No. 96 Squadron RAF

No. 96 Squadron RAF
Official Squadron Badge of No. 96 Squadron RAF
Active	8 October 1917 - 4 July 1918 28 September 1918 - November 1918 18 December 1940 - 12 December 1944 21 December 1944 - 1 June 1946 17 November 1952 - 21 January 1959
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	8 October 1917 - 1 April 1918: Royal Flying Corps post-April 1918: Royal Air Force
Role	Training unit Night Fighter unit Transport unit
Garrison/HQ	RAF Wyton RAF Cranage RAF Wrexham RAF Honiley RAF Ford RAF Odiham RAF Leconfield RAF Cairo West RAF Kai Tak RAF Ahlhorn RAF Geilenkirchen
Motto	(Latin): Nocturni obambulamus (English: We prowl by night)
Insignia
Identification symbol	A lion passant facing to the sinister with ten stars representing the constellation of Leo
Identification symbol	December 1940 - December 1944: ZJ December 1944 - June 1946: 6H October 1952 - 1955: L
Aircraft flown
Bomber	December 1944-April 1945: Handley Page Halifax
Fighter	December 1940 - March 1942: Hawker Hurricane February 1941 - June 1942: Boulton Paul Defiant May 1942 - June 1943: Bristol Beaufighter June 1943 - December 1944: de Havilland Mosquito

No. 96 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served on the Western Front during World War II 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 personnel was assigned to No. 3 Squadron.

History

No. 96 Squadron was formed on October 8, 1917 at Lincolnshire as an aircrew training unit of the Royal Flying Corps, the air force of the British Army during most of World War I.^[1] The unit was disbanded on July 4, 1918 but was reformed at St. Ives, Cambridgeshire on September 28, 1918 as a ground attack squadron of the Royal Air Force.^[1]

The headquarters of the squadron at that time were located at RAF Wyton. On November 11, 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.^[1]

World War II

On December 18 No. 422 Flight squadron, a night fighter unit stationed at RAF Shoreham was renamed to No. 96 Squadron. The squadron's headquarters were located at RAF Cranage in Cheshire until .

Post World War II

Aircraft operated

Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
1918[2]	Sopwith Salamander		Single-engined ground attack biplane
1940-1941[2]	Hawker Hurricane	I	Single-engined fighter
1941-1942[2]	Boulton Paul Defiant	I	Single-engined fighter
1941-1942[2]	Hawker Hurricane	IIC	Single-engined fighter
1942[2]	Boulton Paul Defiant	IA and II	Single-engined fighter
1942-1943[2]	Bristol Beaufighter	IIF and VIF	Twin-engined ground attack
1943-1944[2]	de Havilland Mosquito	XIII	Twin-engined light bomber
1944-1945[2]	Handley Page Halifax	III	Four-engined heavy bomber
1945-1946[2]	Douglas Dakota		Twin-engined transport
1952-1959[2]	Gloster Meteor	NF11	Twin-engined jet night-fighter
1958-1959[2]	Gloster Javelin	FAW4	Twin-engined jet fighter/interceptor

See also

List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Royal Air Force History: History of No. 96 Squadron
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Jefford 1988, p. 53

Bibliography

• Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 85310 053 6. 
• "History of No. 96 Squadron". Royal Air Force. http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/h96.html. Retrieved 13 February 2010. 

External links