No. 296 Squadron
- Group
- No. 38 Group
- Command
- Airborne Forces / Glider
History
No. 296 Squadron formed at Ringway in January 1942 from the Glider Exercise Unit and became an airborne forces squadron. After early glider training with older aircraft, it moved through Whitleys to Albemarles, which it used for operations including the airborne landings in Sicily. The squadron towed gliders to Normandy on D-Day, supported Arnhem, later operated Halifaxes during the Rhine crossing, and ended the war moving troops to Norway and Denmark and returning liberated prisoners of war.
Stations operated from
Airfields this squadron flew from during the Second World War.
RAF Andover · RAF Brize Norton · RAF Earls Colne · RAF Netheravon · RAF Ringway · RAF Stoney Cross
Photographs
Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South-east Europe, 1942-1945. A tattooed sergeant-major glider pilot of the Army Air Corps and a glider-tug pilot of No. 296 Squadron RAF studying a map of Sicily at Goubrine II, Tunisia, in preparation for the 1st Airborne Division landings in Sicily (Operations FUSTIAN and MARSTON).
ⓘ licence & credit
Lea T (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_Italy,_the_Balkans_and_South-east_Europe,_1942-1945._CNA1661.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Operation HUSKY: an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle Mark I of No. 296 Squadron RAF takes of in the evening light from Goubrine II, Tunisia, during the airborne landings on Sicily; possibly carrying a team from No. 2 Special Air Service on Operation CHESTNUT, (12 July 1943).
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Trievnor J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa,_1939-1943._CNA4066.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Operation HUSKY: Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle Mark Is of No. 296 Squadron RAF, lined up at Goubrine II, Tunisia, while taking part in the airborne landings on Sicily. Photograph taken from under the wing of a Waco CG-4A glider.