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No.162 Sqn RAF |
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Name : No.162 Sqn RAF Founded : 1st June 1918 Disbanded : 14th July 1946 Country : UK Fate : Disbanded 14th July 1946 More Details : One time, one purpose |
| Pilots and Aircrew for : No.162 Sqn RAF | ||
| A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
| Bell, Colin Click the name above to see a profile of Bell, Colin | Bell, Colin Upon qualifying as a Pilot on Mosquitos he joined the Path Finder Force where he served with 608 and 162 Squadrons as part of part of the Light Night Strike Force. By the end of the war he had completed a total of 50 Operations including 13 trips to Berlin. | |
| Cassels, J R Click the name above to see a profile of Cassels, J R
| Cassels, J R No's 14, 29, 98, 106, 125, 139 (Jamaica), and 162 Squadrons. "April, 1941 - Enlisted in Edinburgh and accepted for pilot training. April 1941 to April 1942 - No 4 I.TW. Paignton, No 9 E.F.T.S. Ansty, Coventry, No 12 S.F.T.S. Spittlegate, Grantham, (22/01/1941 Received wings as Sgt. Pilot) No 14 O.T.U. Cottesmore flying Hampdens. April 1942 - No 106 Squadron, RAF Coningsby commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, DSO, DFC. I was second pilot on Manchesters and did 4 operational sorties. Converted to Lancasters as first pilot and did 26 operational sorties, including Le Creusot raid on 17 October '42, between June and December 1942. Final sortie on 8 December 1942. December 1942 to March 1943 - Survived several attempts to turn me into a flying instructor. March 1943 - No 1485 Conversion Unit ie. No 5 Group Gunnery Flight training air gunners. October- November 1943 - No 1655 Mosquito Training Unit. November 1943 to June 1944 - No 8 Group, Pathfinder Force - No 139 (Jamaica) Squadron. H2S Mosquito Marking Squadron, RAF Wyton and Upwood. Completed 44 operational sorties before ending up interned in Sweden. 12 June 1944 to 20th September 1944 interned at Falun, Sweden. October 1944 to June 1945 - rejoined No 139 (Jamaica) Squadron at RAF Upwood after an air crew medical where a Group Captain M.0. told me that, as I was warm and my goolies didn't drop oftwhen I coughed, I was back to war. Completed 46 operational sorties before V.E. day. Total sorties on 139 squadron 90. June 1945 to July 1946 - Transport Command, No 162 Squadron flying Mosquitos (ALDS ic, Air Delivery Letter Service) RAF Blackbush. August 1946 to February 1950 - No's 14 and 98 Squadrons, No 139 Wing, RAFO, at RAF Wahn and Celle. February 1950 to August 1950 - abortive EIPS Course. August 1950 to October 1951 - Air Traffic Controllers Course and ATC Officer at RAFWest Raynham. November 1951 to October 1952 - No 29 Night Fighter Squadron, RAF Tangmere. Meteor NFXI. October 1952 to April 1953 - Air Ministry and All Weather Wing, RAF West Raynliam. April 1953 to November 1955 - No 12 Group Headquarters, Group Accidents Officer. November 1955 to April 1957 - No 125 Night Fighter squadron, RAF Stradishall, Meteor NFM and Venom NF. April 1957 to August 1959 - Eastern Sector Operations Centre, Recovery Executive. RAF Neatishead. October 1959 to July 1962 - Hg FEAF, Joint Intelligence Staff. Commissioner Generals Office and RAF Changi. July 1962 to March 1965 - No 3 Group Hg, OC HQ Unit and RAF Liaison Officer to USAF Mildenhall. Retired from RAF as Squadron Leader March 1965. Employed by Airwork Services Ltd, as pilot. March 1965. March 1965 to August 1970 - No 3 (Civilian Anti Aircraft Unit) Exeter Airport. Vampire TX1 and Meteor T=. September 1970 to April 1977 - FRADU ( Fleet Requirements Air Defence Unit) RNAS Yeovilton. Hunter GAII and Mk 8. September 1977. Aged 55. RN age limit for fast jet flying. September 1970. Commissioned in RA17VR M. September 1970 to May 1982 - No 4 AEF, Exeter Airport, Chipmunk. Retired from RAFVRM aged 60, May 1982. Total Flying Hours - 11,300 Ins. Sadly passed away 19th December 2008. | |
| Hadland, Douglas Click the name above to see a profile of Hadland, Douglas | Hadland, Douglas Joining the RAF in 1941, Douglas completed his training in Canada and qualified as a navigator, returning to the UK to spend a brief time with the Navigation Research Flight before being posted to 162 Squadron in No.8 Pathfinder Group at Bourn, near Cambridge, flying Mosquitos. At the end of the war he went briefly to Black Bush Airport flying operations, dropping diplomatic mail in Oslo, Visbarden and Brussels before being posted back to 8 group with 692 Squadron Light Night Strike Force to prepare for the then proposed invasion of Japan. | |
| Lucas, Bill Click the name above to see a profile of Lucas, Bill | Lucas, Bill Born in 1917, Bill Lucas volunteered for aircrew early in 1940 and after training as a fighter pilot he became, due to the high demand, a bomber pilot and joined 9 Squadron (Wellingtons) in August 1941. After 14 missions over Germany Bill converted to Stirlings and completed a further 26 operations, this time with 15 Squadron at Wyton. After two years instructing at 19 OTU Kinloss he was selected to join Pathfinder Force in October 1944 to fly Mosquitoes with 162 Squadron at Bourn, Cambridgeshire, where he remained until war end to complete 41 more missions making 81 in total. Bill attained the rank of Squadron Leader and was awarded the DFC and a Mention in Despatches. The most memorable of his missions must be the first 1000 bomber raid on Cologne on May 30 1942, as this seems to have struck a lasting memory in the minds of the general public. After the war Bill pursued a career in the insurance industry and also began to pick up the pieces of a serious athletic activity with the Belgrave Harriers which resulted in selection for the 5000 metres at the Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, but at the age of 32 he was not in his own words “very successful”. Bill says his greatest regret was missing the games in Helsinki in 1940 and the cancelled games in 1944. “These should have been the best athletic years of my life.” | |
| Aircraft for : No.162 Sqn RAF | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with No.162 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Mosquito 
Manufacturer : De Havilland Production Began : 1940 Retired : 1955 Number Built : 7781 | Mosquito Used as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at 17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four .303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly. The Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23 squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquitos, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built. | |
Oxford
Manufacturer : Airspeed Production Began : 0 Retired : 0 Number Built : 6695 | Oxford The Oxford was built by Airspeed (4,960), De Havilland (1,515), Percival Aircraft (1,525) and the Standard Motor Group (750) during WW2. It was capable of training pilots, navigators, air gunners, radio operators and flight engineers. As well as equipping service flying schools in Great Britain, they spread out all over the globe, training aircrew in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and Southern Rhodesia. Nearly 50% of all aircrew who served in the RAF, RCAF, RAAF and RNZAF went through the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, The Oxford was the preferred trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) and British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), which sent thousands of potential aircrew to Canada for training. 27 Oxfords were on the strength of No 4 Flying Training School RAF Habbaniya, Iraq in early 1941 and some were converted locally, for use as light bombers to help in the defence of the School against Iraqi forces. Airspeed Ltd was founded by Neville Shute Norway in 1931. N.S. Norway had trained as an aeronautical engineer, and worked under Barnes Wallis (of ‘Bouncing Bomb’ fame) at Vickers Ltd. on the successful R.100 airship. His first design for the new company was the Airspeed A.S.6 Envoy, he was responsible for devising a retractable undercarriage for the Envoy, and it enjoyed both civil and military success – an Envoy served in ‘The King’s Flight’, and was used to convey members of the Royal Family, and the South African Air Force ordered a batch of seven ‘Convertible Envoys’ which could be fitted with an Armstrong Whitworth gun turret and carriers for small bombs, as needed. In 1941, the aviatrix Amy Johnson went missing in an Airspeed Oxford, presumably crashing into the Thames Estuary. After the war, 152 surplus Oxfords were converted into small 6-seat commercial airliners called the AS.65 Consul. A few Oxfords were acquired by the Hellenic Air Force and used during the Greek Civil War by No. 355 Squadron RHAF. Although the Oxford was equipped with fixed-pitch wooden or Fairey-Reed metal propellers, the cockpit contained a propeller pitch lever, which had to be moved from "Coarse" to "Fine" for landing. This was to reinforce this important step for trainee pilots. Oxfords continued to serve the Royal Air Force as trainers and light transports until the last was withdrawn from service in 1956. Some were sold for use by overseas air arms, including the Royal Belgian Air Force. | |
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Died : 19 / 12 / 2008