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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.622 Squadron was a heavy bomber squadron that formed part of Bomber Command's main force from the summer of 1943 until the end of 1945. The squadron was formed from 'C' Flight of No.15 Squadron on 10 August 1943, and flew its first operation on the very same night!
No.622 Squadron's record clearly shows the higher risks of flying the Stirling. The squadron flew 195 Stirling sorties on 41 missions, losing 7 aircraft, a loss rate of 3.6%. After converting to the Lancaster it flew 227 missions and 2,805 sorties, losing 44 aircraft, a loss rate of only 1.6%. The squadron converted to the Lancaster in December 1943, so the new bomber was used during some of the hard battles early in 1944, and wasn't one of the squadron's whose Lancaster loss figures are distorted by their late entry into service.
After the end of the war in Europe the squadron was used on trooping flights between Italy and the UK, before being disbanded on 15 August 1945.
Aircraft
August-December 1943: Short Stirling III
December 1943-August 1945: Avro Lancaster I and III
Location
August 1943-August 1945: Mildenhall
Squadron Codes: GI
Duty
August 1943 onwards: Main Force, Bomber Command
Part of
10 August 1943 onwards: No.3 Group; Bomber Command
Bomber Offensive, Sir Arthur Harris.
The autobiography of Bomber Harris, giving his view of the strategic bombing campaign in its immediate aftermath. Invaluable for the insights it provides into Harris’s approach to the war, what he was trying to achieve and the problems he faced. Harris perhaps overstates his case, not entirely surprisingly given how soon after the end of the war this book was written (Read Full Review)
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