Numbers of Aircraft required to keep a Squadron operational

[Fatboy Coxy]

Hi all, would anyone have an idea whether the Air Ministry calculated on the numbers of Aircraft required monthly to keep a Squadron operational during the war. No doubt there was a loss of aircraft during peacetime, but this would be only due to accidents. Come war, those accidents would have increased in my opinion, due to operating in poorer weather, pilot and ground crew fatigue, etc, not to mention losses while on operations.

A Squadron might be given an aircraft establishment of 12 + 6 reserves, or 16 +8 reserves, for example, but there would also be other aircraft held to help replenish losses. So having built enough aircraft to field a full squadron, some future monthly production would have to be allocated to keeping the squadron numbers up. A complication is the desire to create more squadrons, hence more aircraft built, but a few aircraft types might help us work out the numbers.

I'm looking at single engine fighters, and twin engine combat aircraft, and early war up to the beginning of 1942. For twin engined aircraft, both the Bristol Beaufort and Bristol Beaufighter were on smaller production lines than say the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster, so might be better to work on. I thought of the Fairey Albacore, and even the Fairey Swordfish, but they weren't organised in normal squadrons.

The numbers required are obviously going to be distorted by units operating outside of the UK, with losses occurring during transit to say North Africa or the Far East. And the number required will probably vary due to roles they are employed in, ie fighters having a higher attrition rate than torpedo bombers.

Reading this back I'm struck by how wordy I made it I bet someone could condense that into a single sentence, apologies.

 

[EwenS]

Coxy
Here is a link to an Admiralty document from Aug 1939 talking about the scale of aircraft reserves of RAF and RN. Might provide you with a starting point. The Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War by Ben Jones.

Document 12 - ADM 1/10129 dated 9 Aug 1939. Scale of Aircraft Reserves. Extract in Google Books

The Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War

This is the first of three volumes detailing the history of the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers and naval air squadrons, during the Second World War. It deals with the formative period between 1939 and 1941 when the Fleet Air Arm tried to recover from the impact of dual control...

books.google.co.uk

You might to scan down quite a ways to reach it.

 

[Macandy]

RAF by and large had 20 aircraft on the Sqn TOE

As the Luftwaffe had 12 aircraft as a Squadron, they overestimated their effect on the RAF during the Battle of Britain

'We have shot down 4 Spitfires today, the RAF is down 25%!

'Mein Gott, a full Squadron came up to meet us again today!

Counting Apples as Oranges as they say

 

[Glider]

For planning purposes the RAF on the western front, used a basis of a fighter squadron needing 50 aircraft, to stay in the front line for six months.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Hi all, would anyone have an idea whether the Air Ministry calculated on the numbers of Aircraft required monthly to keep a Squadron operational during the war.

The number changed during the war and as you note varied according to the type of aircraft and operations involved. Think of the requirements for Bomber Command during the Battle of Berlin versus a year later, Mosquito versus Lancaster. June 1944 to May 1945 Fighter Command lost around 3 Spitfires for each 2 Typhoons and while a larger percentage of Spitfires were held for defence the Spitfires outnumbers the Typhoons by towards 3 to 1. Fighter Command lost over 1,000 aircraft May, August and September 1940, something like a sixth of its total losses for the war. Apart from combat losses there is climate, deserts and tropics were considered to decrease aircraft lifetime, operations over the ocean meant salt water exposure. The aircraft were being used more which meant they hit their routine maintenance hours quicker. Add the training system needed to be stocked in proportion to the front line strength. Torpedo bombers had the highest attrition rate, well above fighters.

RAF by and large had 20 aircraft on the Sqn TOE. As the Luftwaffe had 12 aircraft as a Squadron, they overestimated their effect on the RAF during the Battle of Britain

1940 Luftwaffe staffels tended to be 9 aircraft.

The RAF initially had Initial Equipment plus Initial Reserve aircraft in a squadron, since the distinction was artificial that was replaced by Unit Equipment but many of the early war strength reports only give the authorised I.E. aircraft number.

1 January 1943, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20 and 27 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft. Coastal Command 8, 9, 12, 20 and 24 aircraft.

1 January 1944, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20, 27 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 20 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.

1 January 1945, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 16, 20 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 28 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.

 

[WAFU]

1940 Luftwaffe staffels tended to be 9 aircraft.

The RAF initially had Initial Equipment plus Initial Reserve aircraft in a squadron, since the distinction was artificial that was replaced by Unit Equipment but many of the early war strength reports only give the authorised I.E. aircraft number.

