No. 356 Squadron RAF was a short-lived long-range bomber squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

between 1944 and 1945.

History

The squadron was formed on 15 January 1944 at Salbani,

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, as a long-range bomber unit equipped with the

Consolidated Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

. No.356 Squadron included many personnel from the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

(RCAF) and Canadians serving in the RAF. The main reason for this was that the main Liberator conversion unit, under the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

, was in Canada, at RCAF Boundary Bay, in British Columbia. Wing Commander Hugo Beall DSO, a Canadian serving in the RAF, was the first CO of 356 Squadron, when it started operations in 1943. Under Beall's leadership in the early raids this squadron developed techniques for low-level bombing of the dispersed and relatively small targets in Burma and Thailand. The squadron was later led by another Canadian, RCAF Wing Commander G. N. B. (Bryan) Sparks, DSO, who commanded it until 11 August 1945. The squadron's first operations were meteorological flights, for training purposes, in June 1944. Its first bombing mission was on 27 July 1944. From then the squadron attacked Japanese bases in South East Asia and planted mines outside enemy harbours. On 15 June 1945 the squadron together with 159 Squadron destroyed the 10,000 ton Japanese tanker, Tohu Maru in the

Gulf of Siam The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in le ...

of Koh Samui Island. In July 1945 the squadron moved to the

Cocos Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

to prepare for the invasion of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. On 23 August 1945, one of its aircraft, Serial Number KL654 flown by Flight Lieutenant John Watts, crashed at Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaya after parachuting

Claude Fenner Tan Sri Sir Claude Harry Fenner (16 January 1916 − 15 May 1978) was the first Inspector-General of Police of Malaysia, serving from 18 September 1958 to 28 February 1966.Obituary, The Times, London, 19 June 1978 Background Fenner was born on ...

, later Inspector General of Malaysian Police into Malaya. The wreck was discovered in the 1950s and again in 1996 by local tribes-people. The bodies of the crew were retrieved and buried in

Cheras War Cemetery The Cheras War Cemetery ( ms, Tanah Perkuburan Perang Cheras) is the final resting place for Allied personnel who were killed during World War II, particularly the Malayan Campaign and the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Servicemen who died aft ...

, Kuala Lumpur in 2012.B-24 Snake, Goh K Loon
retrieved 23 March 2018 The end of the war came before the invasion was carried out and the squadron performed supply-dropping and transport duties until it was disbanded on 15 November 1945.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

No. 356 Squadron history

{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 356 Squadron Raf 356 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1944 Bomber squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II N