RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary

No. 162 Squadron
Motto: "One time, one purpose".
Badge: In front of a meteor, a bat's head erased. This squadron had the task of investigating enemy radar in addition to bombing and machine-gunning enemy concentrations in land operations. The head of a bat - an animal said to have an acute sense of hearing - is considered to be symbolic of the unit's functions and solitary night flights. The meteor has reference to operations in the skies.
Authority: King George VI, March 1946.

No 162 Squadron was formed at Kabrit, Egypt, on 4th January 1942, and was primarily employed on radio jamming and bomber support in the Middle East and Levant using - in the main - Wellington aircraft, before being disbanded on 25th September 1944.

Re-formed at Bourn, near Cambridge in No 8 (Pathfinder) Group, on 17th December 1944, it soon established an excellent record as a Mosquito light-bomber unit of the Light Night Striking Force (later known as the Fast Night Striking Force), and the end of the European war found it half-way through conversion to being the second of the H₂S marking squadrons for the force (the other being No 139). Aircraft of the squadron had, in fact, done much of the marking during the series of 36 consecutive night attacks by Mosquitos on Berlin.

During its brief wartime career with the Pathfinders, No 162 Squadron logged a total of 913 operational sorties (898 successful and 15 abortive) involving 4,037 flying hours.

Bomber Command WWII Bases: Re-formed 18.12.44 as No 162(B) Sqn at

Bourn : Dec 1944 onwards

Bomber Command WWII Aircraft:

de Havilland Mosquito B.XX and B.XXV : Dec 1944-Jul 1945

Code Letters:

"CR"

First Bombing Mission in WWII:

2lst/22nd December 1944 : 6 Mosquitos bombed Cologne.

Last Operational Mission in WWII:

2nd/3rd May 1945 : 16 Mosquitos, operating in 3 waves, attacked KieI.

Date Last Updated : Wednesday, April 6, 2005 2:40 AM

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