No. 217 Squadron RAF
From To Location Remarks
14 Jan 1918 31 Mar 1919 Dunkerque , France No . 17 ( Naval ) Squadron formed
1 Apr 1918 Feb 1919 Bergues , near Dunkerque No . 217 Squadron formed
Mar 1919 18 Oct 1919 RAF Driffield , Yorkshire Squadron disbanded
15 Mar 1937 Dec 1937 RAF Boscombe Down , Wiltshire No . 217 Squadron reformed
Dec 1937 Sep 1939 RAF Tangmere , West Sussex Main station
03 Sep 1939 Oct 1939 RAF Warmwell , Dorset Temporary station
Oct 1939 Oct 1941 RAF St Eval , Cornwall Main war station
Oct 1941 05 Mar 1942 RAF Thorney Island , Hampshire Temporary station
06 Mar 1942 31 May 42 RAF Leuchars , Fife Main war station
01 Jun 1942 06 Jun 1942 RAF Portreath , Cornwall To Ceylon via Gibraltar and Malta
07 Jun 1942 Jul 1942 RAF Luqa , Malta Temporary secondment for aircraft only
Jul 1942 Jan 1943 RAF Minneriya , Ceylon Temporary station
Feb 1943 Mar 1944 RAF Vavuniya , Ceylon Main war station
Apr 1944 Aug 1944 RAF Ratmalana , Ceylon Main war station
Sep 1944 May 1945 RAF Vavuniya , Ceylon Main war station
Jun 1945 Sep 1945 RAF Gannavaram , Vijayawada Squadron disbanded
14 Jan 1952 6 Apr 1952 RAF St Eval , Cornwall Squadron reformed , main station
7 Apr 1952 31 Mar 1957 RAF Kinloss , Moray Firth Main station , squadron disbanded
7 Feb 1958 13 Nov 1959 RAF St Mawgan , Cornwall Squadron reformed and disbanded
Squadron bases
No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a Strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part of RAF Coastal Command it served first in a Maritime Patrol role along the Western Approaches and later in an Anti-Shipping role in the English Channel. Ordered to the Far East in 1942, the squadron was retained for two months in Malta in an Anti-Shipping role, protecting Allied convoys, before moving to Ceylon to defend the approaches to India, serving in an Anti-Submarine and Anti-Shipping role. It was equipped and training for a Strike role, when the war ended. In the postwar period, it served for five years in a Maritime Reconnaissance role, and then briefly in a Support role for Operation Grapple, the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island.