550 Squadron Information
Squadron Records
Listed below are links to a number information reports about 550 Squadron operations, airmen and aircraft. The information used to build this page was taken in the first instance from the lists provided on the original Squadron Association web-site, but has been augmented by updated and new information collected since that time. The information about the men, and the operations they flew, is being migrated into a database in order to aid consistency checks of the information and make the generation of a wide variety of reports easier.
A comprehensive list of the sources used is included at the bottom of this page.
While every attempt has been made to present accurate and correct information there are undoubtedly omissions and errors. If you spot any such errors do please email in your observations, if possible providing the correction information if you know it. Many thanks in advance for your assistance in providing as accurate a record as possible of the Squadron activities and the men who served their country.
Information Available
There are now 1924 service men and women listed in the online record, and the numbers of aircrew and operations records in the database continues to grow:
| Service personnel: | 1924 | Operations/raids: | 345 | Operational Flights: | 3681 |
(Last updated: 21 November 2024 @ 17:18:51)
There is still more data to be entered, and the numbers above should NOT be regarded as complete.
That having been said using this set of data can still generate useful information.
NB: data is still being added, so report content continues to evolve over time (especially the detailed mapping of crews to specific aircraft on specific operations). Report pages show the date when the data was last updated.
Reports List
The reports available are shown in the sub-sections below. Note that the additional options available in several instances below produce smaller, and thus more quickly generated, reports. Where optional input parameters are available validation of the entered data is carried out; if data is non-compliant to the required format (as shown in the examples in the tables below) then the report will not be generated and an error message may be generated indicating the parameter(s) in error.
Each of the sub-sections below presents a different basic report. In most cases it is possible to use the report to present a specific sub-set of the data to result in a smaller more manageable report; where this is the case the means of doing this is illustrated with an example and an explanation on how to generate different reports. The user guide (the PDF document below) includes screenshots to illustrate how this is done.
There is comprehensive cross-referencing between all of the reports so that you can quickly link men to aircraft and operational details, and links to other information on the web-site and on external web-sites about specific operations, aircraft and servicemen.
 |
 23/11/2022
A short guide to using the user interface for the reports V1.5, issued November 2022 (PDF format, ca. 2Mbytes) |
Roll of Honour
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Roll of Honour | 550 Squadron Roll of Honour
Basic format |
| Roll of Honour (extended) | 550 Squadron Roll of Honour
Extended format - extra columns, extra information. Including cemetery details, etc (with options to link to the detailed aircraft (by aircraft service number) and serviceman (by name) Now including summary statistics |
| Roll of Honour (extended, specific aircraft) | 550 Squadron Roll of Honour (specified aircraft)
Extended format - extra columns, extra information - listed for single defined aircraft (specific crew details) To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after "?aircraft=" to the aircraft service number of your choice |
Cemeteries
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Cemeteries | List, in alphabetic order, of all Cemeteries, or other sites, (with summary site details) where 550 Squadron Servicemen are buried or commemorated (plus links to details of each serviceman remembered there).
At the bottom of the report are three summary tables showing totals (associated with the list provided on the web-page).
|
| Cemeteries (alphabetic by country) | List, in alphabetic order by country, of all Cemeteries, or other sites, (with summary site details) where 550 Squadron Servicemen are buried or commemorated (plus links to details of each serviceman remembered there).
Note that the country sort is by country code rather than by country name (i.e. FR or NL, rather than France or The Netherlands). As shown in the example below: http://550squadronassociation.org.uk/php-library/mysql-utils/reports/rpt_squadron_cemeteries.php?sort=bycountry |
| Cemeteries (single country, e.g. UK) | List of all Cemeteries, or other sites, (with summary site details) where 550 Squadron Servicemen are buried or commemorated (plus links to details of each serviceman remembered there) in a single country.
