Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

No. 56 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command

No. 56 Squadron (RAF) is included on this site because it was one of the many RAF units to which a majority of Australian aircrew were posted during WW2, under the Empire Air Training Scheme, and in which they served, fought and often died.

No. 56 Squadron has had a long and distinguished history through both World Wars, the Interwar period and post WW2, including a period as a Test and Evaluation unit.  It is one of the few Squadrons to have persisted throughout without having been disbanded.

No. 56 Squadron's introduction to the Second World War came on 6 September 1939. The Firebirds, then based at RAF North Weald, were the victims of a friendly fire incident by No. 74 Squadron known as the Battle of Barking Creek. Two pilots of the squadron were shot down and one, P/O Montague Hulton-Harrop, was killed, becoming the RAF's first casualty in the defence of the UK.

The squadron entered the Second World War equipped with the Hawker Hurricane Mk.I and first saw action during the Battle of France, although they remained based in England and sent flights to France for short periods. The Firebirds ended the campaign by covering the Dunkirk evacuation.

As part of No. 11 Group, No. 56 Squadron was based at RAF North Weald at the beginning of the Battle of Britain. From there the squadron first engaged German aircraft on 31 July 1940. It was heavily involved in the fighting in the south of England during August, although the squadron moved to RAF Boscombe Down on the 1 September.  It was one of the few fighter squadrons to remain based in the south of England continuously through the battle, scoring 59 kills by the end.

The squadron relocated away from RAF Boscombe Down on 29 November to RAF Middle Wallop where they stayed until 17 December 1940 when the Firebirds returned to RAF North Weald in Essex. It was while based here that No. 56 Squadron upgraded to the Hurricane Mk.IIb in February 1941. In April 1941, No. 56 Squadron gained its 'Punjab' nickname after the Indian province of Punjab raised money to have their name attached to a fighter, thus becoming an Indian 'gift' squadron. The Firebirds then relocated for a brief stay at RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk on 23 July before settling at RAF Duxford on 26 July.

In September 1941 No.56 Squadron became the first to receive the new Hawker Typhoon, well before that aircraft was really ready to enter combat. Although troublesome to begin with, the squadron helped turn into a usable, fast and very heavily armed fighter. Before leaving RAF Duxford, the squadron upgraded to the Typhoon Mk.Ib in March 1942, moving to RAF Snailwell on 30 March.  From 24 August 1942 to 22 July 1943, the unit was based with No. 12 Group at RAF Matlaske in Norfolk.

A number of aircraft were lost when their tail unit fell off, and the Typhoon didn't really settle down until 1943. The entire project was probably only saved from cancellation by the appearance of the Fw 190, which was much faster than the Spitfire VB at low level. No.56 Squadron thus spent much of its time flying standing patrols along the southern coast to guard against high speed low level fighter bomber attacks.

The Typhoon would soon become an excellent ground attack aircraft. No.56 Squadron took part in anti-shipping strikes and low level attacks on German targets in occupied France. Their Typhoons began to carry bombs in November 1943 and rockets in February 1944.

No. 56 Squadron was to score one confirmed victory while flying Typhoons.  After moving around multiple bases in the UK, the squadron moved up to RAF Scorton, Yorkshire on 7 April 1944, where they converted to the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX, the most prolific Mark of the iconic aircrafft.  From here the squadron flew escort and reconnaissance missions.

On 28 April 1944, No. 56 Squadron moved to RAF Newchurch, Kent where the squadron converted to the Hawker Tempest Mk.V in June. 

As a unit of No. 150 Wing, under the command of Wing Commander Roland Beamont, No. 56 Squadron became an air defence squadron. It was tasked with defending Britain from V-1 flying bombs – of which between 70 and 77+1⁄2 were shot down by the squadron. No. 56 Squadron transferred to advance landing ground B.60 at Grimbergen in Belgium on 28 September 1944, becoming part of No. 122 Wing, Second Tactical Air Force.

During subsequent operations No. 56 Squadron was to become the equal highest scoring Tempest unit, with No. 486 (NZ) Squadron, totalling 59 confirmed victories. In the latter months of the war, the Firebirds were deployed to several airfields in Europe: including Volkel, in the Netherlands; Copenhagen; and numerous bases in Germany.  During the Second World War, the No. 56 Squadron claimed a total of 149 aircraft shot down.

Sources:

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._56_Squadron_RAF sourced 4 January 2024

History of War. http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/56_wwII.html