No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF Wyton[2][5] and equipped with DH 9 aircraft, but was disbanded on 9 December 1918 without becoming operational.[6]
Pilot Officer Colin Kirkus - lost without trace 13/14 September 1942 on a mission to Bremen in Vickers Wellington BJ879.
Billy Strachan - famous for surviving 33 missions during a time when the average life expectancy for an RAF crew was 7 operations.[9][10]
Memorials
Memorial to ED840, Lier, Belgium
There is a memorial to the crash of Avro Lancaster ED840, 156 Squadron, which crashed in the town in Lier, Belgium on 17 June 1943. It was on a mission to Cologne when it was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. In the Netherlands is a memorial for the Avro Lancaster ND559 crew. The crew was on 22 May 1944, on a mission to Duisburg. On the way back the plane was shot down above Molenaarsgraaf and Brandwijk.
Lancaster ND-559 Monument Brandwijk, the Netherlands
Aircraft operated
Aircraft operated by No. 156 Squadron RAF[1][2][5]
^Meddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020). Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism. Croydon: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 194. ISBN978-1-907464-45-4.
^Meddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020). Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism. UK: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 194. ISBN978-1-907464-45-4.
Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. Squadron Codes, 1937-56. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. ISBN0-85059-364-6.
Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN1-84037-281-8.
Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-88. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN0-85130-164-9.
Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN1-84037-141-2.
Moyes, Philip J.R. Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1976. ISBN0-354-01027-1.
Wadsworth, Michael P. They Led the Way: the Story of Pathfinder Squadron 156. Beverley: Highgate Publications Ltd., 1992. ISBN0-948929-58-8.