Page 17 - 576 Squadron History

Manna Exodus and Victory

The Squadron efforts were now directed towards making air drops of food to starving Dutch
civilians, referred to as Operation ʺMannaʺ and the return to Britain of liberated prisoners of war,
th
referred to as Operation ʺExodusʺ. On the 29 April the Squadron detailed 27 Lancasters and
crews to drop food at Valkenburg and the next day 24 Lancasters and crews undertook a similar
operation at Delft. During April the Squadron had flown 8 bombing operations, 4 of which were by
day and 4 by night. 193 sorties had been flown from which 1 aircraft had failed to return. In
addition 51 supply drops had been flown to Holland. Flight Lieutenant McPhail had taken over
command of ‘C’ Flight. As the war rapidly drew to a close the month of May saw the Squadron
engaged solely on supply drops to the Dutch and the repatriation of prisoners of war. At midnight
on the 8 May 1945 the Germans surrendered unconditionally and this was a time of much joy
th
and celebration at Fiskerton amongst all the Squadron personnel.

576 Squadron flew 189 bombing and 5 minelaying raids in its brief operational life. 2,788
Lancaster sorties were flown and 66 Lancasters lost. In addition 9 were destroyed in
crashes in England.

Post War and Disbandment

On the 23 May all R.C.A.F and R.A.A.F personnel were screened from any further operational
rd
duties pending a speedy return home. The remaining aircrew were reconstituted into new crews.
During May the Squadron had taken part in 7 Manna and 3 Exodus operations. 500 tons of food
had been dropped and 1176 ex-prisoners of war had been flown home to Britain.

In June 576 Squadron flew 2 operations to test the German early warning radars and ground
control systems. This was referred to as Operation ʺPost Mortemʺ. Wing Commander Devas DFC,
AFC took over command of the Squadron and Flying Officer Henderson DFC replaced Flight
Lieutenant Richards DFC as the Flight Engineer leader.
July saw 2 more ʺPost Mortemʺ operations flown. In addition a large number of incendiary bombs
were jettisoned in the sea in approved dumping areas. Wing Commander Devas and Flight
Lieutenant Lewis flew to Italy to make arrangements for the Squadron’s participation in Operation
ʺDodgeʺ, the return of British servicemen from Italy by air.

August saw the Squadron fly several trips to Italy and also continue with the disposal
th
Finally, in September, the Squadron made 3 more Dodge trips and on the 13 September 1945
576 Squadron was finally disbanded at Fiskerton. At the impressive disbanding parade the
Squadron was inspected by the Commanding officer of No. 1 Group. The longest serving of the
Squadron present, Flight Lieutenant Shewan DFC, handed over the Squadron standard and crest
for safekeeping. 576 were the first No.1 Group squadron to be disbanded. Most of the remaining
personnel and crews were posted to 50 and 61 Squadrons at Sturgate. The Squadron Adjutant,
Flight Lieutenant Johnson, was the first to arrive when the Squadron was formed at Elsham Wolds
and fittingly he was last to leave on disbandment at Fiskerton.

Throughout its short history 576 Squadron had served the nation and the Royal Air Force with
great distinction and had built up a first class reputation. Those who served in the ranks of the
Squadron came from Great Britain, the Commonwealth and Allied countries from all parts of the
globe and all had played their part in the history of this fine Squadron.