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No. 159 Squadron Royal Air Force
No 159 Squadron formed on 1 June 1918 but disbanded almost immediately on 4 July 1918. The personnel intended for this squadron were diverted to existing units in France as reinforcements.
The Squadron was reformed as a heavy bomber unit at RAF Molesworth on the 2nd January 1942. Ground crew were sent to the Middle East where, without aircraft, they supported other operational squadrons, whilst the aircrew went for heavy bomber training. In May 1942 the ground crew were posted on to India. In July the Squadron's first B-24 Liberator bombers were delivered to Palestine with the air crew, and it was not until 27th September 1942 that the whole squadron was assembled together at RAF Salbani west of Calcutta. The Squadron then settled to a role of long-range bomber sorties over Burma.
In May 1944 'C' Flight of 160 Squadron was re-assigned to 159 Squadron as a Special Flight flying Liberators equipped for the task of detecting and disrupting Japanese Radio and Radar signals. These duties continued until July 1945 when the flight was detached to join 1341 Special Duties Flight.
Airfields at which 159 Squadron were based:
- Molesworth from 2nd January 1942;
- Fayif, Egypt (ground echelon only) from 15th April 1942;
- Deolali, India (ground echelon only) from 24th May 1942;
- Chakrata, India (ground echelon only) from 1st July 1942;
- St Jean, Palestine (air echelon and aircraft) from 2nd July 1942;
- Salbani, India (entire Squadron) from 27th September 1942;
- Digri, India from 24th October 1943;
- Dhubalia, India, from 9th March 1944;
- Digri, India from 15th April 1944.
2nd January 1942 Heavy bomber Squadron formed
15th April 1942 Aircraft servicing duties in Egypt
April 1942 Ground crew with no aircraft
26th April 1942 Transfer of aircrew
24th May 1942 Ground crew move to India
7th June 1942 New Liberator bombers delivered
15th July 1942 Liberator shot down at Benghazi
August 1942 Transfer of ground crew
23rd August 1942 Heavy bomber lost
27th September 1942 Heavy bomber reach India
3rd October 1942 Ditched on Special Operations
17th November 1942 First heavy bomber action in Burma
23rd February 1943 First B24-Liberator lost over Burma
7th April 1943 Lost in the Bay of Bengal
14th April 1943 Ferry flight to India
15th April 1943 Liberator written off
19th April 1943 Liberator failed in Karachi
20th April 1943 Landing accident
27th April 1943 Squadron reduced to 2 aircraft
22nd May 1943 Daylight bombing over Burma
13th June 1943 9 hour sortie
12th August 1943 Killed on exercise
30th August 1943 New training unit established
8th September 1943 Wellington ditched in the Bay of Bengal
25th September 1943 Crash landing
10th October 1943 Shot down over Burma
23rd October 1943 Relocated in India
December 1943 Army support role
19th December 1943 Attack on Bankok
23rd December 1943 Second attack on Bangkok
31st December 1943 Cigarettes dropped for PoWs
10th January 1944 Minelaying off Moulmein
17th January 1944 Attack on Meitkila
1st February 1944 Attack on Mingaldon
1st February 1944 Explosion destroys bomber
5th February 1944 Attack on Japanese aerodrome
11th February 1944 Bombing attacks
16th February 1944 Bankok and Burma bombed
21st February 1944 Attack on Sagaing port
23rd February 1944 Moulmein bombed
26th February 1944 Coordinated bombing raids on aerodromes in Burma
29th February 1944 Two Liberators shot down over Rangoon
3rd March 1944 Attack on Japanese airfields
6th March 1944 Move to Dhubalia
10th March 1944 Bomber support for the army
15th March 1944 Attack on Rangoon
17th March 1944 Japanese airfields bombed
21st March 1944 Port facilities bombed
30th March 1944 Supply dumsp at Rangoon bombed
2nd April 1944 Air gunners killed and injured
17th April 1944 Move back to Digri
5th May 1944 Special Flight moves to Digri
July 1944 Bomb payload increased
9th August 1944 Special Flight transferred to 159 Squadron
28th August 1944 Liberator bomber lost in Burma
October 1944 Conditions at RAF Digri in 1944
6th October 1944 Two Liberators lost in Thailand
27th October 1944 Longest bomber raid record set
10th November 1944. Special duties aircraft missing
12th November 1944 Liberator lost minelaying
29th December 1944 Liberator lost during minelaying
31st January 1945 Special Flight crew tortured and murdered
9th February 1945 Crashed in Burma
27th February 1945 Aircraft maintenance crew on detachment to China
15th March 1945 Bomber lost on Burma - Siam Railway
April 1945 Special Duties Flight back in action
May 1945 Special Duties Flight ready for Ops.
