Home> Search> Great Britain> Units> 37 Squadron

 

Motto: "Wise without eyes"
Badge: A hawk hooded, belled and fessed, wings elevated and addorsed
 

History

No.37 Squadron had been reformed in 1937 as a heavy bomber squadron equipped with the Harrow bomber. It received more modern aircraft, in the shape of the Vickers Wellington I on May 1939, giving the squadron just over three months to get used to the new aircraft.

The squadron went into action seven hours after the British ultimatum to Germany expired, flying a sweep over Heligoland Bight. Heavy loses soon forced Bomber Command to abandon this sort of daylight raid, and the squadron became a night bomber unit.

In November 1940 the squadron was transferred to Egypt, via Malta, from where it carried out a number of sorties. Once in Egypt the squadron took part in the campaign in the western desert, supporting the Eighth Army against Rommel and the Afrika Korps. It also took part in the suppression of the Iraqi revolt and sent a detachment to Greece (March 1941).

In 1943 the squadron took part in the Allied advance, moving to Libya in February and to Tunisia in May. This allowed its bombers to range further across occupied Europe. Finally in December 1943 the squadron moved to Italy, staying at Tortorella from 29 December 1943 until 2 October 1945. While in Italy the Wellingtons were finally replaced with Liberator VIs. From its base in Italy the squadron attacked targets in Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania, as well as dropping supplies to the Yugoslav partisans. The squadron also took part in Allied operations to mine the Danube, blocking it to Axis shipping.

(© Rickard, J (24 March 2007), No. 37 Squadron (RAF): Second World War)

RAF Squadron crest © Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

Relevant Websites

James J MacIsaac - pilot with 37 Squadron
 

Casualties of the squadron, buried in the Netherlands.

Number of known casualties: 2

United Kingdom	1
New Zealand	1

(this list was compiled with the help of Geoff's Search Engine is an excellent tool to help you search through the CWGC database)