Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

No. 635 Squadron is included on this site as one of the many RAF Squadrons to which RAAF personnel were assigned during WW2, and in which they served, fought and died.  The men assigned to RAF Bomber Command made up Australia's largest cohort of Killed in Action losses in WW2, reflecting the enormous toll taken of aircrew in operations over Europe.

No. 635 Squadron was formed at RAF Downham Market in Norfolk on 20 March 1944 from two flights drawn from No. 35 Squadron and No. 97 Squadron, equipped with Lancaster Mk.I bombers, as part of No. 8 Group RAF in Bomber Command.

It was part of the Pathfinder Force (PFF) into which hand picked crews were assigned to mark targets for the folloing night bomber stream. 

It was decided to set them up as a separate Group, and so No. 8 Pathfinder Group was established in January 1943, under the command of G/C D.C.T. (Don) Bennett, (then Air Commodore), an Australian, and a perfectionist. It was to be formed from elite, volunteer crews that had already proven their ability to find and hit their targets. After being accepted, they would undergo further training to become even more proficient in identifying and marking the proper target prior to arrival of the main force.

It was also decided that Pathfinder Force would be equipped with Lancasters, undoubtedly the best aircraft for the job, and that all crews would attend a Pathfinder OTU where they would be made operational on the Lancaster, and would make up their navigation team, rather than having a single Navigator as before. This set up consisted of a Navigator I, whose duty was to plot their course, calculate winds, determine ground speeds, etc. from the information he received from the Navigator II, called the Observer. He then passed any needed course corrections and air speeds to the pilot to ensure their arrival on time. His partner, the Observer, used GEE, H2S and Loran  (radar navigation aids..Ed) to determine their actual ground position and passed this information every 6 minutes to the Navigator. He also had the bomb panel which he used when blind bombing was required. Visual bombing was done by the flight engineer. There was no bomb aimer as such, nor any front gunner.

With the production of Lancasters steadily rising, and the crews to fill them rapidly moving in from the Empire Air Training schools BCATP in Canada, the RAF increased the number of Squadrons in operation, and the number of Pathfinder Squadrons to lead them. So, in March of 1944, 635 Squadron was formed using crews from the "B" flight of 35 Squadron and the "C" flight from 97 Squadron. It was stationed at Downham Market in Norfolk, a small town some 9 miles south of King's Lynn. Battle strength was 20 Lancasters, a mix of Mk I and Mk III's. With PFF loss rates being what they were, additional crews were made up through volunteers from many other Squadrons. As individual crew members completed their tours, they would be replaced in the crew by volunteers from various trade and holding depots who had been processed through a PFOTU.

Commanding 635 Squadron for most of its life was W/C "Tubby" Baker, DSO, DFC, who completed his 100th op on March 13, 1945 on a daylight raid to Wuppertal, and was then moved on to training command. He was an ideal Commander. When ops were on, everyone was with him to make for a successful operation. With no ops scheduled, training flights were laid on, and each crew's training flight log was as closely scrutinized as were the ops ones. But when the Squadron was stood down, "Tubby" ensured it was really stood down, with no unnecessary parades or 'make work' projects to give an appearance of being busy.

No 635 re-equipped with Lancaster Mk.III bombers almost immediately after formation, then Lancaster Mk.VI bombers in July. After the end of its bombing operations in April 1945 it was used for transport and food relief until disbanded at Downham Market on 1 September 1945.

The Squadron's first operation was 22/23 of March 1944 when 10 Lancs went to Frankfurt. Rates of attrition were high in PFF, but the Lancaster was a sturdy aircraft and Lancaster ND 709 completed its 100th op while flying with 635.

The last operations were daylight raids on 25 April, 1945 when 4 Lancasters attacked the gun batteries on the island of Wangerooge, and 14 Lancasters attacked Hitler's nest at Berchtesgaden. 1 Lanc, whose bomb load hung up, dropped it on Prien.

After war's end, 635 took part in operation "Manna," ferried many POW's home to England, and ferried British troops home from Italy. Then began training for "Tiger" force, designed for operation in the Far East against Japan. These were long flights, anticipating much over water flying. But when the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about Japan's immediate surrender in August, the war was truly over. The Canadians, New Zealanders, Aussies, with some South Africans and Poles also, were sent to their countries holding depots to await transport home. It was reported that out of the 20 to 27 crews which had been operational in 635 during the war, only 2 complete crews could be mustered after all these had left.

Sources:

Wikipedia - 

RCAF Bomber Command Museum - http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/s,squadron635.html 

Compiled by Steve Larkins 10 Feb 2019