No. 576 Squadron RAF was a

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 ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

heavy bomber squadron.

History

576 Squadron was formed on 25 November 1943 at

RAF Elsham Wolds Royal Air Force Elsham Wolds or more simply RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in the First World War and the Second World War. It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in nort ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

under the command of Wing Commander G.T.B Clayton DFC. "A" Flight was formed under Squadron Leader Dilworth and composed of 4 experienced aircrews drawn from 101 Squadron, with the remainder drawn from the Group 1 Heavy Conversion Units. "B" Flight was formed under Squadron Leader Attwater and consisted of 13 experienced aircrew and 9 aircraft from "C" Flight of 103 squadron. 576 Squadron commenced operations in the night of 2/3 December 1943, when seven

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

s were sent out to bomb

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. FSGT John Booth RAAF and crew in UL-R2 (W4123) failed to return from this operation. Eleven months later 576 Squadron moved to

RAF Fiskerton Royal Air Force Fiskerton or more simply RAF Fiskerton was a Royal Air Force station located north of the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield closed at the end of the war in 1945 being a sat ...

, a little way outside

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. During its brief period of existence 576 Squadron operated only one type of aircraft, the

four-engined heavy bomber. It carried out 2,788 operation sorties with the Lancaster, with the loss of 66 aircraft. The last bombs of the squadron were dropped on 25 April 1945, when 23 of the squadrons aircraft bombed Obersalzberg with no loss of personnel. During this period, 576 Squadron flew 2,788 operational sorties; 67 aircraft were lost, including two abandoned over France in February 1945. The Jamaican airman Billy Strachan flew 15 operations as a pilot with the squadron. 576 then took part in

Operation Manna Operation Manna was the codeword for a World War II, Second World War operation by the British and Greek forces in Greece in mid-October 1944, following the gradual withdrawal of the Axis Occupation of Greece, German occupying forces from the c ...

- the dropping of food supplies to the Dutch; Operation Exodus - repatriation of British ex-POWs to Great Britain; Operation Post Mortem - testing the efficiency of captured German early-warning radar; and Operation Dodge-the transport of British troops to Great Britain from Italy. 576 Squadron's last operation was part of Operation Manna in which 28 aircraft were detailed to drop food to the starving Dutch people in Rotterdam on 7 May 1945. 576 Squadron was disbanded at Fiskerton on 13 September 1945.

Aircraft operated

Notable aircraft

Four of the Lancasters that flew with 576 squadron managed to survive one hundred operations or more:

Squadron bases

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

576 squadron history on old MOD site

* ttp://www.northlincsweb.net/576Sqn/ 576 Squadron RAF website {{DEFAULTSORT:No. 576 Squadron Raf Bomber squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II 576 Squadron Military units and formations established in 1943