No. 214 Squadron RAF

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No. 214 Squadron is a former unit of the Royal Air Force.

No 214 Squadron was formed from No. 14 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), itself fomerly No. 7A Squadron RNAS only taking on the new number in 9 December 1917. With the creation of the RAF from the Royal Flying Corps and the RNAS on 1 April 1918 it received the number 214.^[1] It was later given the fuller title No 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron

No. 214 squadron started with the Handley Page Type O/100 bomber but soon got the more powerful O/400 in the middle of 1918 with which it continued to fly against German strategic targets. Post war the squadron was moved to Egypt but it was disbanded on 1 February 1920 with its crew and aircraft merged into No. 216 Squadron RAF.

On 16 September 1935 'B' Flight of No. 9 Squadron RAF was used to create a new 214 squadron. Again a bomber squadron it had the the Vickers Virginia X night-bomber at RAF Boscombe Down.

By the outbreak of the Second World War it had moved onto the Vickers Wellington which were replaced in 1942 with the larger Short Stirling.

In January 1944, the squadron was converted to special operations, joining No. 100 Group RAF for electronic countermeasures in supoprt of th emain bombing operations.

The squadron used the Fortress Mk II and Mk III and Stirlings. The used the jamming system codenamed "Airborne Cigar" (ABC) to block German nightfighter communications. Gemrna speaking radio operators would identify and jam the ground controllers broadcasts and also pose as ground controllers themselves with the intention of steering the nightfighters away from the bomber streams.^[2]

It operated the Vickers Valiant from RAF Marham, from 21 January 1956 until 28 February 1965. Leonard Trent, a Victoria Cross winner, was the first CO of the Valiant squadron. The Valiant was at first active as a V-bomber but was thne converted to tankers. Disbanded in 1956 it reformed the following with the Handley Page Victor tanker and continued until disbanded finally in 1977..