page_title: Southern Rhodesia in World War II
section_title: Britain, Norway and western Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Southern Rhodesia in World War II / Britain, Norway and western Europe
caption_attribution_description: Three Avro Lancaster B.Is of No. 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at Waddington, Lincolnshire (UK), flying above the clouds. Left to right: W4125,`KM-W', being flown by Sergeant Colin Watt, Royal Australian Air Force; W4162,`KM-Y', flown by Pilot Officer T.G. Hackney (later killed while serving with No. 83 Squadron); and W4187,`KM-S', flown by Pilot Officer J.D.V.S. Stephens DFM, who was killed with his crew two nights later during a raid on Wismar.
context_page_description: Southern Rhodesia, then a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom, entered World War II along with Britain shortly after the invasion of Poland in 1939. By the war's end, 26,121 Southern Rhodesians of all races had served in the armed forces, 8,390 of them overseas, operating in the European theatre, the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre, East Africa, Burma and elsewhere. The territory's most important contribution to the war is commonly held to be its contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme, under which 8,235 British, Commonwealth and Allied airmen were trained in Southern Rhodesian flight schools. The colony's operational casualties numbered 916 killed and 483 wounded of all races.
  Southern Rhodesia had no diplomatic powers, but largely oversaw its own contributions of manpower and materiel to the war effort, being responsible for its own defence. Rhodesian officers and soldiers were distributed in small groups throughout the British and South African forces in an attempt to prevent high losses. Most of the colony's men served in Britain, East Africa and the Mediterranean, particularly at first; a more broad dispersal occurred from late 1942.
context_section_description: Southern Rhodesia's fighting contributions in Britain and western Europe were primarily in the air, as part of the much larger Allied forces. Rhodesian pilots and Allied airmen trained in the colony's flying schools participated in the defence of Britain throughout the war, as well as in the strategic bombing of Germany and other operations. Rhodesia provided the only RAF flying ace of the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940, Squadron Leader Caesar Hull. Later that year "The Few", the Allied airmen of the Battle of Britain, included three pilots of Southern Rhodesian birth—Hull, Pilot Officer John Chomley and Flight Lieutenant John Holderness—of whom two, Hull and Chomley, lost their lives.
  Two of the RAF's three Rhodesian squadrons, Nos. 44 and 266, operated from England during the war. No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron, a fighter squadron based in Cambridgeshire for most of the duration, was initially only nominally Rhodesian, being manned by a mixture of British and Commonwealth personnel, but it received more airmen from the colony gradually and was virtually all Rhodesian by August 1941. Initially flying Spitfires, it switched to Typhoons in early 1942. It took as its motto the Sindebele word Hlabezulu ("Stabber of Skies") and first went into action over Dunkirk on 2 June 1940, after which it fought in the Battle of Britain. The squadron's duties thereafter included patrolling, protecting convoys, sweeping around northern France and the Belgian and Dutch coasts, and escorting bombing raids over France and the Rhine.
  No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, based in Lincolnshire on the east coast, was a heavy bomber unit, and part of No. 5 Group in RAF Bomber Command's front line. Unlike the other two squadrons designated as "Rhodesian", No. 44 Squadron never had a Rhodesian majority, despite efforts to so populate it. Initially equipped with Hampdens, it became the first RAF squadron to convert to Lancasters at the end of 1941. It played a prominent part in the attack on the MAN diesel factory at Augsburg in April 1942. In March 1943 No. 44 Squadron took part in the Allied bombing of cities in northern Italy, including Genoa and Milan, as well as targets in Germany such as Wilhelmshaven, Cologne and Berlin.
  From early 1944, No. 266 Squadron took part in ground attack operations over the Channel and northern France, operating from RAF Harrowbeer in Devon. The squadron also escorted Allied bombers embarking on or returning from raids, protecting them from German fighters. Larger petrol tanks were fitted to the Typhoons to increase their range. In May 1944 the squadron was visited by the Prime Minister, who had been knighted and was now Sir Godfrey Huggins. Over the next month, in preparation for the imminent Allied invasion of Normandy, the Rhodesian aircraft took on a fighter-bomber role, flying sorties across the channel twice a day and participating in the bombing of bridges, roads, railways and the like.
  Apart from the Southern Rhodesian airmen serving with the RAF in Britain, the colony was sparsely represented in the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 ("D-Day"). Several men from the colony served aboard cruisers and destroyers that engaged the German shore batteries. A small number of Southern Rhodesians parachuted into Normandy with the 6th Airborne Division during Operation Tonga, and some took part in the amphibious landings. No. 266 Squadron was part of the Allied force that flew over the beaches during the first landings, supporting the infantry. Later that day it took part in sorties to assist the paratroopers holding the bridgeheads north of Caen.
  No. 266 Squadron, which remained 95% Rhodesian at the start of 1945, thereafter provided air support to the advancing Allied armies through France, the Low Countries and finally Germany. Through most of the European winter months it was based in Antwerp. In late March 1945 the Rhodesian fighters formed part of the force tasked with protecting the descending Allied paratroopers during Field-Marshal Montgomery's crossing of the Rhine. During April the squadron operated over Hanover 
caption: Lancaster bombers of No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, based on the east coast of England, September 1942
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