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| Click Here For Full Artist Print Indexes | Aviation History Archive |
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Aviation Art Prints Countries UK Squadron Index More Squadrons Squadrons 129 to 199 No.129 Sqn |
[UP] - No.129 Sqn - No.132 Sqn - No.135 Sqn - No.137 Sqn - No.139 Sqn - No.141 Sqn - No.143 Sqn - No.144 Sqn - No.148 Sqn - No.150 Sqn - No.151 Sqn - No.152 Sqn - No.154 Sqn - No.156 Sqn - No.157 Sqn - No.158 Sqn - No.161 Sqn - No.166 Sqn - No.174 Sqn - No.175 Sqn - No.181 Sqn - No.182 Sqn - No.185 Sqn - No.193 Sqn - No.197 Sqn - No.198 Sqn - No.199 Sqn |
No.129 Sqn
Country : UK
Founded : 1st March 1918
Disbanded 1st September 1946
Codes : , DV,
I will defend the right
No. 129 Squadron was formed on 1 March 1918 at Duxford as a day bomber unit but disbanded on 4 July 1918, before becoming operational.
On 16 June 1941, No. 129 reformed at Leconfield as a fighter Squadron and its Spitfires became operational on 24 July. In August it moved south to provide escorts for day bombers and in December began taking part in offensive operations over France. The Squadron moved to the Orkneys in September 1942 for local air defence, returning in February 1943 to south coast airfields for escort and anti-shipping missions. In June 1943 the Squadron joined Second TAF and converted to Mustangs in April 1944. After covering the D-Day landings the Squadron was given the task of intercepting flying bombs in July for two months before moving to East Anglia to provide long-range escorts for Bomber Command's daylight raids. In June 1945 No. 129 moved to Norway with Spitfires, returning to the UK in November. On 1 September 1946, the Squadron was renumbered 257 Squadron at Church Fenton.
Flew Mustangs from April 1944.
| No.129 Sqn Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Home at Dawn by Nicolas Trudgian. When No 49 Squadron Lancasters bombed the S.S. barracks at Berchtesgaden on 25th April 1945, its aircrews completed a campaign that had begun 5 and a half years earlier in September, 1939. From the very beginning, 49 Squadron were in the thick of the action with one of their pilots, Roderick Learoyd, winning Bomber Commands first Victoria Cross. In 1942 it was Lancasters of 49 Squadron that led the epic raid on Schneider armament and locomotive works at Le Creusot. In 1943 they flew the shuttle-bombing raids to Friedrichshafen and Spezia, attacked the heavily defended rocket sites at Peenemunde, and in preparation for D-Day, bombarded the coastal batteries in Normandy and the V-1 sites in the caves by the river Loire, north of Paris. Later in 1944 the squadron notably took part in the raid on German Baltic Fleet, continuing to fly important bombing missions against the Nazi war machine until the final collapse of the Third Reich. So it was fitting that an RAF squadron whose history went right back to 1916, should make the coupe de grace at Berchtesgarden. Northern Europes short summer nights, with darkness lasting but a few hours, often saw the RAF bomber crews returning to England at dawn, and it is one such scene which is caught up over the river Orwell at Pin Mill, Lancasters of No. 49 Squadron descend low over Suffolk, heading towards their base at Fiskerton. The night raid on Hamburg is almost completed. Spitfires from No. 129 Squadron, based at Hornchurch, having made an early morning attack on German installations in Holland, have picked up the bombers and escorted them home. |
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