12 Squadron "Leads the Field"

This is the operational history of 12 Squadron RAF in the Second World War.

The original 1 Group, including 12 Squadron, was absorbed into the Advanced Air Striking Force as its main component and sent to France on the 2nd of September 1939.  The ensuing eight months passed largely uneventfully for 12 Squadron, but once the German advance into the Low Countries began on the 10th of May 1940, it was pitched into an unequal fight, in which the already obsolete Fairey Battle was no match for the Luftwaffe's modern fighters and the lethal flak defences. Within days the squadron had been effectively knocked out of the war, after losing most of its aircraft, and was withdrawn to England in mid-June. 

Soon afterwards, a new 1 Group was formed and 12 Squadron was one of four founder units, retaining its Battles and operating against invasion barges in Channel ports. 1 Group began to convert to Wellingtons in late 1940 and 12 Squadron was one of only two units to serve  continuously with it through to the end of the war, operating Lancasters from late 1942. 

Although not part of Bomber Command at the time, the  war's first two  Victoria Crosses were awarded to 12 Squadron airmen in May 1940.

This is the op-by-op account of 12 Squadron’s war.