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No.156 Sqn RAF |
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Name : No.156 Sqn RAF Founded : 12th October 1918 Disbanded : 25th September 1945 Country : UK Fate : Disbanded 25th September 1945 More Details : Pathfinder Squadron We light the way |
Formed on 12th October 1918, the squadron flew DH9 aircraft, but did not become fully operative, and was disbanded on 9th December 1918. The squadron reformed on 14th February 1942, with Wellington aircraft, which it used until these were replaced with Lancasters in January 1943. The squadron was disbanded on 25th September 1945. |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Pilot or Aircrew | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
unknown | unknown | ||||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Flight Lieutenant | unknown | unknown | |||||
| Pilots and Aircrew for : No.156 Sqn RAF | ||
| A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
| Bond, Peter Click the name above to see a profile of Bond, Peter | Bond, Peter Bomb Aimer 100 & 156 Pathfinder Squadrons | |
| Briggs, Don Click the name above to see a profile of Briggs, Don | Briggs, Don 62 ops as Flight Engineer on Lancasters of 156 Pathfinder Squadron. After the war he qualified as a pilot and flew all three types of V-Bomber operationally including the famous Vulcan XH558 as well as Canberras and Meteors. He flew the mission that dropped the third and last Atom Bomb on Christmas Island. | |
| Calton, Ken Click the name above to see a profile of Calton, Ken | Calton, Ken Joining the RAF in late 1940, he served as a Flight Engineer with 7, 156 and 12 Squadrons before finally joining 635 Sqn, Pathfinder Force on Lancasters who acted as Master Bombers for this final raid of the war in Europe. | |
| Carlton, Ken Click the name above to see a profile of Carlton, Ken | Carlton, Ken Flight Engineer, 156, 7 and 635 Squadrons. | |
| Cleland, Bill Click the name above to see a profile of Cleland, Bill | Cleland, Bill Having qualified as a Pilot he was posted to 12 Sqn in early 1944 before transferring to 156 Pathfinder Squadron. By the end of the war he had completed 77 Ops in Lancasters. | |
| Hadley, Les Click the name above to see a profile of Hadley, Les | Hadley, Les As a Navigator Les did a full Tour with 40 Squadron on Wellingtons. His second tour was completed on Mosquitos with 139 PFF, from where he later transferred back to heavy Bombers with 156 PFF, completing his war-time service. | |
| Kearns, T Click the name above to see a profile of Kearns, T | Kearns, T New Zealander Terry Kearns joined the RNZAF in December 1940, transferring to England in 1941 to join 75 (NZ) Squadron, flying Wellingtons. In 1942 he took part in the first 1000 bomber raids before joining 156 Squadron Pathfinders. After a period as an instructor, he joined 617 Squadron at Warboys on operations. He flew the Mosquito FBVI on precision low-level target marking throughout 1944. He took part in most of 617's major operations, including raids on the Samur rail tunnel, and the V1 rocket sites. | |
| Newham, Douglas Click the name above to see a profile of Newham, Douglas | Newham, Douglas Douglas Newham was a navigator with 156 and 150 Squadrons before transferring to the Lancasters of 10 Squadron. | |
| Watson, Jack Click the name above to see a profile of Watson, Jack | Watson, Jack Upon completing his training as a Flight Engineer he joined the same Lancaster crew as Flt Lt William Cleland completing over 76 Ops with this crew in 12 Sqn and later 156 Pathfinder Squadron. | |
| Womersley, Geoffrey Click the name above to see a profile of Womersley, Geoffrey
| Womersley, Geoffrey Geoffrey Harland Womersley was born on the 19th November 1914 at Bingley, Yorkshire. Geoffrey went to Bradford Grammar School and in 1936 joined the RAF and trained as a pilot at the RAFs flying school in Egypt. Geoffrey Harland Womersley joined No.102 Squadron flying biplane bombers. The squadron was re equipped with the Whitley bomber. Immediately after the outbreak of war he dropped propaganda leaflets over German cities and bombed the German seaplane bases on Heligoland and Sylt. On the night of May 11 1940, however, Womersley flew on the RAFs first raid on a German town, when 37 aircraft bombed road and rail links at Monchengladbach. The squadron supported the British Expeditionary Force and on 22nd May, his aircraft was hit by flak. Womersley and his crew were forced to bail out. On the ground he inadvertently stumbled into a group of German soldiers. Turning round and striding off in the other direction, he eventually came across some British soldiers. From there he managed to get to Paris and on to the last flight to England from Le Bourget airport. Womersley would go on to complete 30 operations, before becoming a bombing instructor. In August 1942 Womersley volunteered for the new Pathfinder squadrons, joining No 156, one of the Forces original four squadrons. In his Wellington he attacked targets in Germany and in Italy, dropping flares to illuminate the targets. In January 1943, whilst still a junior flight lieutenant, he was awarded a DSO. The citation concluded: "He has displayed outstanding ability and pressed home his attacks with unusual courage in the face of enemy fighter and anti-aircraft opposition." 