No. 640 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 during the Second World War.

History

No. 640 Squadron was first formed at RAF Leconfield

RAF Leconfield

The former RAF Leconfield, or 'Leconfield Camp' was a Royal Air Force airbase in Leconfield , East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield .-History:...

, East Riding of Yorkshire

East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

 on 7 January 1944, from 'C' Flight of No. 158 Squadron RAF

No. 158 Squadron RAF

No. 158 Squadron RAF was a World War I proposed ground attack squadron that did not became operational in time to see action, and a World War II bomber squadron. After World War II had ended in Europe the squadron operated in the transport role until disbandment in December 1945.-Formation in World...

. It was equipped with Halifax Mk.III bombers, and operated as part of No. 4 Group

No. 4 Group RAF

No. 4 Group was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in World War I, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command.-Formation in World War I:...

 in Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...

. It re-equipped with Halifax VI bombers in March 1945, and was disbanded at RAF Leconfield on 7 May of that year.

Operational Highlights

• First Operational Mission 5 Halifaxes bombed Berlin
  Berlin
  Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
  
   while 3 others aborted on the night from 20 to 21 January 1944
• Last Operational Mission 18 Halifaxes bombed gun batteries on the island of Wangerooge
  Wangerooge
  Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...
  
   on 25 April 1945

Listed below are further operational highlights for the following crew (see photograph right)

Position	Name crew member	Known as
Captain	F/O R.Wakeman, DFC Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...	Jimmy
Navigator	P/O Reginald William Parr, DFC	Reg
Bomb Aimer	F/O C.B.Morrison, RCAF Royal Canadian Air Force The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968... , DFC	Cliff
W/Op	F/Sgt. H.Bearyman	Harry
Flt.Eng.	F/Sgt. P.McPhie	Peter
Mid-upper Gunner	F/S H.Thomas	Tommy
Rear Gunner	F/Sgt. E.G.Humphries	Eric

