No. 455 Squadron RAAF

Motto: "Strike and strike again."
Badge: In front of two battle axes in saltire a winged helmet. This squadron adopted as its badge a helmet of the type associated with the Vikings, combined with two battle axes because it considered this indicative of the operations it performed-rapid swoops across the sea by a compact, well-armed force.
Authority: King George VI, November 1944.

No. 455 Squadron first came into existence at Williamtown, New South Wales, on 23rd May 1941, and originally consisted of RAAF ground staff in numbers and trades approximately commensurate with the needs of a Wellington bomber squadron. It began to establish itself in Britain on 6th June 1941 (while the Williamtown party were still in Australia awaiting transport) at Swinderby, Lincolnshire, in No. 5 Group, and was eventually equipped with Hampden aircraft, the first of which arrived on 10th July. It was the first Australian bomber squadron to form in Britain, and its first operational flight was an attack against Frankfurt on the night of 29/30th August 1941.

The squadron was employed, like most other Bomber Command units, on both bombing and minelaying, and in February 1942, took part in the attack against units of the German Fleet, including the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, escaping from Brest to North German ports.

Early in February 1942, the squadron moved to Wigsley and on 27th April was transferred, with No. 144 Squadron, to Coastal Command for eventual employment in the torpedo-bombing role.

Bomber Command WWII Bases: First came into existence 23.5.41 at Williamtown, New South Wales & officially established at Swinderby on 6.6.41

• Swinderby : Jun 1941-Feb 1942
• Wigsley : Feb 1942-Apr 1942
  • Detachment at Swinderby.

Bomber Command WWII Aircraft:

• Handley Page Hampden : Jul 1941-Apr 1942

Code Letters:

• "UB"

First Operational Mission in WWII:

• 29/30th August 1941 : 1 Hampden bombed Frankfurt docks.

Last Operational Missions with Bomber Command:

• 15/16th April 1942 : 7 Hampdens in total involved in various ops : bombing of main square in Dortmund; Nickelling in Rennes area; and Gardening in Beech (St Nazaire) area.

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