| No. 5 Group | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1 April 1918 - 15 May 1919 1 September 1937 - 15 December 1945 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Part of | RAF Bomber Command |
| Group HQ | Morton Hall, Swinderby |
| Motto | Undaunted |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Travers "Bomber" Harris Air Vice-Marshal Ralph Cochrane |
| Insignia | |
| Group badge heraldry | A lion rampant |
No. 5 Group was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part (February 1943–1945) by Sir Ralph Cochrane. Cochrane was an advocate of precision low-level marking, and lobbied heavily to be allowed to prove himself, and that 5 Group could attempt targets and techniques that 8 Group would not. Cochrane's No. 617 Squadron proved his point when they broke the Ruhr dams from a height of 60 feet using an ad hoc hand held bomb sight made of strips of wood and two nails. In a later raid, using the new Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight, they achieved an incredible accuracy of only 94 yards at the V Weapon launch site at Abbeville. 5 Group invented various techniques, such as the '5 Group corkscrew' to evade enemy fighters, and the '5 Group quick landing system'.
Contents |
History
The Group was formed on 1 September 1937, with headquarters at RAF Mildenhall. In October 1937, the Group HQ was moved to St Vincents in Grantham. Air Commodore Arthur Harris was in charge here from September 11, 1939 until November 22, 1940. In February 1942, he became Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command. The Group had some of the finest squadrons of Bomber Command, resulting in the Dambusters squadron being formed from airmen of the Group in March 1943. Group HQ was moved to Morton Hall at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire in November 1943. Most of the Group's main airfields were around Lincoln, including RAF Scampton. By the end of the war the group had grown to 15 squadrons.
The Group was noted for its high accuracy bombing, such as the sinking of the Tirpitz in November 1944 and the shattering of the strategic Bielefeld railway viaduct in March 1945. The Group had substantial cooperation with Barnes Wallis and his bouncing and earthquake bombs.
The Group was disbanded on 15 December 1945.
Notable raids
- First "thousand-bomber attack" on Cologne on 30 May 1942 (shared)
- "Dambuster" attack on the dams at the Möhne Reservoir and the Edersee on 17 March 1943 (without backup)
- Attack on Braunschweig, 15 October 1944 (without backup)
- Attack on Heilbronn, 4 December 1944 (without backup)
- Attack on Dresden on 13 February 1945 (without backup on the first attack)
- Grand Slam attack on Bielefeld on 14 March 1945 (without backup)
- Attack on Würzburg, 16 March 1945 (shared)
- Attack on the oil refinery at Tønsberg in Southern Norway, the last raid by heavy bombers of bomber command in WWII.
Commanders
|
|
| Components |
|---|
| Royal Air Force |
| History |
| History of the Royal Air Force |
| Timeline of the Royal Air Force |
| Aircraft |
| List of RAF aircraft |
| Structure |
| Air Command |
| No. 1 Group |
| No. 2 Group |
| JFACHQ |
| No. 22 Group |
| List of stations |
| Personnel |
| Officer ranks |
| Other ranks |
1918 to 1919
- 1 April 1918 Lieutenant Colonel F C Halahan
- May 1918 Brigadier-General C L Lambe
1937 to 1945
- 17 August 1937 Air Commodore W B Callaway
- 11 September 1939 Air Vice-Marshal A T Harris
- 22 November 1940 Air Vice-Marshal N H Bottomley
- 12 May 1941 Air Vice-Marshal J C Slessor
- 25 April 1942 Air Vice-Marshal W A Coryton
- 28 February 1943 Air Vice-Marshal The Hon R A Cochrane
- 16 January 1945 Air Vice-Marshal H A Constantine
References
Notes
- ^ Moyes 1976, p. 343
Bibliography
- Moyes, Philip J.R. Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and Their AIrcraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1976). ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
- Ward, Chris. 5 Group Bomber Command: An Operational Record. London: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2007. ISBN 1-844155-79-X.
External links
Related content
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