No. 199 Squadron was a 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...

 aircraft squadron that operated during the second world war and later in the 1950s as a radar countermeasures squadron.

History

No. 199 Squadron was formed at Rochford

Rochford

Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford...

 on 1 June 1917 with Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2e biplanes to teach pilots advanced bomber training. Renumbered as No. 99 (Depot Training) Squadron RFC the squadron moved to RFCS Harpswell, Lincolnshire

RAF Hemswell

RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967...

 in 1918, as a night bomber training unit, where it was disbanded on 13 June 1919.

The squadron reformed at RAF Blyton

RAF Blyton

RAF Blyton is an airfield in Lincolnshire, England. It was built in 1942 and was heavily used during World War II, but was little used after the early stages of the Cold War...

 on 7 November 1942 equipped with the Vickers Wellington

Vickers Wellington

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...

, after a few months the squadron moved to RAF Lakenheath

RAF Lakenheath

RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...

 and was re-equipped with the Short Stirling

Short Stirling

The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Stirling was designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, and entered service in 1941...

 heavy-bomber. Between February 1943 and June 1943 the squadron was based at RAF Ingham

RAF Cammeringham

RAF Cammeringham was a Royal Air Force base used by RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and 1945 and the Polish Air Force until 1946...

 in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 training for maritime mine laying over The Wash

The Wash

The Wash is the square-mouthed bay and estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia on the east coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom...

. Following training the squadron returned to RAF Lakenheath for marine operations over the English Channel and North Sea.

In July 1943 the squadron commenced mine laying duties using the Stirling and from February 1944 performed supply drops for the Special Operations Executive

Special Operations Executive

The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...

. In May 1944 the squadron was moved to No. 100 (Radio Countermeasures) Group

No. 100 Group RAF

No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...

 with tasking to perform radar jamming opeations during the D-Day landings. The squadron aircraft also joined the heavy bomber raids over Germany but was equipped with advanced radar jamming equipment to disrupt the German air defences. In 1945 the Stirlings were exchanged for the Handley Page Halifax

Handley Page Halifax

The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...

 until the squadron was disbanded on 29 July 1945 at RAF North Creake

RAF North Creake

RAF North Creake was a world war two era RAF Heavy Bomber airfield located just to the north of the Norfolk medieval village of Egmere, five miles northwest of Fakenham.-Second World War usage:...

.

In 1951 the squadron was formed again at RAF Watton

RAF Watton

Royal Air Force Station Watton is a former military airfield in Norfolk, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southwest of East Dereham....

 as part of No. 90 Signals Group to operate in the electronic countermeasures role with the Avro Lincoln

Avro Lincoln

The Avro Type 694, better known as the Avro Lincoln, was a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were known initially as the Lancaster IV and V, but were renamed Lincoln I and II...

 and de Havilland Mosquito

De Havilland Mosquito

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...

. The Mosquitos were replaced by the English Electric Canberra

English Electric Canberra

The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...

 and the squadron operated with other pathfinder Canberra squadrons at RAF Hemswell

RAF Hemswell

RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967...

. The Lincolns were replaced by the Vickers Valiant

Vickers Valiant

The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...

 in 1957. The squadron was disbanded on 15 December 1958 with the Valiant Flight becoming 18 Squadron

No. 18 Squadron RAF

No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:...

 at RAF Finningley

RAF Finningley

RAF Finningley is a former Royal Air Force station at Finningley, South Yorkshire, partly within the traditional county boundaries of Nottinghamshire and partly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now wholly within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster....

.

Aircraft operated

Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
1917–1919	Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2	BE.2e
1942–1943	Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...	III and X
1943–1945	Short Stirling Short Stirling The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Stirling was designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, and entered service in 1941...	III
1945	Handley Page Halifax Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...	III
1951–1957	Avro Lincoln Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694, better known as the Avro Lincoln, was a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were known initially as the Lancaster IV and V, but were renamed Lincoln I and II...	B2
1952–1953	de Havilland Mosquito De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...	NF36
1954–1958	English Electric Canberra English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...	B2
1957–1958	Vickers Valiant Vickers Valiant The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...	B1