No. 623 Squadron RAF explained

Unit Name:	No. 623 Squadron RAF
Dates:	10 Aug 1943 – 6 Dec 1943
Branch:	Royal Air Force
Type:	inactive
Role:	Bomber Squadron
Command Structure:	No. 3 Group RAF RAF Bomber Command
Garrison:	RAF Downham Market
Garrison Label:	Station
Identification Symbol Label:	Squadron Badge
Identification Symbol 2:	IC (Aug 1943 – Dec 1943)
Identification Symbol 2 Label:	Squadron Codes
Aircraft Bomber:	Short Stirling Four-engined heavy bomber

No. 623 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force for several months in 1943 during the Second World War.

History

The squadron was formed on 10 August 1943 at RAF Downham Market in Norfolk from 'C' Flight of 218 Squadron, as well as receiving crews from No.3 L.F.S. and No.1653 Conversion Unit. It was equipped with Stirling Mk.III bombers, as part of No. 3 Group RAF in Bomber Command. The squadron carried out night raids against Germany, but was short-lived and was disbanded on 6 December 1943 at Downham Market. The aircraft went mostly to conversion units of No. 5 Group RAF.

Commanding officers

Officers commanding No. 623 Squadron RAF, data from!Date!Name!Comments
18 August 1943		Killed in action, 31-08-1943
6 September 1943	W/Cdr. G.T. Wynne-Powell	Moved to 90 Sqn, 29-11-1943
29 November 1943

Notable personnel

Flt Lt John Henry Smythe, a black navigator from Sierra Leone, who was shot down and captured, and later became a Queen's Counsel barrister and the attorney general of Sierra Leone.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 623 Squadron RAF, data from!From!To!Aircraft!Variant
August 1943	December 1943		Mk.III

Some examples:

BF568: IC-B Taken over from No. 218 Squadron RAF, later to No. 214 Squadron RAF and 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU). Struck of charge 24.4.45
BK727: IC-A Taken over from No. 218 Squadron, later to No. 214 Squadron and 1651 HCU. Struck of charge 24.4.45
BK803: IC-S and IC-D Taken over from No. 218 Squadron, later to 1654 HCU. Crashed 30.6.44
EE876: IC-T Taken over from No. 218 Squadron, later to 1654 HCU. Struck of charge 25.4.46
EE966: IC-E Taken over from No. 218 Squadron, later transferred to No. 299 Squadron RAF. Crashed 11.5.45 at Gardermoen, Norway
EF199: IC-I Went to No. 214 Squadron RAF and later to 1651 HCU. Struck of charge 24.4.45
EF204: IC-E Went to 1654 Conversion Unit after its service life with No. 623 Squadron, crashed 14.1.45
EH878: IC-I Failed to return from a bombing mission to Mannheim, 6.9.43
EH925: IC-C Failed to return from bombing mission to Berlin, 23/24.08.43. Aircraft crashed 10 km south of Zossen, crew killed. Crash site has now been discovered in local area.
EJ121: IC-Q Went to 1654 Conversion Unit after its service life with No. 623 Squadron. Struck of charge 28.2.45
LJ454: IC-E Failed to return from a bombing mission to Mannheim, 19.11.43
LK387: IC-P Failed to return on 5.12.43 on a mine laying operation at the Friesian Islands

