The 1930s and World War II
No. 3 Group was first formed on 10 May 1918 as part of South-Eastern Area. No. 13 Group RAF was merged into 3 Gp on 18 October 1919. Group Captain U J D Bourke took command on 30 November 1919. The Group was disbanded on 31 August 1921. Following its World War I service, the Group was reformed at Andover, Wiltshire on 1 May 1936, under Air Vice-Marshal Patrick Playfair. Ten months later Group HQ moved to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, a direct result of the Air Ministry's decision to form two new bomber groups and reorganise its existing groups. No.3 Group was initially equipped with the ungainly Vickers Virginia and Handley Page Heyford, which was the RAF's last biplane heavy bomber.
With the arrival of the then revolutionary twin engined Vickers Wellington it was decided that No.3 Group would be tasked with introducing the type into front line service. The first squadron in Bomber Command to be equipped was No. 99 Squadron RAF based at Mildenhall, on 10 October 1938. Air Commodore A A B Thomson, Playfair's successor, was killed on August 8, 1939 while viewing the bombing up of a Vickers Wellington of No. 115 Squadron RAF. While under the fuselage, he slipped and was struck on the head by the rotating airscrew. Air Vice-Marshal J E A Baldwin took over the Group on 29 August 1939. By September 1939 the entire group (totalling six front line squadrons and two reserve squadrons) was fully equipped with an all-Wellington force totalling over 100 aircraft located at five East Anglian airfields. 3 Gp's first wartime operations were attacks against German warships at Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel.
Group HQ moved to Exning, Suffolk, in March 1940. On 2 April 1940, two squadrons were temporarily transferred to RAF Coastal Command and advanced bases in Northern Scotland, and they had hardly settled in before the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway. The squadrons went into action immediately and on 11/12 April one of them (115 Sqn) became the first RAF unit to bomb deliberately a mainland target (Stavanger Airport, Sola) in World War 2.
In 1942 the Group’s strength was almost halved when 7, 156, and 109 Squadrons were transferred to the newly created No. 8 group – the Pathfinder Force.
In March 1943 3 Gp consisted of:
3 Gp Headquarters - RAF Exning, Suffolk.
- 15 Sqn, Bourn, Short Stirling
- 75 Sqn, RAF Newmarket, Stirling
- 90 Sqn, RAF Ridgewell, Stirling
- 115 Sqn, RAF East Wretham, Wellington & Lancaster
- 138 (Special Duties) Squadron, RAF Tempsford, Halifax
- 149 Sqn, RAF Lakenheath, Stirling
- 199 Sqn, RAF Lakenheath, Stirling
- 161 (Special Duties) Squadron, RAF Tempsford, Lysander, Halifax Hudson Havoc Albemarle Hudson Cygnet
- 192 (Special Duties) Squadron, RAF Gransden Lodge, Halifax, Wellington Mk.X Mosquito Wellington Mk.IC
- 214 Sqn, RAF Chedburgh, Stirling
- 218 Sqn, RAF Downham Market, Stirling
After the invasion of Normandy, Bomber Command joined in the campaign against German oil targets. Although daylight bombing against targets within Germany itself still incurred too many casualties closer targets could be attacked by day with fighter escorts. 3 Gp carried out blind bombing techniques by day using G-H.
Read more about this topic: No. 3 Group RAF
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