("We prowl by night") , aircraft_fighter= December 1940 - March 1942:

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

February 1941 - June 1942:

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

May 1942 - June 1943: Bristol Beaufighter
June 1943 - December 1944: de Havilland Mosquito , aircraft_bomber= December 1944-April 1945:

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its orig ...

, identification_symbol= A lion passant facing to the sinister with ten stars representing the constellation of Leo , identification_symbol_label= Squadron badge heraldry , identification_symbol_2=ZJ December 1940 - December 1944
6H December 1944 - June 1946
L October 1952 - 1955 , identification_symbol_2_label=Squadron codes No. 96 Squadron 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) an ...

squadron. The squadron served on the Western Front during

World War II 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 opposing ...

and the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II. No. 96 Squadron served in a variety of roles such as night fighter cover and transportation. It was disbanded in 1959, when its aircraft and personnel became No. 3 Squadron.

History

No. 96 Squadron was formed on 8 October 1917 at

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, 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-we ...

as an aircrew training unit of the Royal Flying Corps, the air force of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during most of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Royal Air Force History: History of No. 96 Squadron The unit was disbanded on 4 July 1918 but was reformed at St. Ives, Cambridgeshire on 28 September 1918 as a ground attack squadron of the

. The headquarters of the squadron at that time were located at

RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has b ...

. On 11 November 1918 an armistice between the Allies and the German Empire was signed, marking the end of World War I. As a consequence No. 96 Squadron was disbanded by the end of November, 1918 before becoming operational.

World War II

On 18 December 1940 No. 422 Flight, a

night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

unit stationed at

RAF Shoreham Brighton City Airport , also commonly known as Shoreham Airport, is located in the parish of Lancing in West Sussex, England. It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying i ...

was renamed to No. 96 Squadron. The commanding officer on reformation was Ronald Gustave Kellett, transferred from the Polish No. 303 Squadron RAF. The squadron's headquarters were located at RAF Cranage in Cheshire. During the war it was commanded by Edward Crew.

Post World War II

In March 1945 the squadron was moved to the Far East. Destined for Egypt, the squadron collected its Dakotas en route in Egypt. The squadron provided parachute and glider training in India whilst also providing detachments for operations in Burma and general transport flights throughout the Far East. In April 1946 96 Squadron moved to Hong Kong where air transport was maintained to Malaya and China before the squadron was renamed No. 110 Squadron on 15 June 1946. No. 96 Squadron reformed again on 17 November 1952 at RAF Ahlhorn in Germany as part of

No. 125 Wing RAF No. 125 Expeditionary Air Wing is a former deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland. The current wing was established on 1 April 2006 the wing has history dating back to May 1944: Second Worl ...

. It moved to

RAF Geilenkirchen Royal Air Force Geilenkirchen, more commonly known as RAF Geilenkirchen, was a Royal Air Force station in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, built by the British who used the facility mainly as an airfield for RAF fighter squadrons ...

on 12 February 1958. Equipped with Meteor night fighters the squadron provided fighter cover for Germany until it was renumbered No. 3 Squadron on 21 January 1959, at which point it converted to Gloster Javelins.

Aircraft operated

Notes

References