No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force

197 Squadron was formed at RAF Drem on the 21st November 1942 and was equipped with Hawker Typhoons for a fighter defence role. The Squadron was later equipped to perform as a fighter bomber ground attack unit in the Tactical Air Force and attached to the Canadian Army, moving into France shortly after D-Day.
Locations where 197 Squadron was based:

21st November 1942 to 27th March 1943 at Drem;
30th March 1943 to 15th March 1944 at Tangmere;

Detachment to Manston 3-15th August 1943

15th March to 1st April 1944 at Manston;
1-10th April 1944 at Tangmere
10th April to 20th July 1944 at Needs Oar Point

20th July to 2nd September 1944 at B.3 St Croix, France
2-11th September 1944 at RAF Manston
11th September to 2nd October 1944 at B.51 Lille-Vandeville, Belgium
2nd October to 25th November 1944 at B.70 Antwerp-Duerne
25th November to 10th December 1944 at RAF Fairwood Common.
11th December 1944 to 8th February 1945 at B.70 Antwerp
8th February to 16th March 1945 at B.89 Mill
16-30th March 1945 at B.105 Drope, Germany
30th March at B.111 Ahlhorn.

30th November 1942 New Typhoon Squadron formed

8th December 1942 Pilots arrive

23rd December 1942 Bad prang

24th January 1943 Unexplained crash

28th January 1943 Structural failure

31st January 1943 First operational sortie

14th February 1943 Two pilots killed

20th February 1943 Patrols

12th March 1943 Bandit flying too high

20th March 1943 Move ordered

27th March 1943 Relocation disrupted

30th March 1943 Typhoons arrive at new base

3rd April 1943 Routine patrols

10th April 1943 Pilot killed on first sortie over France

15th April 1943 Escort duty

16th April 1943 Enemy aircraft probably destroyed

22nd April 1943 Killed on patrol

7th May 1943 Killed on exercise

11th May 1943 Ditched

18th May 1943 Typhoon ops suspended

13th June 1943 Gunnery course

1st July 1943 Typhoons lost

2nd July 1943 French lessons

9th July 1943 Back on ops

18th July 1943 Mr Anthony Eden

23rd July 1943 Rhubarb

29th July 1943 German aircraft withdrawn

3rd August 1943 Detachment to Manston

11th August 1943 Pilot shot down at Ghent

16th August 1943 Ramrod raid accounts differ

31st August 1943 Ops

4th September 1943 Boulogne bombed

14th September 1943 ME109 shot down

21st September 1943 Airfield successfully defended

24th September 1943 Dogfight over France

3rd October 1943 Ditched airmen rescued

16th October 1943 Pilot killed on exercise

19th October 1943 New tactics

22nd October 1943 Killed by flak

24th October 1943 Bomb racks fitted

31st October 1943 First sortie as bombers

1st November 1943 Ju52 destroyed

10th November 1943 Belgian pilot lost on night intruder raid

23rd November 1943 Anniversary party

18th December 1943 Irish pilot killed on exercise

20th December 1943 Two sorties to France

21st December 1943 Diverted by cloud

30th December 1943 Ramrod sorties

3rd January 1944

13th January 1944 Too many postings

23rd January 1944 Test pilot

24th January 1944 C.O. killed in France

28th February 1944 Ship attacked unsuccessfully

15th March 1944 Squadrons swap duties

18th March 1944 Collided with a tree

1st April 1944 Return to Tangmere

10th April 1944 Under canvas

18th April 1944 Army Cooperation Exercise

26th April 1944 Wing sortie over Dieppe

29th April 1944 Three Wing ops

24th May 1944 RDF Station attacked

2nd June 1944 Big show

4th June 1944 Painting

5th June 1944 C.O. missing at sea

6th June 1944 D-Day

7th June 1944 Few targets found

8th June 1944 Armed recce

13th June 1944 Pilot killed at Caen

14th June 1944 Operations around Caen

16th June 1944 Wing Commander shot down

17th June 1944 Shot down near Caen

20th June 1944 No-ball targets

23rd June 1944 Paris on fire

27th June 1944 Crash due to engine failure

3rd July 1944 Squadrons relocated

5th July 1944 Lost without trace

8th July 1944 Ops in France aborted

11th July 1944 Aircraft relocated to France

13th July 1944 Dogfight over Caen

14th July 1944 Return from France

15th July 1944 To France again

17th July 1944 Aircraft relocated to France

20th July 1944 146 Wing moves to France

23rd July 1944 Winston Churchill in Normandy

24th July 1944 Postings of Commanders

25th July 1944 48 hour leave granted

26th July 1944 Friendly fire inaccurate

