No. 62 Squadron RAF
Encyclopedia
World War I
No. 62 Squadron RAF was formed on 8 August 1916, at FiltonRAF Filton
RAF Filton was a World War II, Royal Air Force Sector Airfield situated at Filton Aerodrome about 5 miles north of the city centre of Bristol, England....
from No. 7 Training Squadron. In May 1917 it equipped with the Bristol F2B, before being posted to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in January 1918. The squadron operated as fighter-reconnaissance unit until disbanding on 31 July 1919. Its wartime record shows claims of 76 enemy aircraft destroyed and 85 driven down out of control. Ten aces served in the unit, including future Air Vice-Marshal
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
William Ernest Staton
William Ernest Staton
Air Vice-Marshal William Ernest Staton CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC & Bar was a British airman who began his career as a First World War flying ace credited with 26 victories. He was transferred to the Royal Air Force on its creation and remained in the RAF during the inter-war years...
,
George Everard Gibbons
George Everard Gibbons
Captain George Everard Gibbons was a World War flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories. His victories were achieved piloting a Bristol F.2 Fighter, beginning on 12 March 1918 and ending on 14 September 1918. Both of his observers, Sydney Knights and Thomas Elliott, became aces flying with him...
,
Thomas L. Purdom
Thomas L. Purdom
-Captain Thomas Laurence Purdom was a World War I flying ace credited with 13 confirmed aerial victories.Purdom served originally in the ground forces. He flew a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 for 15 Squadron during most of 1916. He was willing enough to fight the Germans, but none of his many combats...
,
Geoffrey F. Hughes,
Charles Arnison
Charles Arnison
Lieutenant Charles Henry Arnison was a British World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories. He won the Military Cross for valour in World War I, and returned to his nation's service for World War II before vanishing into obscurity....
,
Ernest Thomas Morrow,
William Norman Holmes
William Norman Holmes
Sergeant William Norman Holmes was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories.-Reference:...
,
Hugh Claye
Hugh Claye
Captain Hugh Claye was a flying ace active during World War I. In conjunction with his pilots he was credited with 11 aerial victories while flying as an observer/gunner in Bristol F.2 Fighter airplanes.-Infantry career:...
and
Douglas Savage
Douglas Savage
Lieutenant Douglas Alfred Savage was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.-References:...
.
Revived for World War II
On 3 May 1937, the squadron was reformed at AbingdonRAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps....
from 'B' Flight of No. 40 Squadron
No. 40 Squadron RAF
No. 40 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport as No 40 Squadron RFC and was disbanded for the last time in 1957.Edward Mannock gained 16 of his 73 victories while with 40 Squadron, 15 of which he shot down while flying a Nieuport Scout...
, equipped with Hawker Hind
Hawker Hind
-See also:-Bibliography:* Crawford, Alex. Hawker Hart Family. Redbourn, Hertfordshire, UK: Mushroom Model Publications Ltd., 2008. ISBN 83-89450-62-3....
s. In February 1938 the squadron re-equipped with Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
s. The squadron was posted to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in August 1939 and moved to Alor Star
Alor Star
Alor Setar, known as Alor Star between 2004 and 2008, is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia, and Kota Setar District's Administrative Centre. It is also a distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy, and the royal seat of the Kedah state since the establishment...
in northern Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
in February 1940. Japan invaded Malaya
Japanese Invasion of Malaya
The Japanese Invasion of Malaya, or Battle of Kota Bharu, began just after midnight on 8 December 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor...
on 8 December 1941 and the squadron was evacuated to Butterworth on 9 December. Later that day, an attack on Singora airfield was planned, but Butterworth was attacked by Japanese aircraft when the British force was preparing to take off, with only one Blenheim, piloted by Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Arthur Scarf
Arthur Stewart King Scarf
Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
of 62 Squadron getting away, carrying out a single-handed attack on Singora. His Blenheim was heavily damaged by Japanese fighters and anti-aircraft fire, badly injuring Scarf. Despite his injuries, he managed to make a forced landing at Alor Star, saving the rest of his crew. He died in hospital that evening. Scarf was eventually postumously awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his actions that day. Butterworth was heavily damaged by the Japanese attack on 9 December, and the squadron moved again, this time to Taiping, Perak
Taiping, Perak
Taiping is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia. With a population of 191,104 , it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh...
. It withdrew again on 19 December, this time to Singapore. Losses, mainly from Japanese attacks on its airfields were heavy, and the Squadron re-equipped with Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
s and moved to Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
in January 1942. It moved to Burma in February where it absorbed the remains of No. 139 Squadron
No. 139 Squadron RAF
No. 139 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was fighter unit in World War I and a bomber unit from World War II until the 1960s.-Formation and World War I:...
.
The squadron withdrew to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in May 1943 and re-equipped as a transport unit equipped with the Douglas Dakota. The squadron disbanded on 15 March 1946 at Mingaladon
Yangon International Airport
Yangon International Airport , located in Mingaladon, at north of downtown Yangon, is the primary international airport of Myanmar and the second largest airport in the country....
.
Post World War II
It reformed again, as a Dakota squadron, at Mingaladon on 1 September 1946, when No. 76 SquadronNo. 76 Squadron RAF
No. 76 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed during World War I as a home defence fighter squadron and in its second incarnation during World War II flew as a bomber squadron, first as an operational training unit and later as an active bomber squadron...
was re-numbered No. 62. The squadron moved to India and disbanded on 10 August 1947. The squadron reformed at Waterbeach
Waterbeach
Waterbeach is a large fen-edge village located 6 miles north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. The parish covers an area of 23.26 km².- Village :...
on 8 December 1947 to assist in the Berlin Airlift, and remained operational after the Berlin Airlift, until disbanding on 1 June 1949.
From 1 February 1960 to 31 January 1963, the squadron was based at Woolfox Lodge
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Royal Air Force Station Woolfox Lodge is a former RAF aerodrome next to the A1 road in Rutland, UK. The airfield is split between the parishes of Empingham and Greetham. It was open from 1940 until 1965....
as a Bristol Bloodhound equipped missile unit.
The squadron was disbanded on 30 September 1964.
Aircraft operated
- 1917-1919 Bristol F2B Fighter
- 1937-1938 Hawker HindHawker Hind-See also:-Bibliography:* Crawford, Alex. Hawker Hart Family. Redbourn, Hertfordshire, UK: Mushroom Model Publications Ltd., 2008. ISBN 83-89450-62-3....
- 1938-1942 Bristol Blenheim IBristol BlenheimThe Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
- 1942 Lockheed Hudson IIILockheed HudsonThe Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
- 1942-1943 Lockheed Hudson III
- 1943 Lockheed Hudson VI
- 1943-1946 Douglas DakotaC-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
- 1946-1947 Douglas Dakota
- 1947-1949 Douglas Dakota
- 1960-1964 Bristol Bloodhound I
External links
- http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn061-65.htm
- http://www.apw.airwar1.org.uk/no62sqn6.htm