No. 311 (Czecho-Slovak) Squadron

Motto: "Na mnozstvi nehledte" ("Never regard their numbers").
Badge: A thresher and a morning star in saltire, the hafts fracted.
Authority: King George VI, October 1941.

No. 311 Squadron was formed at Honington, Suffolk, on 29th July, 1940, from Czech Air Force personnel who had formerly served in France and had escaped to this country at the time of the French collapse. Flying Wellington bombers and forming part of No. 3 Group, it first went into action on the night of 10th/11th September, 1940, and continued in the bomber role (being based at East Wretham, satellite of Honington, from mid-September onwards) until late April, 1942, when it was transferred to coastal command and Aldergrove and given a general-reconnaissance role. By then, it had operated 150 times, flown 1,021 operational sorties, and dropped more than 1,300 tons of bombs on enemy targets; these included Berlin, Bonn, Boulogne, Brest, Cologne, Flushing, Essen, Kiel, Paris and Turin. Shortly after joining Coastal Command No. 311 took part (as did certain other units of "Coastal") in the third 1,000-bomber raid, on Bremen; on this occasion its Wellingtons operated from Birchan Newton.

Bomber Command WWII Bases:

• Honington, Suffolk : Jul. 1940 - Sep. 1940
• East Wretham, Norfolk : Sep. 1940 - Apr. 1942
     At end of Apr. 1942 sqdn. moved and transferred to N.Ireland (Aldergrove) and Coastal Cmd. to become a general-reconnaissance unit

• Vickers Wellington Mk.1A's and 1C's : Aug. 1940 - Apr. 1942

Code Letters:

• In WW2, the sqdn's a/c were coded "KX".

• 10th/11th September 1940 : 3 Wellingtons despatched to bomb Antwerp/Deurne airfield.

Last Operational Mission as No. 311(B) Squadron:

• 25th/26th April 1942 : 4 Wellingtons bombed Dunkirk docks and another Wellington aborted.

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