No. 8 Squadron (IAF) during the Second World War

No.8 Squadron, IAF, served over Burma from December 1943 until the end of the war, first as a dive-bomber squadron, and then from January 1945 as a Spitfire equipped fighter squadron.

No.8 Squadron was formed on 1 December 1942 from No.5 Coast Defence Flight. For the next two months it was attached to No.6 Squadron, before in April 1943 it received the Vultee Vengeance and began to train as a dive-bomber squadron at No.152 OTU.

The Vengeance was not a very effective dive bomber, and the squadron didn't enter combat until December 1943. From then until July 1944 it carried out ground-attack missions in support of the Fourteenth Army in Burma. In July the squadron was withdrawn to convert to the Spitfire, returning to the front as a fighter squadron in January 1945.

No.8 Squadron operated as a true fighter squadron from January-August 1945, by which time there were very few Japanese aircraft left in the air, and so for the last few weeks of the war the squadron resumed its earlier ground attack duties.

In October 1946 the squadron began a slow conversion to the Hawker Tempest. The last aircraft didn't arrive until May 1947, and three months later the squadron became part of the independent Royal India Air Force.

Location
December 1942-June 1943: Trichinopoly
June-July 1943: Phaphamau
July-October 1943: Bhopal
October-December 1943: Chharra
December 1943: Fazilpur
December 1943-January 1944: Double Moorings
January-February 1944: Joari
February-June 1944: Manbur
June-July 1944: Cox's Bazaar
July-October 1944: Samungli
October-December 1944: Amarda Road
December 1944-February 1945: Nidania
February-July 1945: Baigachi
July 1945-January 1946: Mingaladon
January-June 1946: Trichinopoly
June 1946-May 1947: Kolar
May-August 1947: Poona

Duty
July 1944: No.167 Wing, No.224 Group, Third Tactical Air Force, Eastern Air Command

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (9 November 2009), No. 8 Squadron (IAF): Second World War, http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/IAF/8_wwII.html