List of Westland Lysander operators

The following are units which operated the Westland Lysander. In some cases, the Lysander was used in a secondary role for communications and was not the main equipment of the squadron.

Military operators

Australia

Royal Australian Air Force

• No. 3 Squadron RAAF
• No. 451 Squadron RAAF

British India

Royal Indian Air Force^[1]

• No. 1 Squadron, Indian Air Force
• No. 2 Squadron, Indian Air Force
• No. 4 Squadron, Indian Air Force
• No. 104 (GR) Squadron, Indian Air Force ^[2]
• No. 1 Air Gunnery School (India)
• No. 22 AACU

Burma

Burma Volunteer Air Force

Canada

Royal Canadian Air Force

• No. 2 Squadron RCAF
• No. 110 Squadron RCAF
• No. 111 Squadron RCAF
• No. 112 Squadron RCAF
• No. 118 Squadron RCAF
• No. 121 Squadron RCAF
• No. 122 Squadron RCAF
• No. 123 Squadron RCAF
• No. 400 Squadron RCAF
• No. 414 Squadron RCAF

Egypt

Royal Egyptian Air Force

• No. 1 (Army Cooperation) Squadron - 19 Mark I and a Mark III. From 1940-1943, thereafter used for target towing.

Finland

Finnish Air Force

• No. 12 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
• No. 14 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
• No. 16 Squadron, Finnish Air Force

Free France

Free French Air Force

Ireland

Irish Air Corps

6 supplied in 1939

Poland

Polish Air Force in Great Britain

• No. 309 "Land of Czerwien" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron

Portugal

Portugal Air Force

South Africa

South African Air Force

Turkey

Turkish Air Force

36 Mark II supplied in 1939

United Kingdom

Royal Air Force

• No. 2 Squadron RAF
• No. 4 Squadron RAF
• No. 6 Squadron RAF
• No. 13 Squadron RAF
• No. 16 Squadron RAF
• No. 20 Squadron RAF - No. 221 Group RAF, India, 1942^[3]
• No. 24 Squadron RAF
• No. 26 Squadron RAF
• No. 28 Squadron RAF - No. 221 Group RAF, India, 1942^[4]
• No. 81 Squadron RAF
• No. 116 Squadron RAF
• No. 135 Squadron RAF
• No. 138 Squadron RAF
• No. 148 Squadron RAF
• No. 161 Squadron RAF
• No. 173 Squadron RAF
• No. 208 Squadron RAF
• No. 225 Squadron RAF
• No. 231 Squadron RAF
• No. 237 Squadron RAF
• No. 239 Squadron RAF
• No. 241 Squadron RAF
• No. 267 Squadron RAF
• No. 268 Squadron RAF
• No. 275 Squadron RAF
• No. 276 Squadron RAF
• No. 277 Squadron RAF
• No. 278 Squadron RAF
• No. 280 Squadron RAF
• No. 285 Squadron RAF
• No. 286 Squadron RAF
• No. 287 Squadron RAF
• No. 288 Squadron RAF
• No. 289 Squadron RAF
• No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron
• No. 357 Squadron RAF - Special Duties
• No. 510 Squadron RAF
• No. 516 Squadron RAF
• No. 598 Squadron RAF
• No. 613 Squadron RAF - Auxiliary Air Force. From 2 April 1940, Westland Lysanders served alongside the squadron's Hectors. The Hectors and Lysanders were used to dive-bomb German positions and drop supplies to friendly troops near Calais during the late May 1940 Dunkirk evacuation.^[5][6] In August 1941 the squadron began re-equipping with the Curtiss Tomahawk.
• No. 614 Squadron RAF - Auxiliary Air Force equipped with Lysanders as main equipment.
• No. 679 Squadron RAF
• No. 695 Squadron RAF
• No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
• No. 7 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF

Fleet Air Arm

United States

United States Army Air Forces

• 330th Bomb Squadron
• 340th Bomb Squadron
• 2025th Gunnery Flight
• 2031st Gunnery Flight
• 496th Fighter Training Group

References

Notes

1. The Westland Lysander II in Indian Air Force Service 15 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
2. . Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
3. Air Historical Branch, 'The Campaigns in the Far East,' Appendix 2, n.d.
4. Air Historical Branch, 'The Campaigns in the Far East,' Appendix 2, n.d.
5. Scholefield 1998, p. 49.
6. Rawlings 1982, p. 239.

Bibliography

• Air Historical Branch, [https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/our-history/air-historical-branch/second-world-war-campaign-narratives/campaigns-in-the-far-east-vol-iii-india-command-sep-1939-nov-1945/ R.A.F. Narrative (First Draft), The Campaigns in the Far East, Volume III, India Command, September 1939 to November 1943, Appendix 2, 167.
• Hall, Alan W. Westland Lysander, Warpaint Series No.48. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: Warpaint Books Ltd., 2005.
• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918 -1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Rawlings, John D.R. (1982), Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft, London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., ISBN 0-7106-0187-5
• Scholefield, R.A. (1998), Manchester Airport, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-1954-X