[1] After initial training it was placed under the operational control of RAF Coastal Command, flying its first mission, a daylight bombing raid against a road junction at Nieuwpoort, Belgium on 31 May 1940.

[1] From August to October 1940, the Squadron carried out more convoy escort patrols and raids against barges being massed by the Germans in the Channel ports in preparation for Operation Sealion.

[6] The Squadron continued to carry out both anti-shipping and bombing missions in support of the army for much of the rest of 1942, adding the role of dropping flares to illuminate targets for Vickers Wellington bombers, participating in both the first and second Battles of El Alamein.

[7] 826 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 1 December 1943 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent equipped with the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber as part of No 9 Torpedo-Bomber-Reconnaissance (TBR) Wing.

[8] The Squadron deployed aboard the carrier HMS Indefatigable on 10 June, taking part in an unsuccessful raid against the Tirpitz (Operation Mascot) at Kaa Fjord in Northern Norway in July 1944, and deploying aboard HMS Formidable for another series of attacks on Tirpitz, Operation Goodwood, attacking on 24 and 29 August 1944.

The squadron reformed on 15 August 1945, again equipped with Barracudas, with the intention of forming part of the air wing of HMCS Magnificent, a carrier building for the Royal Canadian Navy.

It re-equipped with Fairey Firefly fighter bombers in January 1946, but was disbanded on 26 February 1946, as delays to the completion of Magnificent meant that the squadron was not yet needed.

[10] The squadron reformed on 1 June 1947 as part of the Royal Canadian Navy, equipped with Fairey Fireflys, operating both from Magnificent and HMCS Warrior.

[10] The 826 designation was then reactivated in 1966 at RNAS Culdrose, where the squadron was equipped with 8 Westland Wessex HAS.1 helicopters, and was attached to HMS Hermes on a tour of the Mediterranean and Far East in 1966–1967.

This equipment, called 'Demon Camera', was largely ineffective in the waters of the Gulf and the crews reverted to spotting moored and floating mines visually from heights of around 500 feet.