page_title: No. 103 Squadron RAF
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: No. 103 Squadron RAF / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Vertical aerial photograph taken during the evening attack on the V2 assembly and launching bunker at Wizernes, France by aircraft of No. 1 Group. An Avro Lancaster of No. 103 Squadron RAF flys over the target area
context_page_description: No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.
context_section_description: At the outbreak of the Second World War the Squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On 10 May 1940 the Luftwaffe and the German Army invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron was heavily committed during the Battle of France, sustaining many losses. In mid June 1940 the Squadron withdrew from France for RAF Abingdon in England.
  103 Squadron was then transferred to RAF Newton near Nottingham and reverted to the control of No. 1 Group RAF, Bomber Command. In October 1940 it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers. Operations were carried out with this type on targets on mainland Europe. The Squadron moved into the new airfield at RAF Elsham Wolds in July 1941. In July 1942 the Wellingtons were replaced by Handley Page Halifax bombers. These were in turn replaced in late October 1942 by Avro Lancaster bombers, which 103 Squadron flew on many operations to Germany and occupied Europe for the rest of the war. During the Second World War 103 Squadron flew over 6000 operational sorties, at a high cost in both men and machines. On February 14th 1943 the Squadron was sent to bomb the city of Milan in Northern Italy, but the bomber leading the formation was hit by incendiary bombs dropped from another Lancaster over the target and crashed in the southern outskirts of the city. Some parts of the bomber were discovered in 1990 during the extension of the Milan Metro. At the conclusion of the Second World War, on 26 November 1945, the Squadron was disbanded by renumbering it to 57 Squadron.
caption: 103 Squadron Lancaster over the German V-2 launch site at Wizernes, France
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