No. 96 Squadron

No. 96 Squadron was formed on 18 December 1940 at RAF Cranage in Cheshire by redesignating No. 422 Flight, taking on the specialised role of night fighter defence under Fighter Command. Its early years were hampered by the inadequacy of the Hawker Hurricane and Boulton Paul Defiant for nocturnal operations, though the arrival of the Bristol Beaufighter in May 1942 and the de Havilland Mosquito in June 1943 transformed its effectiveness. The squadron’s motto, “Nocturni obambulamus” — “We prowl by night” — reflected a mission centred on the defence of Merseyside and the English Midlands, with a brief period of intruder operations over occupied Europe in 1943. During the summer of 1944 it intercepted V-1 flying bombs threatening southern England, and provided night fighter cover over the Normandy beaches during the D-Day landings. In December 1944 the fighter incarnation was disbanded and a new No. 96 Squadron was almost immediately re-formed as a transport unit, flying Dakotas on supply and passenger work across the Far East until final disbandment in mid-1946.