No. 102 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF
No. 102 Squadron badge
Active	9 Aug 1917 – 3 Jul 1919 1 Oct 1935 – 28 Feb 1946 20 Oct 1954 – 20 Aug 1956 1 Aug 1959 – 27 Apr 1963[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Nicknames	Ceylon[2] "Morecambe's 'own' Squadron"[3] (Unofficial)
Mottos	Latin:Tentate et Perficite ("Attempt and achieve")[2][3]
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry	On a demi-terrestrial globe a lion rampant guardant holding in the forepaws a bomb[2][3]
Squadron Codes	TQ (Apr 1939 – Sep 1939)[4][5] DY (Sep 1939 – May 1945)[6][7] EF (May 1945 – Feb 1946)[8][9]

No. 102 Squadron was aRoyal Air Force night bomber squadron in theFirst World War and a heavy bomber squadron in theSecond World War. After the war it flew briefly as a transport squadron before being reformed a light bomber unit with theSecond Tactical Air Force withinRAF Germany. Its last existence was as a Thor strategic missile unit.

No. 102 Squadron was formed in August 1917 as a night bomber unit atHingham, Norfolk with theRAF F.E.2b and F.E.2ds. It moved to France and specialised in night attacks behind the German lines and in particular railway stations, railway lines, and railway trains. With the end of the First World War the squadron returned to England in March 1919. It disbanded atRAF Lympne on 3 July 1919.

102 squadron was formed again on 1 October 1935 atRAF Worthy Down, using men and equipment from 'B' Flight of7 Squadron. Still in its original role as a night bomber squadron 102 squadron first used theHandley Page Heyford.

In October 1938 the squadron became part of the newly formedNo 4 Group (Bomber Command) based atRAF Driffield, Yorkshire and was re-equipped with theArmstrong Whitworth Whitley.

The squadron was active from the second day of theSecond World War, dropping leaflets in the night from 4 to 5 September 1939 overGermany. From 1 September till 10 October 1940 the squadron was loaned toRAF Coastal Command and spent six weeks carrying out convoy escort duties fromRAF Prestwick, before resuming bomber raids. Operations Record Books seen at the Public Record Office in Kew show that two Whitley Mk.Vs flew out of Topcliffe on 27 November 1940 to bomb "docks and shipping" atLe Havre. One of these planes "was not heard from after take off" but the other returned safely having dropped its two 500lb and six 250 lb bombs successfully. By February 1942, the squadron was adopted bySri Lanka, thenCeylon, and theWhitleys were replaced by theHandley Page Halifax. The squadron continued for the next thirty-six months to fly night sorties (including the thousand bomber raids) over Germany. In 1944 the squadron attacked rail targets in France in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.

On 8 March 1945^[2] the squadron was transferred toTransport Command and in September 1945 re-equipped withConsolidated Liberators. Based asRAF Bassingbourn. Its main role was the return of troops andPOWs from India. With this work finished the squadron transferred on 15 February 1946 toRAF Upwood where it disbanded on 28 February 1946 by being renumbered to53 Squadron.^[1] From 1 February 1949 to 19 October 1954 the squadron's numberplate was linked with that of49 squadron, as 49/120 squadron.^[10]

On 20 October 1954 the squadron was reformed as part ofRAF Germany as a nuclear strike bomber squadron with theEnglish Electric Canberra B.2 based atRAF Gütersloh. It was disbanded again on 20 August 1956 when it was renumbered to59 Squadron.^[2]

The squadron was last reformed asNo. 102 (SM) Squadron RAF (SM standing for "Strategic Missile") in August 1959, equipped with threePGM-17 Thor ballistic missiles, carrying a 1.4 megatonW-49 nuclear warhead, as part of the UK-US strategic deterrent,Project Emily. It was based atRAF Full Sutton in Yorkshire until it was disbanded, along with the other Thor squadrons, on 27 April 1963.^[11]

Pilot Officer (later Flight Lieutenant)Alfred B. Thompson, a pilot in 102 Squadron, was (on 9 September 1939) the first Canadian to be captured in the Second World War, is the Canadian who was the longest held ever as a prisoner of war, and was a participant in the Great Escape (Stalag Luft III escape) (he was the 68th man to go out through the tunnel).

Lincoln Lynch (Lyncoln Orville Lynch 1920 – 22 October 2011) a Jamaican and later Jamaican-American civil rights activist wasFlight Sergeant and rear gunner on a 102 Squadron Halifax, earning aDFM in September 1944

Leonard Cheshire was aPilot Officer with 102 Squadron from July 1940. In November 1940 he was awarded theDSO for flying his badly damaged Whitley back to base.

The squadron was adopted by the island ofCeylon in February 1942, which paid for aircraft for use by the squadron.

The log book of Flight Lieutenant Leonard Todd DFC from August 1943 shows the frequency and range of the missions flown by the 102 Squadron.^[13]

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• List of UK Thor missile bases

• Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings.Squadron Codes, 1937–56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979.ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
• Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas.Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003.ISBN 1-84037-281-8.
• Goss, Chris.It's Suicide but It's Fun, The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron 1917–1956. Crécy Books, 1995.ISBN 0-947554-59-9.
• Halley, James J. (1988).The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Jefford, C.G.RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001).ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
• Moyes, Philip J.R.Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976.ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
• Thomas, Andrew (8–21 October 1993). "Night Bombers: No. 102 Squadron, Royal Air Force".Aviation News. Vol. 22, no. 10. pp. 452–458.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 102 Squadron RAF.

• RAF History – Bomber Command – No. 102 Squadron
• History of No.'s 101–105 Squadrons at RAF Web
• No. 102 Ceylon Squadron Association

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• Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I
• Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• Ballistic missile squadrons of the Royal Air Force
• 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom
• Military units and formations in British Somaliland in World War II

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