Bomber County - Lest we Forget 5 Multi-Cache
Bomber County - Lest we Forget 5
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RAF Grimsby (RAF Waltham) 100 Squadron 'Do not stir up a hornets nest'.
This is a Multi Cache the co-ordinates are for the memorial stone near the A16. If you take the number of the Fulstow Bravo section from the memorial and replace the ? in the co-ordinates N 53°?0.1707 W 000.051143 then you will find a magnetic nano (no pencil) at the Cheapside commemeration plaque.
**To show you visited the cache feel free to email the owner with the initials and date of the commemeration plaque.**
Opened: 1933 as municipal airfield; became RAF station on 26 Nov 1941
Closed: 1946
Airfield code: GY
Squadrons based here:
142 Sqn: 1943 -
100 Sqn: Jan 1942 - 1 Apr 1945
550 Sqn: 20 Oct 1943 - 3 Jan 1944
RAF Waltham, also known as RAF Grimsby, was brought into RAF service in Nov 1941 as a satellite to RAF Binbrook. Later in 1943 it became No 12 Base substation. RAF Waltham and 100 Sqn are commemorated in a memorial stone on the A16 next to the site of the base. A public house, the Jug and Bottle stands on the site of Waltham's dispersion points. The memorial is at the traffic lights.
There is a commemorative plaque at the Cheapside entrance to the RAF Grimsby site. "RAF Grimsby (Waltham) 1941-1945. To fight for our freedom and to end the Nazi tyranny, young people from all over the world came to this airfield to serve and to fly the Wellingtons and Lancasters of 142 and 100 Squadrons. Over 1000 brave young men came through this entrance - never to return. Many more were shot down and captured. We will remember them and salute all who served here."
100 Squadron
Formed: 23 Sep 1917, Hingham
Disbanded: ??
Reformed: Jan 1942
Disbanded: 1959
Squadron was based at:
RAF Spitalgate: 4 Feb 1922 - May 1924; Jul 1924 - Jun 1926; Aug 1926 - Jan 1928
RAF Bicester: Jan 1928 -
Seletar: Jan 1934 - Dec 1941
RAF Grimsby (RAF Waltham): 15 Dec 1942 - 1 Apr 1945
RAF Elsham Wolds: 1 Apr 1945 - Dec 1945
RAF Scampton: 3 Dec 1945 - May 1946
RAF Lindholme: May 1946
RAF Wittering: ? 1959 - 1968
RAF Wyton
RAF Finningley
RAF West Raynham: 1972 - 1975
RAF Marham: 1978 - 1980
RAF Leeming: 1995 -
Squadron code: HW, FZ
Aircraft operated:
FE2b: Mar 1917 - ?Dec 1917
Handley Page: ?Dec 1917 -
Bristol Fighter: - 1922
Vimy: 1922 - 1931
DH9A: 1922 - 1931
Vickers Vilderbeest: 1931 - 1942
Lancaster Mk I, Mk III: Jan 1942 -
Canberra B2: 1954 - 1959
u/i V bomber: 1959 - 1968
Canberra: 1972 - 1991
Hawk: 1991 -
Formed at Hingham on 23 Feb 1917, 100 Sqn was the first RFC sqn to be formed specifically for night bombing. It operated modified FE2B two-seat pusher biplanes in France in operations against aerodromes, and rail infrastructure. By the end of the 1917, 100 Sqn, 55 Sqn and Naval 'A' Sqn were the nucleus of what developed into the Independent Force used for the strategic bombing of Germany.
After a post-war spell in Ireland the Sqn re-equipped with Vimy and DH9A in England. By 1930 it was undertaking torpedo-bombing and received Vildebeests in 1931. It moved to Singapore in 1933 staying there until it fell to the Japanese in WWII. 100 Squadron was almost wiped in combat with modern Japanese fighters, flying Vickers Vilderbeest biplanes from Malaya and Java.