1 January 1943, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20 and 27 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft. Coastal Command 8, 9, 12, 20 and 24 aircraft.

1 January 1944, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20, 27 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 20 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.

1 January 1945, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 16, 20 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 28 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.

This is an issue often overlooked or missed with discussions of 'could the Luftwaffe have won the Battle of Britain' - Well, it couldn't.
The RAF had developed an extremely effective system to keep its Squadrons 'in the fight'. An RAF Squadron that suffered 6 losses in a day wasn't combat ineffective, using its spares on hand, it would be back to nearly full strength at the end of the day. Not so a Luftwaffe Staffeln, 6 losses for them and they were done as a fighting unit until new planes were flown forward.

 

[pbehn]

The best laid plans frequently fell as soon as combat started. In the UK during the Battle of Britain each squadron had a surplus of pilots and aeroplanes because the defence system required squadrons to always be available when an attack occurred. There were lots of planes being produced and returned to service, so as WAFU said losses of planes could be made good overnight. In some areas pilots with a plane known to be damaged diverted to a repair facility that had their own airfield. However as the battle reached its height, due to loss of fully trained pilots squadrons were re classified, many of those outside the south east where the battle was taking place were in effect training squadrons.

On Malta when things were at their worst the only way to get planes to Malta was to take off from an aircraft carrier and fly across the Med, some of these planes were lost to ground attack within hours of landing.

Later on, in UK the USAF had places like RAF Leiston which had 3 squadrons based there from one fighter group. Ive no idea how they sorted out aircraft, I imagine they were pooled to some extent, the whole operation was huge, wiki says this of Leiston"
The three runways were concrete overlaid with asphalt, with 62 aircraft dispersals (38 concrete pans and 12 twin pens with blast walls) situated along its perimeter track. The USAAF added 17 PSP parking squares and a walled 6-plane revetment for additional aircraft parking. Support structures included two T-2 hangars (each 239+1⁄2 × 115 × 29 ft (73.0 × 35.1 × 8.8 m) in dimension) and 12 corrugated steel 60 ft (18 m) wide Over Blister hangars dispersed on all sides of the perimeter track. The ten living sites located west of the airfield had a capacity for 1,709 personnel.

 

[Admiral Beez]

In Malaya the RAF operated four fighter squadrons equipped with Brewster Buffaloes: 21 and 453 RAAF, 243 RAF, and 488 RNZAF. To equip these four squadrons of about sixty Buffaloes, RAF Malaya Command had approximately 150 aircraft. Presumably there was a warehouse somewhere in Singapore filled with these crates.

That's more than than a 2:1 ratio of spares to operational Buffaloes, but as it was aircraft were stripped of parts to keep others flying.

 

[fubar57]

I have three PDFs if anyone wants them. They are not complete so I have named them,

1. RAF Stength-Far-East-Command-1942-45
2. RAF Strength M.E. and Med. Command-1941-45
3. RAF Strength-1939-45-Fighter-Bomber-Coastal-Commands

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

In Malaya the RAF operated four fighter squadrons equipped with Brewster Buffaloes: 21 and 453 RAAF, 243 RAF, and 488 RNZAF. To equip these four squadrons of about sixty Buffaloes, RAF Malaya Command had approximately 150 aircraft. Presumably there was a warehouse somewhere in Singapore filled with these crates.

That's more than than a 2:1 ratio of spares to operational Buffaloes, but as it was aircraft were stripped of parts to keep others flying.

Hi Admiral Beez, I think you have to take RAF 67 Sqn into account when counting Buffalos and squadrons, as it also operated Buffalos from Burma, equipped 30 of them from the original 170, see Brewster F2A Buffalo - Wikipedia

 

[EwenS]

Bloody Shambles Vol 1 gives Buffalo strength at Singapore in Dec 1941 as 60 with squadrons (But has 66 listed in individual units) plus 52 reserves.

As Coxy notes 67 squadron was in Burma and was issued 16 new Buffalos in mid-Oct and had another 14 in Reserve at Mingaladon.

Another 3 aircraft went to Britain in April 1941 for evaluation by the A&AEE rather than to the Far East.

