- Type of Memorial
- Board / Plaque / Tablet
- WMR Reference Number
- 30682
- Description
- METAL PLAQUE
- Inscription
- R.A.F. KIRMINGTON / & 166 SQUADRON/ 166 Squadron was re-formed at RAF Kirmington on the 27th January, 1943./ the squadron was equipped with wellington bombers carrying a crew of five./ the first operation was carried out on the night of 26/27th of January 1943/ joining a main force of 157 aircraft to bomb the German U-Boat base at/ Lorient./ in September 1943 the squadron converted to the four engined Lancaster,/ carrying a crew of seven. The first operation with twelve of these new aircraft/ was on the 22nd September when Hanover was the target./ thereafter the squadron attacked 255 targets in enemy and occupied/ countries and also carried out 52 minelaying operations known as "Gardening"./ at its peak the squadron had 34 Lancasters on the airfield with a maximum of/ 32 taking part on operations at any one time./ on D-Day the squadron flew 26 sorties to Acheres to assist the troops to gain a/ foothold on the beaches at Normandy. As well as bombing V1 & V2 launching/ sites and storage depots and German industrial targets they flew many sorties/ in direct support of the allied troops in France, Belgium, holland and/ Germany./ the squadron flew 5061 sorties dropping 24,022 tons of high explosive/ bombs, 3,429 tons of incendiary bombs and 701 tons of sea mines./ in the 2 years and three months of its existence 179 aircraft filed to return and 922/ aircrew were killed./ the last bombing operation in which the squadron took part was on the 25th/ April 1945 when the target was the S.S. barracks at Berchtesgarten./ during the war the following awards were made to members of the squadron/ (awards)/ the squadron flew 202 sorties on operation "manna" in which 49,728 sacks of/ food were dropped to the starving people of Holland 65 sorties were flown on/ operation "exodus" bringing back 1,507 released P.O.W.'s and 2,535 of all ranks/ from all three services were flown back from Italy