No. 295 Squadron RAF
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No 295 Squadron RAF was an airborne forces and transport squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was the first unit to be equipped with the
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.41 Albemarle was a twin-engine military transport aircraft, transport aircraft developed by the United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth and primarily produced by A.W. Hawksley Ltd, a subsid ...
transport and glider tug aircraft.


History


With the Airborne Forces

No. 295 Squadron was formed on 3 August 1942 at RAF Netheravon as an airborne forces unit, equipped with Whitley Mk.Vs. These were from November 1942 used in leaflet dropping missions over France, supplemented in February 1943 with Halifax Mk.Vs, which they used in
Operation Beggar Operation Turkey Buzzard, also known as Operation Beggar, was a British supply mission to North Africa that took place between March and August 1943, during the Second World War. The mission was undertaken by No. 2 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment ...
. By October 1943 the squadron converted to the Albemarle Mk.I. With these aircraft the squadron shared – with 570 Sqn.- the honour of being the first to drop troops over Normandy on the eve of
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
, while other aircraft of the squadron towed gliders to the landing zones. The Albemarles gave way in July 1944 to the Stirling Mk.IV. The squadron used these aircraft during the Battle of Arnhem during
Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, again towing gliders. In early October 1944, Short Stirlings of the RAF's No 295 Squadron took up residence at
RAF Rivenhall Royal Air Force Rivenhall or more simply RAF Rivenhall is a former Royal Air Force station located in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southeast of Braintree, Essex, England. Opened in 1942, it was used by both ...
, with most of its operations consisting of supply drops to Norwegian resistance forces and similar activities over the Netherlands and Denmark. The last assault action with the Stirlings was on 24 March 1945, when the unit took part in Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine. The Stirlings further provided service carrying troops to Norway to disarm the Germans there when the war was over. The squadron was disbanded at Rivenhall on 21 January 1946, whereupon the station was held on a care and maintenance basis.


With Transport Command

On that same day 190 squadron was renumbered to 295 squadron as a Transport Squadron (Rawlings claims 1 February, and does not mention the renumbering), flying Halifaxes of the A.7 type. It was soon disbanded however, on 31 March 1946 at RAF Tarrant Rushton, the same airfield where it had been reformed, and renumbered to 297 Squadron


With the Airborne Forces again

The squadron was reformed again as an airborne forces squadron on 10 September 1947 at RAF Fairford, again flying Halifaxes, but now the A.9 type. After a little more than a year it disbanded again, at Fairford, on 1 October 1948, on 31 October 1948, or on 1 November 1948.


Aircraft operated


Squadron airfields


Commanding officers


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Site with pages for all squadron of No 38 Group RAF


{{DEFAULTSORT:No 295 Squadron RAF
295 __NOTOC__ Year 295 ( CCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 295th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 295th year of the 1st millennium, th ...
No. 295 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1948