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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.297 Squadron was an airborne forces unit, formed from the Parachute Exercise Squadron on 22 January 1942. After being used to drop supplies to the French resistance, twenty-four Albemarles from the squadron took part in the first stage of the D-Day landings, dropping airborne forces on the night of 5-6 June 1944.
Despite its origins, the squadron was also used to tow gliders, taking twenty-eight to Arnhem on the first day of Operation Market Garden, and returning with twenty-four more in the next day. In March 1945 the squadron was involved in the crossing of the Rhine. At the end of the war the squadron was used to ferry troops to and from Europe, surviving in this form until 1 April 1946.
Aircraft
July 1943-October 1944: Armstrong-Whitworth Albemarle I and II
February 1944-December 1944: Armstrong-Whitworth Albemarle V and VI
October 1944-December 1944: Handley Page Halifax A.Mk V
October 1944-March 1945: Handley Page Halifax A.Mk III
December 1945-March 1947: Handley Page Halifax A.Mk VII
Location
22 January-5 June 1942: Netheravon
5 June-25 October 1942: Hurn
25 October 1942-1 September 1943: Stoney Cross
14 March-30 September 1943: Brize Norton
30 September 1944-1 April 1945: Earls Colne
Squadron Codes: S, L5, P5
Duty
By November 1944: Glider Tug squadron with No. 38 Group, Allied Expeditionary Air Force
April 1946: Disbanded
April 1946: Post-war Transport Command squadron formed by re-numbering of No. 295 Squadron
Halifax Squadrons of World War II , Jon Lake. This is a very good book on the combat record of the Handley Page Halifax. It covers much more than just its role as a front line bomber, with chapters on the Halifax with Coastal Command, the Pathfinders and SOE, amongst others. [see more]
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