27th July 1944 Successful ops

7th August 1944 No red smoke

12th August 1944 Typhoon pilot taken PoW

13th August 1944 German HQ attacked

14th August 1944 Battle of Falaise

15th August 1944 Thunderstorms

17th August 1944 Typhoon lost in dogfight

18th August 1944 Massive day

24th August 1944 Postings

2nd September 1944 Attack on Samur

3rd September 1944 Shipping strike

4th September 1944 Move to England

5th September 1944 Ships sunk

6-7th September 1944 Overhaul

11th September 1944 Move to Belgium

13th September 1944 Pilot killed over Boulogne

16th September 1944 Attacks on shipping

20th September 1944 Sortie abandoned

22nd September 1944 Command post bombed

26th September 1944 Five sorties

2nd October 1944 Relocation to Antwerp

5th October 1944 Railways attacked

6th October 1944 Bombs fail to detonate

7th October 1944 First attack in Germany

11th October 1944 Very busy day

12th October 1944 Guns, railways and boats attacked

13th October 1944 H.M. The King visits Antwerp

14th October 1944 V2 rockets fall in Antwerp

16th October 1944 German positions bombed

18th October 1944 Typhoon Pilot killed

20th October 1944 Troop positions attacked

21st October 1944 Lucky escape

28th October 1944 Attack on Dunkirk

29th October 1944 Heavy guns destroyed

1st November 1944 Battle of the Scheldt

2nd November 1944 Infantry bombed

4th November 1944 Submarine factory bombed

9th November 1944 V2 rockets hit airfield

11th November 1944 V2 hits airfield again

21st November 1944 Mid-air collision

25th November 1944 Move to Wales

10th December 1944 Return to Belgium

16th December 1944 Antwerp hit by V2 rockets

17th December 1944 Gathering winter fuel

18th December 1944 Sortie aborted

19th December 1944 Antwerp bombed

20th December 1944 RAF personnel armed

23rd December 1944 Airfield attacked

24th December 1944 Two Typhoon Pilots killed

25th December 1944 Railways attacked

28th December 1944 Emergency evacuation planned

31st December 1944 Two Typhoons shot down

1st January 1945 Aircraft unserviceable

8th February 1945 New base very rough

10th February 1945 D-Day veteran taken PoW

14th February 1945 Highly successful day

3rd March 1945 More leave promised

18th March 1945 Press report bombing sortie

24th March 1945 Operation Varsity

2nd April 1945 ‘wizard prang’

5th April 1945 Long range tanks fitted

16th April 1945 Move into Germany

30th April 1945 On the move in heavy snow

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Those known to have served with
No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.

Jones Robert Henry. F/O. (d.31st December 1944)
Peters DFM. Raymond Albert. P/O. (d.30th Dec 1943)

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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.

F/O. Robert Henry Jones 197 Squadron (d.31st December 1944)

Flying Officer (Pilot) Robert Jones was the son of Albert Henry and Emily E. Jones of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was 21 when he died and is buried in the Drunen (Elshout) Roman Catholic Churchyard, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.

S Flynn

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No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force

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Those known to have served with
No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.

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Want to know more about No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force?

Recomended Reading.

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The Wartime Memories Project - No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War -

No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force

Logbooks

Those known to have served with No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Forceduring the Second World War 1939-1945.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

Announcements

Want to know more about No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force?

Recomended Reading.

Links

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- No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War -

Those known to have served with
No. 197 Squadron Royal Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.