No.35 Squadron went through two incarnations during the Second World War. At the start of the war it was equipped with the Fairey Battle, but unlike most Battle units was not sent to France, instead acting as a training unit, equipped with a mix of Battles, Ansons and Blenheims. The squadron was combined with No. 207 Squadron, first to form No.1 Group Pool on 1 October 1939 and then to form No. 17 Operational Training Unit on 8 April 1940. The second incarnation began on 5 November 1940. The new No. 35 was the first squadron to use the Handley Page Halifax. A detachment from the squadron had been training on the prototype Halifaxes, and began to work with the first production aircraft in November 1940. The squadron carried out the first Halifax raid on 10 March 1941. In August 1942 the squadron was transferred to the new Pathfinder Force (No. 8 Group), remaining with that unit until the end of the war. In March 1944 the squadron converted to the Avro Lancaster.
