No. 295 Squadron RAF

295 Squadron was formed on 3 August 1942 at RAF Netheravon as an airborne forces unit, equipped with Whitley Mk.Vs.

These were from November 1942 used in leaflet dropping missions over France, supplemented in February 1943 with Halifax Mk.Vs, which they used in Operation Beggar.

– the honour of being the first to drop troops over Normandy on the eve of D-Day, while other aircraft of the squadron towed gliders to the landing zones.

The squadron used these aircraft during the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, again towing gliders.

The last assault action with the Stirlings was on 24 March 1945, when the unit took part in Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine.

Paratroopers dropping out of a 295 Sqn Whitley, October 1942
An example of the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle as used by No 295 Sqn
A Short Stirling bomber taking off from RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire with a Horsa glider in tow for Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944