No. 119 Squadron RAF
No. 119 Squadron RAF
No. 119 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force unit that served with Coastal Command during the Second World War. It was the only RAF squadron to fly the Short G class and Short C class flying boats.
Formed on 1 January 1918 at RAF Andover as a day bomber unit, it flew Airco DH.4s and DH.9s and trained at RAF Duxford and RAF Thetford. It did not become operational and was disbanded at RAF Wyton on 6 December 1918.
The squadron reformed on 13 March 1941 from G flight at RAF Bowmore, Strathclyde, as part of No. 15 Group Coastal Command. It started with three Short G class flying boats and two Short C class (Clio and Cordelia), then re-equipped with Catalina Mk Ib in June 1941. It moved to Pembroke Dock on 4 August but was non-operational due to a lack of serviceable aircraft, and then went to Lough Erne on 19 April 1942, where it re-equipped with Catalina Mk IIIa in May. In September it switched to Sunderland Mk II and III and was disbanded on 17 April 1943 at Pembroke Dock.
The squadron was reformed again on 19 July 1944 by redesignating a flight of No. 415 Squadron RCAF at RAF Manston. It used Albacore Mk I aircraft and adopted the squadron code NH from July 1944 to May 1945. It operated from Swingfield and briefly Beccles, then settled at Bircham Newton in September, carrying out anti-shipping patrols and hunting German E-boats and R-boats. In October detachments served at Belgian airfields B.65 Maldeghem, B.63 St Croix and B.83 Knocke-Het Zoute, adding German midget submarines to its targets. In January 1945 it re-equipped with ASV-equipped Swordfish Mk III, helping to hunt midget submarines and destroying three before its final mission on 8 May 1945. The squadron was disbanded at Bircham Newton on 25 May 1945.
One Swordfish, Swordfish Mk III NF370, survives at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, painted in 119 Squadron markings.
Motto: By night and day
Insignia: A sword point downwards and an anchor in saltire
Squadron codes: NH (Jul 1944 – May 1945)
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:47 (CET).