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| No. 58 Squadron | |
|---|---|
| Active | 8 June 1916 – 1 April 1918 (RFC) 1 April 1918 – 1 Feb 1920 (RAF) 1 April 1924 – 25 May 1945 1 Oct 1946 – 1 September 1970 1 August 1973 – 4 June 1976 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Mottos | Latin:Alis nocturnis ("On the wings of the night")[1] |
| Battle honours | Western Front, 1918: Somme, 1918: Hindenburg Line: France & Low Countries, 1940: Atlantic, 1939–45: Norway 1940: Fortress Europe, 1940–41: Ruhr, 1940–41: Berlin, 1940–41: German Ports, 1940–41: Biscay Ports, 1941–42: Biscay 1942–44: Arctic, 1942–43: Normandy, 1944: Baltic 1944–45: |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | "Bomber" Harris |
| Insignia | |
| Badge | An owl on a branch. |
| Squadron codes | BW (Nov 1938 – Sep 1939) GE (Sep 1939 – Apr 1943) BY (Apr 1943 – May 1945) OT (Oct 1946 – Oct 1951) |
No. 58 Squadron was asquadron of theRoyal Air Force (RAF). For much of its service history in the First and Second World Wars, it operated as a bomber squadron. In the later stages of the Second World War, it was part ofCoastal Command and was engaged in anti-submarine patrols.
No. 58 Squadron was first formed during theFirst World War atCramlington,Northumberland, on 8 June 1916 as a squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps from a nucleus split off from the Home defence36 Squadron, equipped withRoyal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c and B.E.2e aircraft and serving as an advanced training unit.[2]
The squadron converted toRoyal Aircraft Factory F.E.2bs in the night bombing role atDover in December 1917 and prepared for deployment overseas, moving to France on 10 January 1918, and flying its first operational mission, a bombing attack on an airfield atRumbeke on the night of 2/3 February 1918.[2][3] The squadron attackedGerman road and railway targets during theGerman spring offensive in March–April 1918 to disrupt the German advance.[4] In August 1918, the squadron flew nightbombing missions in support of theAllied offensive at theSecond Battle of Bapaume.[5] In September 1918 the squadron replaced its F.E.2s with the much larger twin-engineHandley Page O/400, although its airfield atAlquines was not ideal for the large bomber, having poor operating surfaces and awkward approaches. It flew its first mission with the O/400 on the night of 20–21 September, and discarded its last F.E.2s on 3 October.[6] By the end of the war the squadron had dropped 247 tons of bombs and fired over 400,000 rounds of ammunition while strafing ground targets.[7] In 1919 the squadron moved toEgypt, with the move completed by 2 July.[8] It started to reequip withVickers Vimy bombers, but was renumbered asNo. 70 Squadron before it disposed of all its O/400s.[9]
No. 58 Squadron was reformed on 1 April 1924 as a heavy bomber unit equipped with the Vimy atRAF Worthy Down on training duties. From December 1924, it replaced its Vimys withVickers Virginia bombers and in 1925 it was commanded by Squadron LeaderArthur Harris, later Air Marshal "Bomber" Harris.[10] The squadron, still equipped with the Virginia, moved toRAF Upper Heyford on 13 January 1936 and toRAF Driffield on 31 August that year.[11] Steps finally began to be taken to replace its obsolete Virginia biplanes in February 1937 when it received a fewAvro Ansons to prepare its crews for more modern monoplanes with retractable undercarriages. It moved toRAF Boscombe Down on 24 March 1937 and began to re-equip withArmstrong Whitworth Whitleys in October that year (although shortages of Whitleys resulted in it temporarily receiving a fewHandley Page Heyfords in April 1939.[2][10]
At the start of theSecond World War 58 Squadron was based atRAF Linton-on-Ouse flying Whitley bombers as part ofNo. 4 Group RAF inRAF Bomber Command, flying its first mission of the war, aleaflet raid on theRuhr inGermany, on the night of 3/4 September 1939.[12] From October 1939 until February 1940 it was based atRAF Boscombe Down attached toCoastal Command carrying out convoy escort patrols.[2] The squadron then returned in February 1940 to Linton-on-Ouse as part of Bomber Command and remained there for the next two years, undertaking its first bombing raid on the night of 18/19 April 1940, when three Whitleys set out to attackFornebu airfield,Oslo, with one aborting and two attacking the target.[2][13] Up until April 1942, after just over two years with Bomber Command, the squadron had flown a total of 1,757 sorties in 227 operations (219 bombing raids and 8 leaflet raids), losing 49 aircraft on operations.[14][15][a]
With effect from April 1942, the squadron transferred toCoastal Command, and was based atRAF St Eval flyinganti-submarine patrols over theWestern Approaches as part ofNo. 19 Group RAF.[9][15][16] On 23 June 1942, a Whitley of 58 Squadron attacked the German submarineU-753 in theBay of Biscay, badly damaging the submarine.[17] At the end of August 1942 the squadron moved toRAF Stornoway in theWestern Isles.[11] On 15 September 1942 a 58 Squadron Whitley sank the German submarineU-261 near theRosemary Bankwest of Scotland.[18] In December 1942, the squadron moved toRAF Holmsley South inHampshire, converting to theHandley Page Halifax in January 1943.[15]
On 11 May 1943, a Halifax of 58 Squadron spotted the German submarineU-528 in theBay of Biscay and attacked withdepth charges. The submarine was subsequently attacked by the sloopFleetwood and sunk, with the Halifax andFleetwood being jointly credited with sinking the U-boat.[19] On 15 May another 58 Squadron Halifax caught a U-boat on the surface in the Bay of Biscay, sinkingU-266.[20]
In October 1944 the squadron switched from anti-submarine duties toanti-shipping duties, carrying out attacks on German shipping off thecoast of Norway. It was disbanded on 25 May 1945.
In October 1946, No. 58 Squadron reformed atRAF Benson in the photo-reconnaissance role, mainly operating theDe Havilland Mosquito. In March 1953, the squadron moved toRAF Wyton operating Mosquitos. Late in 1953 the squadron was re-equipped with theEnglish Electric Canberra PR.3. In 1953/54, the Canberras made a record breaking flight from Wyton toNew Zealand viaEgypt,India andSingapore, completing the journey in 24 hours. Two aircraft also made the trip to USA for the 50th anniversary celebration of theWright brothers' first flight. These were replaced by Canberra PR.7s in 1955 which took part inOperation Grapple, the testing ofhydrogen bombs atChristmas Island in the Pacific, and also were deployed toBritish Honduras to face a threat byGuatemala to overfly the country during an official visit byPrincess Margaret.[21]
TheRadar Reconnaissance Flight was created by splitting off an element of the squadron on 1 October 1951 while at Benson, it operated theAvro Lincoln, theHandley Page Hastings and theHandley Page Victor until it was disbanded on 1 November 1963 atRAF Gaydon.[22]
During theSuez Crisis, No. 58 Squadron forward deployed toRAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. On 6 November 1956, Canberra PR.7WH799 departed from Akrotiri to overflySyria to assess the build up ofSoviet equipment in the country. While over Syria,WH799 was intercepted and was shot down by aGloster Meteor of theSyrian Air Force, killing the navigator while the pilot and spotter bothejected and safely landed inLebanon. As of 2021, this was the last RAF aircraft shot down in an enemy air-to-air engagement.[23][24]
The squadron disbanded on 30 September 1970. It was reformed atRAF Wittering in 1973 as a ground-attack training unit equipped withHawker Hunters before being finally disbanded in 1976.
