No. 9 Squadron

Per noctem volamus

No. 9 Squadron badge
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Group
No. 5 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Bardney

In the database: 6 aircraft · 1 service member.

History

No. 9 Squadron is among the oldest bomber units in the Royal Air Force, tracing its line back to 1914. It entered the Second World War flying the Vickers Wellington from RAF Honington in Suffolk, and its crews were in action over the German fleet within hours of the declaration of war. In September 1942 the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster and moved to RAF Waddington, transferring the following spring to RAF Bardney in Lincolnshire as part of No. 5 Group.

From there No. 9 became one of Bomber Command’s specialist heavy-bombing units. Working often alongside No. 617 Squadron and armed with the 12,000lb Tallboy deep-penetration bomb, it took part in the campaign against the German battleship Tirpitz, helping to capsize her in a Norwegian fjord on 12 November 1944. The squadron carried the motto Per noctem volamus — “throughout the night we fly” — and went on to operate the Avro Lincoln and then English Electric Canberra jets after the war.

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Wing Commander J B "Willy" Tait, Commanding Officer of [No. 617 Squadron](/squadrons/38/) RAF, gives his account of the successful raid carried out on the German battleship TIRPITZ in Tromso Fjord, Norway, ([Operation CATECHISM](/operations/9/)) on 12 November 1944, during a press conference at the Ministry of Information, London. Sat next to Tait, in civilian clothes, is Air Commodore H A Jones, Director of Public Relations at the Air Ministry. Sitting on Jones' left is Squadron Leader A G Williams, who led [No. 9 Squadron](/squadrons/28/) RAF on the raid.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Wilson J G (Plt Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH14145.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The crew of [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark III, ED831 'WS-H', of [No 9 Squadron](/squadrons/28/) RAF, captained by Squadron Leader A M Hobbs RNZAF, boarding their aircraft at [Bardney](/airfields/8/), Lincolnshire, for a raid on the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee), Germany. This special raid introduced novel tactics devised by No. 5 Group, among which was the 'shuttle' technique. After bombing the target, the Lancasters flew to [Blida](/airfields/8877/) in North Africa, where they were refuelled and rearmed, returning to the United Kingdom two nights later and attacking La Spezia, Italy, en route. Six days later, Hobbs and his crew were shot down and killed in ED831, while returning from a raid on Gelsenkirchen, 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._CH10403.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The crew of [Avro Lancaster](/aircraft/1/) B Mark III, ED689 'WS-K', of [No. 9 Squadron](/squadrons/28/) RAF, headed by the captain, Flight Lieutenant J A Wakeford boarding their aircraft at [Bardney](/airfields/8/), Lincolnshire, for their 50th mission, a raid on the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee), Germany. This special raid introduced novel tactics devised by No. 5 Group, among which was the 'shuttle' technique. After bombing the target, the Lancasters flew to [Blida](/airfields/8877/) in North Africa, where they were refuelled and rearmed, returning to the United Kingdom two nights later and attacking Spezia, Italy, en route. Two weeks later, Wakeford and his crew were shot down and killed in ED689, during a raid to Cologne, 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._CH10404.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1945. Groundcrew of [No. 9 Squadron](/squadrons/28/) RAF, clearing snow in front of a trailer bearing a 12,000 lb 'Tallboy' deep-penetration bomb, at [Bardney](/airfields/8/), Lincolnshire, in the winter of 1944 - 1945. A wing of one of the Squadron's [Avro Lancasters](/aircraft/1/) is seen in the foreground.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1945._MH30802.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown