No 138 and No 161 Squadrons Royal Air Force – RAF Tempsford 1942-45

  • Memorial Text
  • In Proud Memory of No 138 and No 161 (Special Duties) Squadrons.
  • Royal Air Force Tempsford 1942-1945
  • The Nazi occupation of much of Western Europe in early 1940 posed many challenges for the British Secret Services.
  • A high priority was to find an effective means of infiltrating and exfiltrating agents and later, reliable methods for supplying the growing resistance movements with arms and ammunition.
  • The work fell outside of the normal duties of RAF Squadrons so in March 1942 RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire became the base for No 138 and No 161 Squadrons.
  • Flying mainly by the light of the full moon, these two squadrons operated throughout the length and breadth of Western Europe, delivering agents and supplies.
  • Without the agents, the secret services would have been hamstrung and without the supplies, the resistance movements would have been unable to participate in the armed struggle.
  • The nature of the work undertaken by these squadrons is reflected in their motto’s – FOR FREEDOM & LIBERATE.
  • By the end of the war the squadrons had, between them lost in excess of 600 men.
  • Special then, Special now, Special Always.
  • Garden 1 – Special Operations – Allied Special Forces Memorial Grove – 2016.