No . 217 Squadron RAF No . 217 Squadron RAF was originally formed on 1 April 1918 , from the No . 17 Naval Squadron at Bergues , near Dunkerque . It conducted daylight raids using Airco DH . 4 s on enemy bases and airfields in Belgium . The squadron was disbanded on 18 October 1919 , after the end of World War I . World War II . No . 217 Squadron was re - formed by Coastal Command of the Royal Air Force on 15 March 1937 at Boscombe Down , equipped with Avro Anson s , performing general reconnaissance duties until the start of World War II , when it moved to the newly built airfield RAF St Eval , conducting coastal patrols until October 1939 . From May 1940 , it was equipped with the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber , but because of problems with its Taurus engines , the Ansons remained in service until December 1940 . The squadron was ordered to Ceylon , via Gibraltar and Malta , in May 1942 . En route , it conducted anti - shipping and mine - laying attacks for two months in the Mediterranean . In one incident , on 28 June 1942 , the crew of a ditched Beaufort were rescued by an Italian CANT Z . 506 seaplane . The Italian crew were overpowered and the Cant was flown to Malta where the Italians were made prisoners of war . Crew losses were quite severe , with the remainder of the force arriving in Ceylon in July , with the ground echelon arriving by sea in August . On 15 March 1937 , No . 217 reformed as a general reconnaissance squadron at Boscombe Down equipped with Ansons . On the outbreak of World War Two , it took up its station and bagan flying patrols over the western approaches to the English Channel . For the next two years it was based at St . Eval which it occupied in an unfinished state in October 1939 . In May 1940 No . 217 began to receive Beauforts but teething troubles prevented these from being used operationally until 25 September and the Ansons did not end their patrols until December . The Beauforts concentrated on attacks on enemy shipping and minelaying until transferred to Ceylon in May . The aircraft flew out via Gibraltar and Malta where they spent two months attacking enemy shipping in the Mediterranean . The ground echelon arrived in Ceylon in August where it received Hudsons for anti - submarine patrols , the Beauforts having been retained in the Middle East . New Beauforts began to arrive in April 1943 , and by July the squadron had reverted to a strike unit , re - equipping with Beaufighters in July 1944 . The Japanese made no further attempts to attack Ceylon and No . 217 spent its time defensively until May 1945 , when it was posted to Cocos Island to prepare for invasion in Malaya . This was forestalled by the Japanese surrender and the squadrons aircraft never did get to Coco ' s remaining in Ceylon until disbanded on 30 September 1945 . Post World War II . No . 217 Squadron re - formed once again on 14 January 1952 as a Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron , trialling two Lockheed Neptune MR Mark 1s at RAF St Eval , then moving their base of operations to RAF Kinloss in April , being fully equipped with Neptunes by July that year . The squadron disbanded again on 31 March 1957 . Operation Grapple . The last brief re - formation of No . 217 Squadron out of No . 1630 Flight was from 1 February 1958 until 13 November 1959 , when it flew Westland Whirlwind HAR Mark 2 helicopters , as part of the air support for the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island in the Pacific , codenamed Operation Grapple . Squadron motto : Woe to the unwary Squadron badge : A demi - shark erased