No. 76 Squadron

Group
No. 4 Group
Command
Bomber Command
Home station
RAF Holme-on-Spalding-Moor

In the database: 6 aircraft · 14 service members · 2 sorties.

History

No. 76 Squadron reformed on 1 May 1941 at RAF Linton-on-Ouse as the second squadron to fly the Handley Page Halifax, joining the newly created No. 4 Group. It kept the Halifax to the end of the war and began bombing operations in mid-1942. In June 1943 it moved to RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor in Yorkshire, part of a reshuffle that handed the better pre-war stations to the new Canadian No. 6 Group.

For much of 1942 and into 1943 the squadron was commanded by Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, one of Bomber Command’s most celebrated leaders, who later won the Victoria Cross with No. 617 Squadron. With the rest of No. 4 Group, No. 76 passed to Transport Command at the war’s end, re-equipping with the Douglas Dakota.

Photographs

Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) I, L9562/MP-D, of [No 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) in flight, 6 August 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH3388.jpgView source & full licence →
[Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) B Mk I, s/n L9530, MP-L of the [No. 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF, Summer 1941
ⓘ licence & creditMartin Čížek / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_76_Squadron.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) Mark I Series 1, L9530 ‘MP-L’, of [No 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF undergoing maintenance at [Middleton St George](/airfields/52/), County Durham. L9530 was shot down while attacking Magdeburg on 15 August 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941._CH3393.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Following their briefing, [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) crews of [No. 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF board their transports at [Holme-on-Spalding-Moor](/airfields/40/), Yorkshire, to be driven to their dispersals in preparation for a raid on Kassel, Germany. This raid, on 22/23 October 1943, was the most devastating delivered on a German city since the 'firestorm' raid on Hamburg in the previous July. Of the 569 aircraft used in the attack, 43 were lost, of which 25 were Halifaxes.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH11401.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) B Mark II Series I (Special), DK148 'MP-G' "Johnnie the Wolf", of [No. 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF rests at [Holme-on-Spalding Moor](/airfields/8617/), Yorkshire, after crash-landing on return from an operation to Essen on the night of 25/26 July 1943. The propeller from the damaged port-inner engine flew off shortly after the bombing run, tearing a large hole in the fuselage. The mid-upper gunner immediately baled out, but the pilot, Flight Lieutenant C M Shannon, regained control of the aircraft and managed to bring the rest of the crew back to Holme, although DK148 was subsequently written off. Two weeks later, Shannon and his crew failed to return from a night operation over [Mannheim](/airfields/8659/).
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CE91.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) B Mark V Series I (Specials) of [No. 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF lined up at [Linton-on-Ouse](/airfields/46/), Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10226.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command [No 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) Halifax, W7805/MP-M, being bombed-up at [Linton-on-Ouse](/airfields/46/), 3 April 1943.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Trievnor J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945_Bomber_Command_CH9138.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax Mark I Series 1, L9530 ‘MP-L’, of [No. 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF based at Middleton-St-George, County Durham, in flight.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._CH3378.jpgView source & full licence →
[Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) Mark I Series 1, L9530 'MP-L', of [No 76 Squadron](/squadrons/23/) RAF undergoing maintenance at [Middleton St George](/airfields/52/), County Durham. L9530 was shot down while attacking Magdeburg on 15 August 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:76_Squadron_Halifax_1941_IWM_CH_3393.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown