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No. 61 Squadron was asquadron of theRoyal Air Force. It was first formed as a fighter squadron of the BritishRoyal Flying Corps during theFirst World War. It was reformed in 1937 as a bomber squadron of theRoyal Air Force and served in theSecond World War and afterwards into the jet age, until disbanded in 1958.

No. 61 Squadron was formed atRAF Rochford, on the outskirts ofSouthend,Essex, in July/August 1917^[7][1][2] as one of the first single-seater fighter squadrons of theLondon Air Defence Area, intended to counter the German daylight air raids. It was equipped with theSopwith Pup. The squadron first went into action on 12 August, when a formation of tenGotha G.IV bombers approached theThames Estuary. Sixteen Pups of No. 61 Squadron took off to intercept them and, together with aircraft from other squadrons, succeeded in turning the enemy back. However, two bombs had been dropped near No. 61's hangars on Rochford Aerodrome, five more atLeigh-on-Sea, seven atWestcliff, and 17 in Southend itself.^[8] In 1918 the squadron was re-equipped withSE5s, but before theArmistice was signed it began to change over toSopwith Camels. The squadron used these and from January 1919 also someSopwith Snipes until disbanded on 13 June 1919.^[7][9]

No. 61 Squadron was re-formed on 8 March 1937^[7][9] as a bomber squadron, and in World War II flew with No. 5 Group,RAF Bomber Command. The squadron's first operational mission was on 25 December 1939, comprising an armedreconnaissance over theNorth Sea by 11Hampden bombers. This was followed on 7/8 March 1940 by the first bombing mission, when one Hampden, during a security patrol ofSylt-Borkum-Norderney, bombed an enemydestroyer which opened fire on it.

The unit took part in many notable operations including:

• the first bombing raid on a German land target (Hörnum, 19/20 March 1940);
• the first big bombing raid on the German mainland (Mönchengladbach, 11/12 May 1940): (RAF records record about half of the 36 'planes hit their targets, and four people killed on the ground; one of whom was a British woman living in Germany).
• the first bombing raid onBerlin (25/26 August 1940);
• the attacks onLe Creusot andPeenemünde (17 October 1942 and 17/18 August 1943, respectively);
• the successive drainings of theDortmund-Ems andMittelland Canals (late 1944);
• the attack onWesel just before the crossing of theRhine (23/24 March 1945).

Beginning operations with Hampdens, the squadron converted in July 1941 to the more modernManchesters and later (spring 1942),Lancasters. Four of its Lancasters; ED860 "N-Nan", EE176, JB138, and LL483, each became veterans of more than 100 operational sorties. Records show that in the case of the first three aircraft, the long road to their centuries included participation in the raid on 3/4 November 1943, whenFlight LieutenantWilliam Reid of No. 61 Squadron won theVictoria Cross.

In the summer of 1942 No. 61 was twice loaned toRAF Coastal Command for anti-submarine operations in theBay of Biscay. It was detached from its base inRutland toSt Eval in Cornwall, and on the very first occasion that it operated from there, 17 July, a crew captained by Flight Lieutenant PR Casement (Lancaster I R5724) became the first Bomber Command crew to bring back irrefutable evidence that they had destroyed aU-boat at sea, in the form of a photograph showing the crew ofU-751 in the water swimming away from their sinking vessel.^[10][11]

The squadron's last operational mission in World War II was on 25/26 April 1945, when 10 Lancasters bombed an oil refinery and tankerage atVallø (Tønsberg), and four other Lancasters aborted. The last mission beforeVE Day was on 6 May 1945, when the squadron's Lancasters ferried 336 ex-POWs home to the UK from Europe.

No. 61 Squadron re-equipped withAvro Lincolns in May 1946. These saw action inMalaya as part ofOperation Firedog and inKenya during theMau Mau Uprising. The squadron became anEnglish Electric Canberra squadron atRAF Wittering in 1954. These took part in theSuez crisis of 1956. No. 61 disbanded on 31 March 1958.^[7][9]

^[1][2][7][9]

^[1][7][9]

• German submarine U-852^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNo. 61 Squadron RAF.

• No 61 - 65 Squadron Histories, Air of Authority
• Bomber Command page for No. 61 Squadron
• History page on RAF website

• Royal Flying Corps squadrons
• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Military units and formations established in 1917
• Bomber squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II
• 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom
• Military units and formations disestablished in the 1950s

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