No. 297 Squadron
Active	22 January 1942 – 1 April 1946 1 April 1946 – 15 November 1950
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Airborne forces Transport
Part of	No. 38 Group
Engagements	Sicily, Normandy, Arnhem
Insignia
Squadron Codes	P5 (Jul 1943 – 1945)[1][2] L5 (Apr 1944 – 1946)[3][4]

No 297 Squadron was a squadron of theRoyal Air Force. It was notable for being the first airborne forcessquadron formed.^[5] With sisterNo. 296 Squadron it formed No. 38 Wing in January 1942, joined in August byNo. 295 Squadron; the wing expanded in 1943 to becomeNo. 38 Group. The squadron saw action in Sicily and took part in theD-Day invasion andOperation Market Garden. It was disbanded in 1950.

The squadron originally formed as theParachute Exercise Squadron atRAF Ringway on 15 December 1941 and moved toRAF Netheravon on 22 January 1942, then officially becoming No 297 Squadron RAF.^[6][7][8] In February 1942 they were equipped withWhitley Mark V aircraft. The squadron moved toRAF Hurn on 5 June 1942 and toRAF Thruxton on 24 October 1942. In July 1943 the squadron was equipped with the first of theAlbemarle Mk. I aircraft, which they kept until December 1944 while being supplemented with the Albemarle Mk. II in February 1944, the Albemarle Mk. V in April 1944 and the Albemarle Mk. VI in July 1944. In 1943 the squadron flew Albemarles toAlgeria to take part inOperation Husky, the invasion ofSicily, returning to Britain the same year.

The squadron moved toRAF Station Stoney Cross on 25 August 1943, where they practiced parachute drops with the 8th Battalion, Parachute Regiment and 22 independent parachute regiment in preparation for theD-Day invasion.^[5] They then moved toRAF Station Brize Norton on 14 March 1944 to practice towingHorsa gliders in preparation forthe capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges (now known asPegasus Bridge) and theMerville Battery located on theNormandy coast overlookingSword Beach. Their involvement in the D-Day operation was:

• At 11:00 PM on Mon 5 June 1944 four Albemarles dropped ten men of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company and thirty paratroopers comprising the Advance Party of the5th Parachute Brigade near Ranville
• Later that night nine Albemarles dropped paratroops of the 5th Parachute Brigade as part of the main force
• At 3:30 AM on D-Day itself a further 8 Horsa gliders were towed to the drop zone
• Three Horsas were towed over manned by elements of9th Parachute Battalion and engineers of the591st Parachute Squadron to attack and silence the Merville Battery.
• Later that day 19 more Horsas were towed across. One aircraft was shot down.

In September 1944 the squadron played its part inOperation Market Garden after temporarily moving toRAF Station Manston. They towed 29 Horsa and 2 Waco gliders in the first wave and 24 Horsas in the second, all without loss. On 30 September 1944 the squadron moved toRAF Station Earls Colne where the process of changing the Albemarles for theHalifax Mk.V was started, the squadron received additional Halifax Mk.III aircraft in February 1945 and Halifax A.7 in December 1945. On 24 March 1945 thirty Halifax aircraft towed Horsas manned with 6th Airborne paratroops to effect a successful Rhine crossing.^[9] The squadron was disbanded on 1 April 1946.^[7][8][10]

The squadron was reformed in a peacetime role on 1 April 1946 atRAF Station Tarrant Rushton and merged withNo. 295 Squadron, keeping the markings of No. 297 Squadron. The reformed squadron kept the Halifax A.7 aircraft and moved toRAF Brize Norton on 5 September 1946. In January 1947 it was re-equipped with Halifax A.9 aircraft which they kept until October 1948, during this time they moved toRAF Station Fairford on 21 August 1947 and toRAF Station Dishforth on 1 November 1948.^[7][8][10] In November 1948 the squadron was equipped withHastings C.1 aircraft until November 1950. During this time the squadron moved as a detachment to Schleswig returning toRAF Station Topcliffe on 22 August 1949 where they stayed until 15 November 1950 when the squadron was disbanded.^[7][8][10]

• No. 38 Group RAF
• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

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• 297 Squadron, 38 Group : History

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