   no. 617 squadron was a royal air force aircraft squadron based at raf lossiemouth in scotland. it operated the tornado gr4 in the ground attack and reconnaissance role. it is commonly known as the "dambusters", for its actions during operation chastise against german dams during the second world war. in october 2013 it left for afghanistan as part of the british deployment prior to its being disbanded in the spring of 2014. it is due to reform in 2016 as the raf's first f-35 squadron. ==history== ===between the wars=== according to the squadron's entry in flying units of the raf by alan lake, 617 was allocated the unit identification code mz for the period april to september 1939, even though the unit didn't actually exist at the time. ===second world war=== the squadron was formed under great secrecy at raf scampton during the second world war on 21 march 1943. it included royal canadian air force, royal australian air force and royal new zealand air force personnel and was formed for the specific task of attacking three major dams that contributed water and power to the ruhr industrial region in germany: the mÃ¶hne, eder and sorpe. the plan was given the codename operation chastise and was carried out on 17 may 1943. the squadron had to develop the tactics to deploy barnes wallis's "bouncing bomb". the squadron's badge, approved by king george vi, depicts the bursting of a dam in commemoration of chastise. the squadron's chosen motto was "[[apres moi le deluge|aprÃ¨s moi l
Military_units_and_formations_established_in_1943 Military_units_and_formations_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_in_World_War_II Royal_Air_Force_aircraft_squadrons