Operations

Date	Type	Target	Despatched	DCO	Alt	DNCO	Lost	Comments
10/11-Aug-43	Stirling	Nürnberg	4	4	0	0	0
12/13-Aug-43	Stirling	Turin	4	4	0	0	0
16/17-Aug-43	Stirling	Turin	5	5	0	0	0
23/24-Aug-43	Stirling	Berlin	6	5	0	0	1	EH925
24/25-Aug-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Nectarines
25/26-Aug-43	Stirling	Gardening	1	1	0	0	0	Deodars
26/27-Aug-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Deodars
27/28-Aug-43	Stirling	Nürnberg	5	3	0	1	1	EE909
30/31-Aug-43	Stirling	Mönchengladbach	5	4	0	1	0
31/01-Aug-43	Stirling	Berlin	4	2	0	1	1	EE949
02/03-Sep-43	Stirling	Gardening	1	0	0	1	0	Nectarines
05/06-Sep-43	Stirling	Mannheim	3	2	0	0	1	EH878
08/09-Sep-43	Stirling	Boulogne	3	3	0	0	0
15/16-Sep-43	Stirling	Montluçon	3	3	0	0	0
16/17-Sep-43	Stirling	Modane	4	4	0	0	0
22/23-Sep-43	Stirling	Hannover	4	4	0	0	0
23/24-Sep-43	Stirling	Mannheim	3	3	0	0	0
24/25-Sep-43	Stirling	Gardening	3	3	0	0	0	Nectarines
25/26-Sep-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	1	0	0	1	Nectarines EF499
27/28-Sep-43	Stirling	Hannover	2	2	0	0	0
27/28-Sep-43	Stirling	Gardening	1	1	0	0	0	Nectarines
02/03-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Silverthorne
03/04-Oct-43	Stirling	Kassel	5	2	0	1	2	EF158 and EH994
04/05-Oct-43	Stirling	Frankfurt am Main	3	2	0	1	0
04/05-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Deodars
07/08-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	3	3	0	0	0	Nectarines 1, Silverthorne 2
08/09-Oct-43	Stirling	Bremen	4	4	0	0	0
08/09-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	1	1	0	0	0	Deodars
17/18-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	5	5	0	0	0	Nectarines
20/21-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Nectarines
22/23-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	3	2	0	1	0	Nectarines
24/25-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	Nectarines
25/26-Oct-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0
03/04-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	4	4	0	0	0
04/05-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0
07/08-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	5	4	0	0	1	Deodars, Furze EF156
10/11-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	2	0	0	0	La Rochelle
18/19-Nov-43	Stirling	Mannheim	7	3	0	2	2	EF155 and LJ454
19/20-Nov-43	Stirling	Leverkusen	2	2	0	0	0
19/20-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	5	5	0	0	0	Nectarines/Cinnamon
22/23-Nov-43	Stirling	Berlin	3	2	1	0	0
25/26-Nov-43	Stirling	Gardening	3	1	0	2	0
04/05-Dec-43	Stirling	Gardening	2	1	0	0	1	Nectarines LK387
Totals			138	115	1	11	11

Despatched – number of aircraft taking off
DCO – Duty Carried Out
Alt – Alternative target attacked
DNCO – Duty Not Carried Out (sortie aborted)
Gardening – laying anti-shipping mines in coastal waters
Comments – code names for area where mines dropped and identity of losses.

References

Bibliography

Book: Bowyer, Michael J.F. . The Stirling Bomber . London . Faber and Faber Ltd. . 1980 . 0-571-11101-7.
Book: Bowyer, Michael J.F. . John D.R. . Rawlings . Squadron Codes, 1937–56 . Cambridge, UK . Patrick Stephens Ltd. . 1979 . 0-85059-364-6 .
Book: Falconer, Jonathan . Stirling Wings: The Short Stirling Goes to War . 1995 . Budding Books . 1997 . 1-84015-004-1.
Book: Flintham . Vic . Andrew . Thomas . Combat Codes: A Full Explanation and Listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied Air Force Unit Codes since 1938 . Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK . Airlife Publishing Ltd. . 2003 . 1-84037-281-8.
Book: Gomersall, Bryce . The Stirling File . Tonbridge, Kent, UK . Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. and Aviation Archaeologists Publications . 1979 . 0-85130-072-3.
Book: Halley, James J. . The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988 . 1988 . Tonbridge, Kent, UK . Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.. 0-85130-164-9 .
Book: Jefford, C.G. . RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912 . 2001 . 2nd . Airlife Publishing Ltd. . Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK . 1-85310-053-6 .
Book: Moyes, Philip J.R. . Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft . London . Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd. . 1976 . 0-354-01027-1 .
No. 623 Squadron Operational Record Book (Forms 540/541), National Archives, Kew (AIR 27/2141).