No.57 Squadron formed at Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire, on 8 June 1916. At the out break of the second world war 57 Squadron were in France with the BEF flying Blenheims. They returned to Britain and flew with Coastal Command until the 13th of August 1940 when they joined Bomber Command and converted to Wellingtons. They later flew Manchesters and Lancasters.   Among the targets attacked by the squadron in 1944 were the V1 storage sites in the caves at St. Leu d'Esserent, and the Mondeville steelworks at Caen, situated only two thousand yards ahead of the advancing British troops. In December 1944, the squadron took part in a raid on the German Baltic Fleet at Gdynia and in March 1945, was represented in the bomber force which so pulverised the defences of Wesel just before the crossing of the Rhine that Commandos were able to seize the town with only 36 casualties. Of this last attack Field-Marshal Montgomery later said: "The bombing of Wesel was a masterpiece, and was a decisive factor in making possible our entry into the town before midnight."

Motto: "Corpus non animum muto"
("I change my body, not my spirit").
Badge: Issuant from two logs fesse-wise in saltire a phoenix. The badge commemorates the fact that during the First World War, on one occasion the whole of the flying personnel became casualties within a few days, but the squadron remained in action with new personnel.
Authority: King George VI, December 1936.

To contact the Sqn. please do this via Garth Green,
Membership Secretary enq@57sqn.co.uk

View a film clip on youtube The Flyover

Association Officers -:

Chairman - Sqn. Ldr. Mervyn Davies ( Ret.)
Vice Chairman - Grp. Capt. David Houghton ( Serving )
Secretary - Gordon Lodge
Membership Secretary - Garth Green
Treasurer - Clare Gillard (Mrs.)
Assoc. Historian - Allen Hudson

The 57(R) Sqn has now been reformed, based at RAF Wyton

Website updated Friday 6 February 2009

  Linconshire Aviation Heritage Center