So that leaves 17-23 unaccounted for. But there had been some losses in training. (Joe Baugher's page lists 3 lost Aug/Sept during training)

 

[SaparotRob]

Wouldn't be a hoot if someone were to find a dozen or so crated up Buffalos.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

The British Official History has 12 Buffalo with 21 RAAF squadron, 32 Buffalo with 243 RAF and 483 RNZAF squadrons, and 16 with 453 RAAF squadron, total 60, plus 52 in reserve (but 21 of these out of action due to engine valve problems on a new type of engine) total 112. The RAAF Official History has 2 PR Buffalo, 12 with 21 RAAF, 16 with 453 RAAF, 32 with 243 RAF and 488 RNZAF squadrons, total 62, plus 52 in reserve (21 out of action), total 114. Neither OOB mentions the RN Aircraft (12 Swordfish, 9 Shark, and 5 Albacore were present as of 27 December)

As of 27 December the Buffalo force was down to 22 in 243 RAF, 13 in 453 RAAF, 19 in 488 RNZAF and 10 in 21 RAAF squadrons, 1 at Kallang, 1 at Tengah station flights, and 2 in the PRU, total 68 plus another 19 in reserve, total 87. Down to a total of 83 as of 10 January.

The USAAF says it exported 2 Buffalo for Britain in December 1940 then another 167 January to June 1941 and one laggard in November 1941. The British import report has 2 arriving in Britain in January 1941, 167 in the Far East February to August 1941 plus 1 laggard in January 1942.

Air Arsenal North America says W8131 and W8132 ended up in Britain, the RAF Serial Registers have W8131 to W8133 all marked Director General of Research and Development with W8131 Far East 18 November 1941 and the other two becoming instructional airframes 3133M and 3134M. All other Buffalo were sent to the Far East.

Reported lost before December 1941, W8144, W8146, W8149, W8161, W8194, W8197. Another 52 by my hand count with loss dates December 1941 and January 1942, most of the rest have no loss dates.

As of February 1943 the RAF census has no operational Buffalo, 2 had become instructional airframes, 59 lost overseas and 109 unaccounted for on evacuation, total 170. Despite what the RAF census says W8243, W8245 and W8250 have loss dates of 30 November 1943.

As of end November 1941 there were 114 reported in Malaya, 30 in Burma, 6 already lost, 2 in Britain, 1 still on the way, total 153 out of 170 received. Even if Shores has another 6 in the squadrons that still leaves a large percentage unaccounted for. The Wikipedia page makes the claim 20 were lost in training (before the fighting began?), if that is correct it implies around 14 airframes were awaiting write off, so not counted as strength, as of 8 December 1941 local time.

 

[SaparotRob]

Geoffrey, if anyone can find my Buffalos, it's you. I'm counting on you!

 

[Dimlee]

Wouldn't be a hoot if someone were to find a dozen or so crated up Buffalos.

I know the place.

View: https://youtu.be/TASlXWbMZyU

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

As of end November 1941 there were 114 reported in Malaya, 30 in Burma, 6 already lost, 2 in Britain, 1 still on the way, total 153 out of 170 received. Even if Shores has another 6 in the squadrons that still leaves a large percentage unaccounted for. The Wikipedia page makes the claim 20 were lost in training (before the fighting began?), if that is correct it implies around 14 airframes were awaiting write off, so not counted as strength, as of 8 December 1941 local time.

Hi Geoffrey, thank you for this work. I don't think your going to find the missing aircraft, I think it is exactly as you suggest, they were probably awaiting a decision on repair or write off. Although the RAF contingent in personnel was large, much of it was recently arrived, as part of the planned expansion of that force, mostly ground crew and support services. I'm unsure as to what percentage were experienced men, aircraft tools had been a problem, as well as spare parts for the Buffalo, so the RAF capability to repair might be a lot less than first thought of. I find it quite believable that a considerable number of aircraft were in this grey zone. And lastly we have the loss of a lot of paper records with the fall of Singapore, which no doubt would have solved our puzzle.

 

[drgondog]

For 8th and 9h AF squadrons, the existence of a "bar" under the squadron code is a clue that TO&E often exceeded 26.

That said, assigned aircraft to Group Hq, were 'stabled' within the squadrons. For example, when my father was assigned P-51D-5 WR-B there was no other 'vacant' slot alphabet - wise in the 354FS/355FG. When he became Deputy Gp CO, his WR-B was still on 354FS books. When badly damaged (several times), he had a brand new P-51D assigned and coded WR-B.

Damaged aircraft that went to Service Group hanger for repairs rarely came out with same squadron code - and often went to another squadron and re-coded entirely. When his WR-B JANE IV was badly shot up on his last mission, first tour, on November 29, it emerged as YF-H in 358FS in January 1945