156 squadron was re-equipped with the Lancaster and Womersley went on to complete 25 operations during the Battle of the Ruhr. A few months after receiving his DSO he was awarded a DFC. In April 1943 he joined the air staff at Pathfinder headquarters, working directly for its commander, Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett. Ten months later he took command of No 139 Squadron. Womersley was promoted group captain to command the Pathfinder airfield at Gransden Lodge near Cambridge, and flew a number of operations with the resident RCAF Lancaster squadron. He left the RAF in November 1945. Donald Bennett in 1946 established British South American Airways, whose civilianised RAF bombers flew routes to the Caribbean and South America. Womersley along with many other Pathfinder Pilots joined the company. British South American Airways went on to use the Avro Tudor, one of which was lost without trace in the Bermuda Triangle. On May 10th 1954, following the British South American Airways merger with BOAC, Geoff Womersley would go onto to fly a Comet into Rome airport, where another crew took over for the flight to London. Disaster struck when soon after take-off the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression and crashed into the sea off Elba - there were no survivors. Geoffrey remained with the airline until 1968, retiring as one of its senior Boeing 707 captains. Geoff Womersley died on October 28th 2010. | |
Died : 28 / 10 / 2010| Aircraft for : No.156 Sqn RAF | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with No.156 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
DH9
Manufacturer : De Havilland Production Began : 1917 Retired : 1920 Number Built : 4091 | DH9 The first deliveries were made in November 1917 to 108 Squadron RFC and it first went into combat over France in March 1918 with 6 Squadron, and by July 1918 nine squadrons operational over the Western Front were using the type. The DH.9's performance in action over the Western Front was a disaster, with heavy losses incurred, both due to its poor performance and to engine failures, despite the prior derating of its engine. Between May and November 1918, two squadrons on the Western Front (Nos. 99 and 104) lost 54 shot down, and another 94 written off in accidents. Nevertheless, on 23 August 1918 a DH9 flown by Lieutenant Arthur Rowe Spurling of 49 Squadron, with his observer, Sergeant Frank Bell, single-handedly attacked thirty Fokker D.VII fighters, downing five of them.[citation needed] Captain John Stevenson Stubbs managed 11 aerial victories in a DH9, including the highly unusual feat of balloon busting with one. The DH.9 was also more successful against the Turkish forces in the Middle East, where they faced less opposition, and it was used extensively for coastal patrols, to try to deter the operations of U-boats. Following the end of the First World War, DH.9s operated by 47 Squadron and 221 Squadron were sent to southern Russia in 1919 in support of the White Russian Army of General Denikin during the Russian Civil War. The last combat use by the RAF was in support of the final campaign against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (known by the British as the "Mad Mullah") in Somalia during January—February 1920. Surprisingly, production was allowed to continue after the end of the war into 1919, with the DH.9 finally going out of service with the RAF in 1920 | |
Lancaster 
Manufacturer : Avro Production Began : 1942 Retired : 1963 Number Built : 7377 | Lancaster The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' Operation Gomorrah in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. | |
Wellington 
Manufacturer : Vickers Production Began : 1938 Retired : 1953 | Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a Bomber aircraft and also used for maritime reconnaissance. and had a normal crew of six except in the MKV and VI where a crew of three was used. Maximum speed was 235 mph (MK1c) 255 mph (MK III, X) and 299 mph (MK IIII), normal operating range of 1805 miles (except MK III which was 1470miles) The Wellington or Wimpy as it was known, was the major bomber of the Royal Air Force between 1939 and 1943. The Royal Air Force received its first Wellingtons in October 1938 to 99 squadron. and by the outbreak of World war two there were 6 squadrons equipped with the Vickers Wellington. Due to heavy losses on daylight raids, the Wellington became a night bomber and from 1940 was also used as a long range bomber in North Africa. and in 1942 also became a long range bomber for the royal Air Force in India. It was well used by Coastal Command as a U-Boat Hunter. The Wellington remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1953. Probably due to its versatile use, The aircraft was also used for experimental work including the fitting of a pressure cabin for High altitude tests. The Vickers Wellington could sustain major damage and still fly, probably due to its construction of its geodesic structure and practical application of geodesic lines. Designed by Sir Barnes Wallis | |
No.156 Sqn RAF Artwork |
  Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley. |   A Spot of Gardening by Ivan Berryman. |
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