To generate the shortened list of results for a different country it is simply necessary to insert the appropriate country code in the URI (web-link), i.e. '?country=XYZ', where 'XYZ' is one of BE, DE, DK, FR, IRL, NL or UK. As shown in the example below: http://550squadronassociation.org.uk/php-library/mysql-utils/reports/rpt_squadron_cemeteries.php?country=BE |
Squadron Operations
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Squadron Operations | List of operations flown by 550 Squadron with links to individual aircraft deployed.
An "Operation Summary" section is followed by the details of each aircraft in the battle order Where available additional information and links to other sites This list continues to grow and generates a very large report - you may want to consider one of the options below to produce a more targetted list. Where available information from the North Killingholme Station report is included in the daily operation report, in a section entitled "Station Summary" Now displays a report that is generated offline (as a scheduled job once per day in the early hours), in order to display the contents more quickly (in ca. 5-10secs as opposed to ca. 5-10mins at peak periods) when requested. This means information may, sometimes, be up to 24 hours old |
| Squadron Operations (specific target) | List of operations flown by 550 Squadron to a specific target (e.g. Bremen).
Where available additional information and links to other sites. To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?target=" (Bremen) to the target of your choice. |
| Squadron Operations (specific aircraft) | List of operations flown by a specific 550 Squadron aircraft (e.g. DV306).
Where available additional information and links to other sites. To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after "?aircraft=" to the aircraft service number of your choice. |
| Squadron Operations (specific target and specific aircraft) | List of the operations flown by a single aircraft to a specific target (e.g. operations by EE139 against Berlin).
Where available additional information and links to other sites. To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after "?target=" and after "&aircraft=" to the target and aircraft service number of your choice. Target and aircraft can be in any order but the "?" and "&" are important! |
Squadron Personnel
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Squadron Servicemen | List of servicemen that flew with 550 Squadron, detailed information on individual servicemen, Senior Officers and Decorations awarded.
Where available additional information and links to other sites. Now including summary statistics Now displays a report that is generated offline (as a scheduled job once per day in the early hours), in order to display the contents more quickly (in ca. 10-20secs as opposed to ca. 5-10mins at peak periods) when requested. This means information may, sometimes, be up to 24 hours old |
| Squadron Servicemen (with specified service/air force) | List of servicemen that flew with 550 Squadron, by service (e.g. RNZAF).
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?service=" to the service of your choice (use one of RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, USAF, WAAF, TAVR). Where available additional information and links to other sites. |
| Squadron Servicemen (with specified surname) | List of servicemen that flew with 550 Squadron, by surname.
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?lastname=" to the last name (surname) of your choice. Where available additional information and links to other sites. |
| Squadron Servicemen (with specified job abbreviation) | For example, the list of pilots that flew with 550 Squadron.
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?jobabbr=" to the air-crew job of your choice (from the list: P, F/Eng, Nav, W/Op, A/B, MU/AG, R/AG, A/G). Where available additional information and links to other sites. |
| Squadron Servicemen (with specified job abbreviation and surname) | For example, the list of pilots that flew with 550 Squadron by the name of "Harris".
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?jobabbr=" to the air-crew job of your choice (from the list: P, F/Eng, Nav, W/Op, A/B, MU/AG, R/AG), and after the "?lastname=" to the last name (surname) of your choice. Where available additional information and links to other sites. |
| Squadron Servicemen (with specified job abbreviation and service abbreviation) | For example, the list of navigators that flew with 550 Squadron, and were in the RAAF.
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?jobabbr=" to the air-crew job of your choice (from the list: P, F/Eng, Nav, W/Op, A/B, MU/AG, R/AG), and after the "&service=" to the service of your choice (use one of RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, USAF). Where available additional information and links to other sites. |
| Squadron Senior Officers | Lists and information about 550 Squadron Senior Officers. |
| Squadron Decorations | Decorations awarded to the men of 550 Squadron. |
Squadron Personnel - Failed to Return
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Failed to Return | 550 Squadron Servicemen who Failed to Return (excluding KIA)
Basic format |
| Failed to Return (extended) | 550 Squadron Servicemen who Failed to Return (excluding KIA)
Extended format - extra columns, extra information |
Squadron Aircraft
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Squadron Aircraft | Information about the aircraft that flew with 550 Squadron |
| Squadron Aircraft (specific aircraft) | Information about a specific aircraft that flew with 550 Squadron (in this case EE139).
