No. 98 Squadron

No. 98 Squadron spent the early war years in reserve and training roles, equipping with the Fairey Battle and deploying briefly to France in 1940. During the evacuation, some ninety of its personnel perished when the troopship RMS Lancastria was sunk off Saint-Nazaire in June 1940 — one of the war’s worst maritime disasters. After a period of coastal patrol duties in Iceland, the squadron disbanded in mid-1941. Reformed in September 1942 at RAF West Raynham as a medium bomber unit within 2 Group, it re-equipped with the North American Mitchell and flew its first combat mission in January 1943 against targets in occupied Belgium. From RAF Dunsfold it struck V-1 launch sites in the Pas-de-Calais and transportation targets ahead of the Normandy landings. Transferring to 2nd Tactical Air Force, it supported the Allied advance through Caen, Falaise, and the Ardennes, ending the war at Achmer in Germany.