Individual missions for the above named crew, data from

Date (all dates are in 1944)	Off	Back	Target	Mission Detail	Bomb Load (lbs)	Individual Aircraft Code	Aircraft Serial No.
6 August	11:12	14:27	Forêt de Nieppe	V-Weapon V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....  Sites.	16×500	X
7 August	20:53	01:48	May-sur-Orne May-sur-Orne -External links:*...	Army Support - Five aiming points in front of Allied ground troops in Normandy.	9×1000	H	NA573
9 August	11:53	15:28	Le Châtellier Le Châtellier, Orne Le Châtellier is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.-References:*...	Chemical works.	4×500	X
10 August	20:50	03:50	Dijon Dijon Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....	A railway junction and the railway yards.	4×500	J
11 August	18:22	22:07	Étaples Étaples Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river.There is a separate commune named Staple, Nord.-History:...	Railway bridge.	4×500	Z
15 August	09:40	13:45	Eindhoven	Airfield Eindhoven Airport -Facilities:Passenger facilities available include: Exchange office, Lost property office, Luggage lockers, Baby changing area and a Health centre. Wireless internet access is provided free of charge throughout the airport. A business lounge is available too. Major car rental companies have their...	4×500	B	MZ561
16 August	21:40	01:45	Kiel Kiel Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...		4×500	B	MZ561
18 August	22:20	03:00	Sterkrade/Holten Oberhausen Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the... , Ruhr Ruhr The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet... .	Ruhrchemie AG Hoechst AG Hoechst AG was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999...  synthetic oil plant (SBC = small bomb container)	1×2000, 4×SBC	B	MZ561
9 September	06:44	11:09	Le Havre Le Havre Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...	Abandoned - cloud.	16×500	G
11 September	05:19	09:49	Cadillac Cadillac, Gironde Cadillac is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Geography:Cadillac is directly across the Garonne river from Sauternes, and is known for producing sweet dessert wines under the Cadillac AOC designation.-History:...		7×1000, 6×500	K
12 September	16:15	20:50	Münster Münster Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...		1×2000 & Incendiary	P	MZ678
17 September	06:52	10:43	Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer -Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....	German positions in preparation for an attack by Allied troops.	9×1000, 4×500	J	NP631
25 September	06:35	10:36	Calais Calais Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....	German defensive positions.	9×1000, 4×500	J	NP931
27 September	09:29	13:03	Calais	German defensive positions.	9×1000, 4×500	D	LW554
30 September	09:45	14:22	Bottrop Bottrop Bottrop is a city in west central Germany, on the Rhine-Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail center and contains factories producing coal-tar derivatives,... , Ruhr.	Oil plant.	16×500	H	MZ344
6 October	14:28	19:04	Sterkrade/Holten, Ruhr.	Ruhrchemie AG Synthetic oil plant.	16×500	J	NP931
7 October	11:45	16:03	Kleve Kleve Kleve , is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Kleve was capital of a county and later a duchy...	Army support - Approach routes by which German units could threaten the vulnerable Allied right flank near Nijmegen.	9×1000, 4×500	J	NP931
15 October	00:16	05:53	Duisburg Duisburg - History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...		8×1000, 5×500	K	MZ930
15 October	17:48	21:41	Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...		8×1000, 5×500	K	MZ930
25 October	12:09	17:51	Essen Essen - Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...	Industrial concerns, particularly to the Krupp Krupp The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th... s steelworks.	9×1000, 4×500	J	NP931
28 October	09:45	13:05	Walcheren Walcheren thumb|right|250px|Campveer Tower in Veere, built in 1500Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus...	Gun positions at 5 places on the rim of the island.	1×2000, 7×1000, 4×500	L	NP931
31 October	18:03	23:10	Cologne Cologne Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...		1×2000, 6×1000, 5×500	G	MZ404
2 November	16:05	22:00	Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...		1×2000 & Incendiary	J	NP931
4 November	17:34	22:34	Bochum Bochum Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...	Industrial areas, particularly the steelworks.	1×2000, 6×1000, 5×500	J	NP931
6 November	11:42	16:42	Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....	Nordstern synthetic-oil plant.	1×2000, 6×1000, 5×500	J	NP931
16 November	12:43	17:30	Jülich Jülich Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...	Army support - cut communications behind the German lines.	1×2000, 6×1000, 5×500	J	NP931
21 November	17:25	23:55	Sterkrade/Holten, Ruhr.	Ruhrchemie AG Synthetic oil plant.	16×500	J	NP931
29 November	02:26	08:22	Essen	Industrial areas, including the Krupps works.	1×2000, 16×500	J	NP931
2 December	17:35	00:07	Hagen Hagen Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...	Industrial areas - unknown at the time this included a factory making U-boat accumulator batteries.	1×2000 & Incendiary	J	NP931
12 December	16:24	21:58	Essen	Industrial areas, including the Krupps works.	1×2000, 4×1000, 6×500	J	NP931
22 December	15:05	21:33	Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...	Railway yards.	1×2000, 4×1000, 6×500	J	NP931
24 December	11:17	16:42	Essen/Mülheim Mülheim Mülheim an der Ruhr, also called "City on the River", is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen...	Airfields.	5×1000, 8×250	J	NP931

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 640 Squadron RAF, data from

From	To	Aircraft	Version
January 1944	March 1945	Handley-Page Halifax	Mk.III
March 1945	May 1945	Handley-Page Halifax	Mk.VI

Squadron Bases

Base operated by no. 640 Squadron RAF, data from

From	To	Name
7 January 1944	7 May 1945	RAF Leconfield RAF Leconfield The former RAF Leconfield, or 'Leconfield Camp' was a Royal Air Force airbase in Leconfield , East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield .-History:... , East Riding of Yorkshire East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

External links

• Operational history of 640 Sqdn
• History of No. 640 Squadron
• No. 640 Squadron RAF movement and equipment history
• Squadron histories for nos. 621-650 sqn of RAF Web