428 "Ghost" Squadron RCAF
Title
428 "Ghost" Squadron RCAF
Description
A brief history of 428 Squadron, formed at Dalton on 7 November 1942, part of No. 4 Group then transferred to No. 6 Group at Middleton St George. Some of the operations are discussed, as are the aircraft flown by the squadron. There is a list of operation flown by Bob Sharrock and a photograph of their Lancaster with the crew.
Language
Format
Two typewritten sheets
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
MSharrockR2210141-180309-01
Transcription
428 “Ghost” Squadron RCAF
Motto: "Usque ad finem" ("To the very end").
Badge: In a shroud, a death's head. The badge refers to the squadron's nickname "Ghost"- a nickname earned through many hours of night-bombing operations - and also to the death and destruction which the squadron carried to the enemy.
No. 428 Squadron was formed at Dalton, Yorkshire, on 7th November 1942, as a bomber unit of No. 4 Group. On 1st January 1943, it transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group, with which it operated against enemy targets until 25th April 1945 - about a fortnight before VE Day. Early in June 1943, the squadron moved to Middleton St. George, its base for the remainder of its period in the UK. It first flew Wellington IIIs and Xs, then Halifaxes (Vs and IIs), and finally Lancaster Xs. Code letters NA.
In January 1944, Halifax bombers from No. 428 Squadron participated in the first high-level mining raid "Gardening", when mines were dropped by parachute from 15,000 feet (4,570 m) over Brest on 4/5 Jan and Saint-Nazaire on 6/7 Jan 1944.
The squadron flew its last sortie with the Halifax on June 12, 1944, then converting to the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster (B. Mark X), the first sortie taking place on June 14, 1944.
For the final phase of the air campaign against Germany, the squadron took part in day and night raids, with its last operational sortie taking place on April 25, 1945, when 15 Lancasters bombed anti-aircraft gun batteries defending the mouth of the Weser, on the Frisian Island of Wangerooge.
No. 6 RCAF Group comprised 9 squadrons across N. Yorks and county Durham and flew 39,584 missions and dropped 126,122 tons of bombs and mines for the loss of 784 aircraft and almost 10,000 men. AOC was AVM C.M. McEwen- Feb ’44 to June ’45.
Aircraft [2][3] Period of service[8] Representative serial[8]
Handley Page Halifax Mk B.V June 1943 – January 1944 DK237 (NA – L)
Handley Page Halifax Mk B.II November 1943 – June 1944 JN955 (NA – L)
Avro Lancaster Mk B.X
June 1944 – September 1945 KB763 (NA – S)
Aircrew and groundcrew of Avro Lancaster KB760 NA:P "P-Peter", from No. 428 Squadron RCAF-Hitler’s Haunters. The badge for the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire is visible on the nose. Photo taken after the squadron's 2,000th sortie, a raid on Bremen, Germany.
Bob Sharrock and his crew flew this aircraft on the following occasions as follows:
28 Oct 1944 Cologne
29 Dec 1944 Scholven
30 Dec 1944 Cologne
2 Jan 1945 Nuremburg
28 Jan 1945 Stuttgart
1 Feb 1945 Mannheim
4 Feb 1945 Bonn
Motto: "Usque ad finem" ("To the very end").
Badge: In a shroud, a death's head. The badge refers to the squadron's nickname "Ghost"- a nickname earned through many hours of night-bombing operations - and also to the death and destruction which the squadron carried to the enemy.
No. 428 Squadron was formed at Dalton, Yorkshire, on 7th November 1942, as a bomber unit of No. 4 Group. On 1st January 1943, it transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group, with which it operated against enemy targets until 25th April 1945 - about a fortnight before VE Day. Early in June 1943, the squadron moved to Middleton St. George, its base for the remainder of its period in the UK. It first flew Wellington IIIs and Xs, then Halifaxes (Vs and IIs), and finally Lancaster Xs. Code letters NA.
In January 1944, Halifax bombers from No. 428 Squadron participated in the first high-level mining raid "Gardening", when mines were dropped by parachute from 15,000 feet (4,570 m) over Brest on 4/5 Jan and Saint-Nazaire on 6/7 Jan 1944.
The squadron flew its last sortie with the Halifax on June 12, 1944, then converting to the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster (B. Mark X), the first sortie taking place on June 14, 1944.
For the final phase of the air campaign against Germany, the squadron took part in day and night raids, with its last operational sortie taking place on April 25, 1945, when 15 Lancasters bombed anti-aircraft gun batteries defending the mouth of the Weser, on the Frisian Island of Wangerooge.
No. 6 RCAF Group comprised 9 squadrons across N. Yorks and county Durham and flew 39,584 missions and dropped 126,122 tons of bombs and mines for the loss of 784 aircraft and almost 10,000 men. AOC was AVM C.M. McEwen- Feb ’44 to June ’45.
Aircraft [2][3] Period of service[8] Representative serial[8]
Handley Page Halifax Mk B.V June 1943 – January 1944 DK237 (NA – L)
Handley Page Halifax Mk B.II November 1943 – June 1944 JN955 (NA – L)
Avro Lancaster Mk B.X
June 1944 – September 1945 KB763 (NA – S)
Aircrew and groundcrew of Avro Lancaster KB760 NA:P "P-Peter", from No. 428 Squadron RCAF-Hitler’s Haunters. The badge for the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire is visible on the nose. Photo taken after the squadron's 2,000th sortie, a raid on Bremen, Germany.
Bob Sharrock and his crew flew this aircraft on the following occasions as follows:
28 Oct 1944 Cologne
29 Dec 1944 Scholven
30 Dec 1944 Cologne
2 Jan 1945 Nuremburg
28 Jan 1945 Stuttgart
1 Feb 1945 Mannheim
4 Feb 1945 Bonn
Collection
Citation
“428 "Ghost" Squadron RCAF,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 3, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19950.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.