No. 353 Squadron RAF

No. 353 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron, active during World War II carrying out maritime patrol and transport tasks in and around British India.

History

No. 353 Squadron was formed on 1 June 1942 at RAF Dum Dum, British India from No. 62 Squadron and 103 Flight, Indian Air Force. Equipped with the Lockheed Hudson, an American light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron was tasked with coastal patrols over the Bay of Bengal. In August 1943 it moved to Palam and was assigned to transport duties. From 1944 onwards the squadron re-equipped with Douglas Dakota, an American military transport aircraft and also operated a number of Avro Ansons, a British twin-engine multi-role aircraft, which were replaced with Beech Expeditor twin-engine light aircraft in January 1945. The squadron became fully Dakota equipped by April 1945, but disbanded at RAF Mauripur on 1 October 1946.