14th May 1945 Victory Parade
3rd August 1945 Bomber lost on syupply dropping sortie
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Logbooks
Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession?
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Those known to have served with No. 159 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Archer Sydney Martin. A/Sgt.
- Bryant Walter G.. LAC. (d.8th Aug 1943)
- Burton Derrick Charles North. Flt.Sgt. (d.9th Feb 1945)
- Cutlan E. R.. Flt.Lt
- James Arthur Edwin.
- Meyers Kenneth Henry. Sgt.
- Reed Samuel.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of No. 159 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources.
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Want to know more about No. 159 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2068 items tagged No. 159 Squadron Royal Air Force available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sgt. Kenneth Henry Meyers No. 159 Squadron Dad, Kenneth Meyers joined the RAF in 1943 and completed one operational tour for No. 159 Squadron from 1944 to 1945. I have his flying log book.
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Flt.Sgt. Derrick Charles North Burton 159 Squadron (d.9th Feb 1945) Derrick Burton was the beloved only son of Alfred Edgar Burton and Gwendolyn Victoria Burton, nee North. Derrick lied about his age in order to join the Royal Air Force in 1940, at the age of 16, two years earlier than the minimum age. He was following in his father's footsteps, as Alfred Burton had been a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in WWI, serving in France.
Derrick's older sister, Dilys, and his twin sister, Doreen, both also volunteered and served in the WRAF during WWII. Dilys rose to the rank of sergeant and served in Bomber Command and in Egypt. Doreen was a radar operator.
Derrick was universally adored. His older sister recalled how, as a child, he would spend his own pocket money and then come to take his twin sister's. No-one could resist his charm and wit, as well as his loving nature. He was the life and soul of the party and would regale his sisters with stories of games which required participants to make the tour of the mess without their feet touching the ground.
Early in 1945, Derrick's twin sister remembered blacking out and seeing an image of a plane crashing out of the night's sky in flames. It was later found that Derrick's aircraft had caught fire in mid-air whilst flying south of Moulmein, and crashed to the ground resulting in the death of the entire crew on 9th February that year. When he was reported to be missing in action, his older sister, Dilys, took a posting to Egypt, thinking that it was nearer to Burma and would enable her to go to look for him. Of course, this was a fanciful idea.
Gwendolyn never recovered from the loss of her son.
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Samuel Reed 158 Sqdn. My father, Samuel Reed, was stationed at 158 Squadron at RAF Lissett during WWII. He was a member of the ground crew and worked on Halifax bombers. I would like to hear from anyone who was there at that time as he suffers from short term memory loss and his most vivid memories seem to be about his RAF days and how the Aussie airmen taught him to drink! It would be nice to talk to him about those times.
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Flt.Lt E. R. Cutlan 159 Sqdn Flt. Lt E.R. Catlan trained on Liberators at 5 OTU Boundary Bay, BC. He was later attached to 159 Squadron of SEAC [South East Asia Command] at RAF Digri, East Bengal. He served as an air navigator primarily on A/C KH359 Librator VI `R' Roger and flew 25 operational sorties. He passed away in 1987, after a career with Western Canadian Oil and Gas and Imperial Oil Ltd.
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Arthur Edwin James 159 Sqdn. My Grandfather Arthur James Royal served with 159 Squadron, Air Force.
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A/Sgt. Sydney Martin Archer 159 Squadron My father, Sid Archer served with 159 Squadron as a cook. As a child I remember many stories of the difficulties he had in feeding the squadron and I wonder if anyone remembers him or has any photos?
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