About This Unit
No. 614 Squadron was originally formed on 1 June 1937 as an army co-operation squadron unit of the Auxiliary Air Force. It served during the Second World War first in this role and later as a bomber squadron. Upon reformation it served as a fighter squadron until the disbandment of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 10 March 1957.
In June 1940 No. 614 squadron moved to Scotland to carry out coastal patrols, covering an area from Inverness to Berwick, 'A' flight, which was detached to Inverness for that purpose, became No. 241 Squadron RAF in the process. From July 1941 it began re-equipping with Bristol Blenheims, a process completed by January 1942. In support of RAF Bomber Command's 'Thousand Bomber Raids' in May and June 1942, the squadron sent its Blenheims to attack enemy airfields in the Low Countries and in August 1942 it laid smoke screens for the landings at Dieppe.
No. 614 Squadron had its origins in No. 462 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), formed on 7 September 1942 at Fayid, Egypt, under Article XV of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. This squadron contained mostly British aircrew and ground staff. Consequently, RAAF Overseas Headquarters requested that the squadron be renumbered and transferred to the RAF. On 15 February 1944, while it was en route to Celone, Italy the unit was renumbered as No. 614 Squadron. Equipped with Handley Page Halifaxes it was now involved in bombing missions over Italy and the Balkans and it also carried out supply drops to partisans in those areas. The Squadron re-equipped with Consolidated Liberators in March 1945, the Halifaxes finally being withdrawn in March 1945, but on 27 July 1945 it was disbanded at Amendola Airfield, Italy when it was renumbered as No. 214 Squadron RAF.[2]