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?aircraft=" (EE139) with the aircraft service number of your choise. |
| Squadron Aircraft (that failed to return) | Information about aircraft that flew with 550 Squadron, but failed to return from operations. New feature: in each case the lost crew, and their fate, identified. |
| Squadron Aircraft (specific aircraft that failed to return) | Information about a specific aircraft that flew with 550 Squadron, but failed to return from operations (in this case EE193).
To generate an alternative list just replace the text in the web-browser address line after the "?aircraft=" (EE193) with the aircraft service number of your choice. As above, the lost crew, and their fate, listed. |
| Squadron Aircraft (by Flight) | Information about a specific aircraft that flew with 550 Squadron, listed by Flight.
|
Other
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Abbreviations | List (non-exhaustive) of definitions of abbreviations used on ORB pages and log books. |
Squadron Association Newsletters
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| 550 Squadron and North Killingholme Association Newsletters | Online archive of Association Newsletters many with crew, operations, and other information.
Note the this archive is a summary version of Newsletters (rather than the full newsletters) |
Information Sources
The main sources used in putting together the Squadron information, and in particular the service personnel, operations, aircraft and station details, on this site are listed below.
Main Sources
Key in providing the core of the information on the web-site are a number of operational documents:
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| AIR 27/2037 | Squadron Operations Record Book (ORB), Form 540, 550 Squadron |
| AIR 28/606 | Operations Record Book (ORB), RAF North Killingholme Station |
| AIR 27/2039 | RAF North Killingholme Station Narratives |
These documents are available from The National Archives (at Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK). The documents are Crown Copyright material, and their use is gratefully acknowledged. A search of the records available at the National Archive can be initiated from The National Archives catalogue search.
Other Sources
Other sources include a number of online resources which are hereby acknowledged:
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Bob's Bomber Command | Bob Baxter: web-site for details of the aircraft. Especially the following very useful link: 550 Squadron Lancasters (although since the initial use of the web-site was made this web-site may have gone offline) |
| http://www.lancaster-archive.com/ | Anybody wishing to locate further Lancaster histories, or to trace Lancaster losses for a raid can contact larry617 "at" lancaster-archive.com (replace "at"!) (a Lancaster and Manchester Bomber Historian) or look at the website (link left, although this extensive archive is no longer available online) |
| http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/ | In the cases of bombers that Failed to Return (FTR) this site was invaluable (although since the initial use of the web-site was made this web-site appears to have gone offline permanently) |
| http://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/lancasterbombers_v1_033.htm | RAF Bomber Command Loss Cards |
| http://www.lancasterbombers.net/form-78-aircraft-movement-cards-2-2/ | Form 78 Aircraft Movement Cards - all aircraft types in use by Bomber Command |
| https://www.lancasterbombers.net/form-78-aircraft-movement-cards-2-2/form-78-avro-lancaster/ | Form 78 Aircraft Movement Cards - Avro Lancaster
From this base link records are available in blocks according to aircraft service number; a list of options are provided on screen. For example, if looking for 550 Squadron aircraft ND403 then select the appropriate range (ND384-ND441) as shown: http://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/ND384-ND441/mobile/index.html Or if looking for 550 Squadron aircraft W5005 then select the range (W4986-W5012) as shown below: http://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/W4986-W5012/mobile/index.html |
| https://asn.flightsafety.org/ | Aviation Safety Network
The Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network (ASN) provides up-to-date, complete and reliable authoritative information on airliner accidents and safety issues. ASN consists of three accident/incident databases :i) ASN accident database, 2) ASN Wikibase and 3) ASN Drone database. The first two can be used to investigate the details around WWII aircraft losses. As an example see: https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/275924 |
For these sources copyright remains with the third parties.
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