No. 132 (City of Bombay) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II.

History

Formation and World War I

No. 132 Squadron

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

was formed on 1 March 1918 and became a unit of the Royal Air Force a month later, but it disbanded on 23 December 1918 without becoming operational.

Reformation in World War II

The squadron reformed in 1941 as a fighter unit equipped with

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

and then provided air defence from Peterhead, Scotland, and Southern England. It then moved to Normandy after the D-Day landings. It returned to England in September 1944 before moving to

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municip ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, in January 1945. It was then based in Hong Kong, and was disbanded on 15 April 1946. The Squadron was a mixed RAF squadron meaning its members were from all over the world: The Caribbean, Poland, Canada, New Zealand etc.

Aircraft operated

Combat

Pilots

132 Squadron had a number of prestigious pilots, many of whom received the Distinguished Flying Cross. The

commanding officers The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...

for the Squadron were: J.R Ritchie, F.F Colloredo-Mansfield, A.G Page, and K.L Charney. Flight Commanders in the Squadron were: D. Fopp, G. StClair, B.Rein, H.L. Smith, H.E Walmsley, A.E Tomblin, R.L.F Day, J.D Carpenter, A. Hvinden, T. Johnson, M. Graham, H.C Prudman, and J.M Maynyard. DFCs were awarded to: F.F Colloredo-Mansfield, H.E Walmsley, A.E Tomblin, A.G Page, D.J Hawkings, R.L.F Day, M. Graham, K.L Charney, and H.C Prudman. A single

Distinguished Flying Medal The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...

was awarded to F. Campbell. Of the 130 pilots who served on the Squadron, 14 lost their lives and 4 went missing with unknown fates.

Combat roles

The Sqn started as a fighter unit before transitioning to a Fighter-Bomber role to support the D-Day landings. They were the first Spitfire Sqn to carry a bomb load of 1000lbs per aircraft and dropped 110 tons of bombs during the course of the war. The Sqn claimed 29 victories over enemy aircraft with a further 15 probable destroyed. They also destroyed 253 transport ground vehicles, and 15 midget submarines - '...another of the Flight Commanders who was Norwegian by the name of Hvinden spotted these whilst on a routine patrol on the Normandy Beaches. They were obviously trying to attack our shipping forces lying off the beaches, but unfortunately for them 132 Squadron arrived on the scene' - A.G. Page.

Roll of Honour

References

External links

History of No.'s 131–135 Squadrons at RAF Web

132 Squadron history on the official RAF website

{{Royal Air Force

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Military units and formations established in 1918 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom