No. 176 Squadron RAF
Active15 Jan 1943 – 1 Jun 1946
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Motto(s)Latin: Nocte custodimus (We keep the night watch)
Insignia
Squadron BadgeA dagger in front of a crescent moon

No. 176 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a night defence unit based in India in World War II.

History

Formation in World War II

The squadron was formed at Dum Dum, India on 15 January 1943 from a detachment of No. 89 Squadron RAF, flying radar-equipped Bristol Beaufighter night fighters in defence of Calcutta.[1] That night, it flew its first operational sorties, with Flight Sergeant Arthur Pring shooting down three Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers in four minutes, becoming an air ace.[2][lower-alpha 1] On the night of 19/20 January, another of 176's aircraft intercepted three more Ki-21s, claiming two destroyed and one damaged, but itself being shot down by return fire from the bombers. In fact, only one of the Ki-21s was shot down. The losses of four bombers in a few days caused Japanese night attacks on Calcutta to be suspended.[4] Detachments of the squadron were then based at Chittagong Burma, Ratmalana Ceylon, Baigachi and Mingaladon where the Beaufighters were replaced with Mosquitos in June 1945. The squadron disbanded on 1 June 1946.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 176 Squadron RAF[5]
FromToAircraftVariant
Jan 1943Aug 1943Bristol BeaufighterIF
Jan 1943Aug 1945Bristol BeaufighterVIF
May 1943Jan 1944Hawker HurricaneIIC
Jun 1945Jul 1945de Havilland MosquitoXVI
Jul 1945Jun 1946de Havilland MosquitoXIX

Notes

  1. ↑ Pring and his radar operator had previously claimed three aircraft shot down over Egypt and Malta.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Shores 2005, pp. 49, 409
  2. ↑ Shores 2005, pp. 50–51
  3. ↑ Shores 2005, p. 50
  4. ↑ Shores 2005, pp. 52–53
  5. ↑ C.G.Jefford (1988). RAF Squadrons. UK Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
  • Shores, Christopher (2005). Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942–1945. London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-904010-95-4.
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