No. 355 Squadron RAF was a long-range bomber squadron based in British India from August 1943 until it disbanded in May 1946. Raised for service during the Second World War, the squadron was equipped with Consolidated Liberator aircraft and carried out operations against the Japanese during the Burma campaign.
Wing CommanderJames Brindley Nicolson, recipient of the only Victoria Cross awarded during the Battle of Britain, was killed 2 May 1945, when the 355 Squadron Liberator he was flying in as an observer, crashed into the Bay of Bengal shortly after an engine caught fire. The last raid carried out by the squadron was on 7 August 1945 against the Burma–Siam railway.[3]
After the war, 355 Squadron dropped emergency food supplies to Prisoners of War, and starving civilians in Burma. Between January and April 1946 the squadron operated from Digri, a little north of Salbani,[8] returning to Salbani (west of Calcutta) where it undertook aerial survey work shortly before it disbanded on 31 May 1946.[4]
Aircraft operated
Aircraft operated by no. 355 Squadron RAF, data from[2][9][10]
Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN0-85130-164-9.
Jefford, C.G. (2001) [1988]. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912 (2nd ed.). Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN1-85310-053-6.
Moyes, Philip J.R. (1976) [1964]. Bomber Squadron of the RAF and their Aircraft (2nd ed.). London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN0-354-01027-1.
Delve, Ken (1994). The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN1-85310-451-5.
Gwynne-Timothy, John R.W (1991). Burma Liberators: RCAF in SEAC. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Next Level Press. ISBN1-895578-02-7.
Oughton, James D.; Hamlin, John; Thomas, Andrew (2007). The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN978-0-85130-362-8.