Formation No. 616 Squadron was formed on 1 November 1938 at
RAF Doncaster and was at first allotted the bomber role, receiving
Hawker Hinds for that role. Further periodic updating with Spitfire Mks.V, VI and VII continued through the mid-war years. From March 1943 onwards, No. 616 was stationed in southwest England.
First on Meteors On 12 July 1944 the unit became the first RAF squadron to receive jet equipment in the form of
Gloster Meteor Mk.I fighters, testing them at
RAF Culmhead. The first Meteor operational sortie was on 27 July from
RAF Manston when it intercepted
V-1 flying bombs launched against southern England. The first victories came on 4 August when one V1 was tipped over after a pilot's cannon jammed and another was shot down. The loss rate of the still unproven Meteor Mk.I was high, with three being written off in non-combat incidents between 15 and 29 August. Re-equipment with improved Meteor Mk.IIIs began in January 1945 and in February a detachment was deployed to
Melsbroek near
Brussels in Belgium. It was intended as a defence against
Me 262s but in the event they did not ever face them. In early April the complete squadron moved to
Gilze-Rijen in the Netherlands, commencing ground attack sorties on 16 April. The squadron was disbanded at
Lübeck, Germany on 29 August 1945 by being renumbered to
No. 263 Squadron RAF.
Post-war No. 616 squadron was officially reformed at
RAF Finningley as the South Yorkshire Squadron on 10 May 1946,
Re-activation and current role In April 2019, the unit reformed as 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) at RAF Waddington to augment the RAF’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Force and delivering a Combat Air capability. Personnel assigned to 616 Sqn are former Regular RAF specialists, providing expertise, experience and mentoring to augment the RAF's Front Line ISTAR Squadrons. ==Aircraft operated==