The Sqn subsequently reformed as a Lancaster Squadron at Waltham on 15 Dec 1942. In Nov 1943, C Flt 100 Sqn formed the new 550 Sqn.
Post-war it was operating Lincoln over Malaya on Op FIREDOG in 1950 and Kenya against the Mau Mau in 1954. It returned to the UK to convert to the Canberra, specifically in support of British nuclear trials in the Pacific. It disbanded in 1959 to reform on V bombers at Wittering until 1968.
In 1972, 85 Sqn at RAF West Raynham split aircraft to re-form 100 Sqn, flying targetry and flight calibration roles, then specialising in electronic warfare training up to 1991. It moved with the Hawk from Wyton to Finningley to Leeming, arriving there in 1995 where it continues its aircrew training role.
142 Squadron
Formed: ??
Disbanded: Oct 1944
Reformed: 25 Oct 1944
Squadron was based at:
RAF Waddington: 15 Jun 1940 - 3 Jul 1940
RAF Binbrook: 3 Jul 1940 - 12 Aug 1940; 6 Sep 1940 - 26 Nov 1941
RAF Eastchurch: 12 Aug 1940 - 6 Sep 1940
RAF Grimsby: 26 Nov 1941 - 1 Jan 1943
RAF Kirmington: 1 Jan 1943 - Oct 1944
RAF Gransden Lodge: 25 Oct 1944 -
RAF Coleby Grange :: 1959 - 1963
Aircraft operated:
Armstrong-Whitworth: 1918
RE8: 1918
Wellington MkII: Nov 1940 - Oct 1941
Wellington MkIV: Oct 1941 - Sep 1942
Wellington MkIII: Sep 1942 - Dec 1942
Mosquito MkXXV: Oct 1944 -
During Allenby's final battles with the Turkish forces in Palestine in 1917/1918, 142 Sqn was part of the Fifth (Corps) Wing of the Palestine Brigade, RAF. It operated from Sarona with 7x Armstrong-Whitworth and Jerusalem (1 Flt) with 5 x RE-8.
142 Sqn stayed briefly at RAF Waddington following the fall of France in Jul 1940 before moving on to RAF Binbrook.
142 Sqn Thor ICBM Unit served at RAF Coleby Grange from 1959 to 1963 with 3 Thor launchers. Each missile was armed with a one-megaton nuclear warhead, controlled by the US Air Force under so-called dual-key arrangements. RAF Hemswell was the headquarters for the 5 Lincolnshire dispersal sites at RAF Hemswell, RAF Bardney, RAF Caistor, RAF Coleby Grange and RAF Ludford Magna.
550 Squadron - through fire we conquer
Formed: 25 Nov 1943
Disbanded: 31 Oct 1945
Squadron was based at:
RAF Grimsby: 25 Nov 1943 - 3 Jan 1944
RAF North Killingholme: 3 Jan 1944 - 31 Oct 1945
Squadron code: BQ
Aircraft operated:
Lancaster Mk I, Mk III: Nov 1943 -
550 Sqn was formed from C Flt, 100 Sqn, on 25 Nov 1943. Shortly thereafter it moved to the nearly completed RAF North Killingholme and flew its first mission from there on 14 Jan 1944. From the initial single flight the Sqn grew to 3. The Sqn operated within the Main Force of Heavy Bombers under Bomber Command.
A 550 Sqn Lancaster (LL811 J-Jig (Bad Penny II)) was credited with opening the D-day attack when it dropped the first string of bombs at 23:34 on 5 Jun 1944. Combat operations continued until 25 Apr 1945 and until disbandment at the end of October the Sqn was committed to activities such as food drops to the Dutch and repatriating troops from Italy.
RAF North Killingholme and 550 Sqn are commemorated in a memorial stone in North Killingholme village close to the oil refineries.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp anab fghpx gb yrt bs zrzbevny cyndhr.
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