49 Sqn was formed in April 1916 and disbanded shortly after end of the First World War and wasn't reformed until 1936 when it was the first operational squadron to receive the Handley Page Hampden. In 1942 it converted firstly to Manchesters and then to Lancasters which it flew until the end of the war. After the war, the aircraft flew Lincolns and Valiants and was the first squadron to drop a hydrogen bomb at Christmas Island.