No. 172 Squadron

No. 172 Squadron was formed on 4 April 1942 at RAF Chivenor in Devon, drawing on the work of No. 1417 (Leigh Light) Flight to become the first squadron in Coastal Command equipped with the Leigh Light Wellington. The Leigh Light — a powerful searchlight fitted to the underside of the aircraft — was used in conjunction with Air to Surface Vessel radar to illuminate surfaced U-boats at night during the final moments of an attack run, denying the enemy the warning time that earlier airborne radar alone had afforded. The squadron made its first operational use of the system on 4 June 1942, when Squadron Leader Jeaffreson Greswell attacked the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli in the Bay of Biscay; on 5 July the same year, Pilot Officer Wiley B. Howell sank U-502, recording Coastal Command’s first confirmed U-boat kill by night. The unit’s most productive period came in 1943 once ASV Mark III radar entered service, enabling aircraft to close to attack distance before switching on the light; between March and July of that year the squadron destroyed six U-boats, contributing to the broader Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Operating within No. 19 Group throughout most of its service, the squadron relocated to RAF Limavady in Northern Ireland in September 1944 to continue Atlantic patrols until disbanding on 4 June 1945, having been credited with sinking approximately ten U-boats over its three years of operations.