Air Force Index

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No. 68 Squadron Royal Air Force   7th January 1941 New night-fighter Squadron formed   A new No. 68 Squadron was formed at Catterick on 7th January 1941 as a night-fighter Squadron equipped with the Blenheim 1f. The Blenheims carried airborne interception radar, known as A.I. Most of the the pilots were from single-engine fighter squadrons and needed to go through a twin-engine conversion course. The first A.I. operators were mostly ex-gunners who were trained on the equipment by the Squadron mainly by the ground 'boffins'. At this time there were no operational training units for night-fighter crews, and no A.I. training school for operators (until No.3 Radio School was opened at Prestwick in July 1941). Consequently the initial training period for 68 Squadron was lengthy and it did not become operational until 7 April 1941. 7th January 1941 New night-fighter Squadron formed 23rd April 1941 Operational 18th May 1941 Crashed on night Patrol 17th June 1941  Night interception success 1st July 1941 Czechoslovak aircrew arrive 12th Oct 1941 Night fighter success 1st Nov 1941 Night fighter success 1st March 1942 Relocated 27th April 1942 Sacking of Norwich 29th April 1942 Norwich bombed May 1942 Maritime duties 1st May 1942 Night fighter success 30th May 1942 Night action 23rd July 1942 Enemy bombers intercepted August 1942 New duties 5th September 1942 Air accidents 16th February 1943 Ground attack role 18th February 1943 Mixed missions 22nd April 1943 Detachment 3rd October 1943 Reinforcements 7th October 1943 Detachment to Coltishall 12th December 1943 Enemy engaged 17th January 1944 Detachment 29th January 1944 Trainee success 5th February 1944 Relocated 1st March 1944  Relocated again 15th May 1944 Successful sortie 28th May 1944 Mosquitos arrive 23rd June 1944 V1 defences 9th July 1944 Flying Bombs 25th July 1944 Aircrew killed chasing flying bombs 31st July 1944 Flying bomb patrols August 1944 Frustration October 1944 US Aircrew join 68 Squadron 16th Oct 1944 Flying bomb launched from He111 27th October 1944 Relocated 5th November 1944 Flying bomb shot down 8th November 1944 V2 spotted 11th November 1944 Flying bomb launchers shot down 14th November 1944 Shot down by coastal defences 4th December 1944 Aircraft lost 5th January 1945 Aircraft missing 8th February 1945 Flooded 3rd March 1945 Bombers shot down 4th March 1945 Aircraft lost to AA fire 20th April 1945 Moved and disbanded If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Logbooks Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession? If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you. View Logbook entries Those known to have served with No. 68 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Butcher Geoffrey Robert. PO (d.18th May 1941) 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. 68 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about No. 68 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2045 items tagged No. 68 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. PO Geoffrey Robert Butcher 68 Squadron (d.18th May 1941) My Great-Uncle, Geoff Butcher, was a Pilot Officer with 68 Squadron during WW2. Before the war he won a scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford; after the outbreak of war he was transferred to Christ Church, Oxford. In July 1940 he volunteered for the RAF, a year before finishing his studies. After training he became a Sergeant Pilot, and at the beginning of 1941 he got his commission as a Pilot Officer. The squadron was based at Catterick during training as a night-fighter squadron. The 1st CO was Spn Ldr DL Clackson, but later replaced by Wg. Cdr Max Aitken, DFC. In April 1941, 68 squadron was made operational and moved to High Ercall Airfield, Staffs. The first casualties occured when Geoff and Sgt. Irwin Harold Wiskar (Czech) were killed on the night of the 17/18 May 1941. They were engaged in local night flying practice in their Bristol Blenheim L8675 when the aircraft stalled at low altitude. Six of their squadron brothers acted as pall-bearers at their funeral. Geoff is buried at Wombridge Church Yard. Rebecca Farr Add to this record. Recomended Reading. 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