No. 516 Squadron RAF


No. 516 Squadron RAF was an army co-operation squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

History

No. 516 Squadron was formed on 28 April 1943 at RAF Dundonald from 1441 Flight on 28 April 1943. Its role was to provide realistic training facilities to the Combined Operations Training Centre and other training units in the Western Scotland area. It operated a large variety of aircraft with the unusual task to provide realistic low-level attacks against commando and assault troops undergoing training. The work involved detaching aircraft near the troop training areas including RAF Ayr and RAF Haverfordwest. By 1944 the training of commando and assault troops was on the decline and the squadron was disbanded at Dundonald on 2 December 1944.

Aircraft operated

FromToAircraftVersion
April 1943December 1943Westland LysanderMks.II, IIIa
April 1943February 1944North American MustangMk.I
April 1943December 1944Avro AnsonMk.I
May 1943December 1944Bristol BlenheimMk.IV
December 1943December 1944Hawker HurricaneMks.IIb, IIc

Citations