Avro Anson Mk I Squadrons

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The majority of the squadrons using the Avro Anson for training in 1939-1940 were former bomber squadrons that became training squadrons when the majority of Fairey Battle squadrons went to France.

The pre-war training squadrons were normally bomber squadrons waiting for more modern bomber aircraft to arrive.

The Avro Anson was used by 54 RAF squadrons, two South African Air Force squadrons and one squadron of the allied Royal Hellenic Air Force. Of those fifty seven units twenty-one served with Coastal Command (14 in reconnaissance and anti-submarine duties early in the war and 7 in air-sea rescue duties from 1943). One non-coastal command reconnaissance squadron used the type, while No. 624 squadron used the aircraft to spot mines in the Aegean.

Fourteen squadrons used the Anson as a training aircraft, mostly in 1939-40. Three squadrons used the Anson as a bomber in the pre-war period while they were waiting for more modern aircraft to arrive. Ten squadrons used the Anson for communications or light transport duties, often as one of a mix of aircraft with an eleventh squadron using it for post-war ferrying duties.

Five squadrons used the Anson on special duties, ranging from anti-aircraft calibration to combined operations training.

Squadron	Dates	Function (of Ansons)
7	1939-1940	Training
24	1940-45	Communication
35	1939-1940	Training
44	1939	Training
48	1936-1941	Recon, Convoy Escort
51	1937-1938	Bomber (waiting for Whitleys)
52	1939-1940	Training
61	1937-1938	Bomber (waiting for Blenheims)
63	1939-1940	Training
75	1937, 1939	Training
76	1939-1940	Training
97	1939-1940	Training
104	1939-1940	Training
106	1939	Training
108	1939-1940	Training
109	1940-1942	Wireless Intelligence Development Unit
116	1945 (I and XII)	Anti-Aircraft Calibration Flight
144	1937	Day bomber
147	1944-1946	Transport
148	1939-1940	Training
173	1943-1944	Communication
187	c.1946	Post-war ferrying
192	1945	Radar counter measures
206	1936-1940	Anti-submarine patrols
207	1939-1940	Training
215	1937, 1940	Training
217	1937-1940	Coastal Reconnaissance
220	1936-1939	Reconnaissance
224	1937-1939	Coastal Reconnaissance
233	1937-1939	Coastal Reconnaissance
251	1944-1945	Air-sea rescue from Iceland
267	1940-1942	Local transport Egypt
269	1936-1940	Coastal Reconnaissance
275	1943-1944	Air-sea rescue in Irish Sea
276	1943-1944	Air-sea rescue around Cornwall and Devon
278	1943-1944	Air-sea rescue on east coast
280	1943-1944	Air-sea rescue in south east England
281	1943	Air-sea rescue
282	1943-1944	Air-sea rescue from Scotland
320	1940-1941	Coastal reconnaissance
321	1940-1941	Anti-submarine patrols
353	1944-1945	Communications (India)
437	1944-1945	Light transport
500	1939-1941	Patrols over channel
502	1939-1940	Patrols off Irish coast
510	c.1942	Communications
516	1943-1944	Combined Operations training
544	1942-1943	Reconnaissance
567	1945	Anti-aircraft co-operation
575	1944-1945	Transport*
577	?	?
608	1939-1941	Anti-submarine patrols
612	1939-1941	Coastal reconnaissance
624	1945	Mine spotting
28 SAAF	1943-44, 1945	Communications
44 SAAF	1945	Communications
13 RHAF	1941-1942	Anti-submarine patrols

* No. 575 squadron operated a small number of Ansons as transport plans, but its main duties involved glider towing.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (24 November 2007), Avro Anson Mk I Squadrons, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/lists_avro_anson_squadrons.html

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