 Squadron](/squadrons/41/) RAF on their return to [East Kirkby](/airfields/5/), Lincolnshire, after bombing the marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:630_Squadron_crew_WWII_IWM_CH_12778.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown