83 Squadron: RAF Bomber Command Profiles

This is a new and expanded edition of Chris Ward’s authoritative operational history of 83 Squadron.

The squadron began the Second World War as one of six front-line
units representing 5 Group and, together with 49 Squadron,
occupied the well-established station at Scampton, four miles north
of Lincoln. P/O Guy Gibson, the future leader of 617 Squadron, had
joined 83 Squadron in 1937 in the rank of pilot officer and, at the outbreak
of war, had not progressed a single step up the commission totem pole. The
squadron operated on the first day of the War and, when Gibson was posted
out in September 1940 with almost forty operations behind him, he was the
last of the originals, most of his closest friends and mentors having sacrificed
their lives or, at the very least, their freedom.

After Gibson and his contemporaries departed, a new squadron arose with
a spirit of its own. Equipped with the trusty twin-engine Hampden medium
bomber, the squadron continued to play a magnificent part during the dark
days of 1940 and 1941, roaming deep into Germany to attack economic
and industrial targets, albeit, to little effect. With 1942 came the passing of
the Hampden and the brief interlude with the ill-fated Manchester, but then
came the Lancaster, and from May to August of that year, 83 Squadron was at
the tip of the 5 Group spear.

When the Pathfinder Force was formed in August 1942, 83 Squadron was
selected as a founder member. It continued proudly to serve the Command
in that role through the campaigns against Italy, the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin.
Its commanding officers were renowned for leading from the front; three
lost their lives on operations, two of them during the Berlin offensive. In April
1944, advances in bombing tactics led to the effective independence of 5
Group, and 83 Squadron returned to its former family to perform a marking
and illuminating role on permanent loan from 8 Group until war’s end.
There was never a time when the influence of 83 Squadron was not
felt within the ranks of Bomber Command. It distinguished itself with
outstanding performances and below average losses from the first day of
the war to the last. Its achievements will live forever in the annals of RAF
Bomber Command in WWII.