No. 5 Group RAF effective squadrons of Bomber Command, personified by No 617 Squadron the "Dambusters", formed from 5 Group aircrew in March 1943. Most of the group's main airfields were around Lincoln, including RAF Scampton. By the end of the war the group had grown to 15 squadrons. The group was noted for its high accuracy bombing, being involved the sinking of the "Tirpitz" in November 1944 and the shattering of the strategic Bielefeld railway viaduct in March 1945. The Group introduced new weapons operationally, including Barnes Wallis's "bouncing" and his Tallboy and Grand Slam "earthquake" bombs. The group was disbanded on 15
RAF Benevolent Fund as the "Royal Air Force Memorial Fund" as one of their charitable objects was to raise a memorial to airmen who died in the First World War. The Royal Air Force Memorial was completed in 1923. The monument, in Portland stone surmounted by a gilded eagle, can be seen on Victoria Embankment. Fundraising for the RAF Benevolent Fund occurred outside the UK as well. Prior to the United States entering World War II, Piper Aircraft Company produced 49, one for each state in the US plus another, Piper J-3 aircraft with RAF insignia and nicknamed the Flitfire, to be auctioned