No. 83 Squadron RAF

[3] The squadron re-formed at RAF Turnhouse in Scotland on 4 August 1936, equipped with Hawker Hinds for day bombing as part of 2 Group.

83 Squadron went into action on the first day of the Second World War, carrying out a sweep over the North Sea looking for German warships.

The squadron flew against concentrations of invasion shipping in the Channel Ports in the late summer and autumn of 1940, with a raid on Antwerp on the night of 15 September resulting in the award of a Victoria Cross to Flight Sergeant John Hannah, a wireless operator and gunner for extinguishing a serious fire while receiving severe burns.

It deployed to Singapore in September 1953, flying bombing missions against the supposed hiding places of Communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency, returning to Hemswell in January, where it remained until disbanding again in December 1955.

Initially these were armed with Yellow Sun nuclear weapons, later to be replaced by Blue Steel stand-off bombs.

83 Squadron aircrew in front of a Handley Page Hampden at RAF Scampton
83 Squadron aircrew in front of their Lancaster R5868 , Squadron Leader Shailendra Eknath Sukthankar, an Indian Navigator stands in the middle.
An 83 Sqn Lancaster B.I, in 1942.
Small Memorial Stone for the killed crew of a shot-down Lancaster of 83 (Pathfinder) Squadron. in Heusenstamm , Germany