RCAF History Forum

[Moose47]

G'day

Here we have a row of Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mk. 3B's of No. 445 'Wolverine' AW (F) Squadron at R.C.A.F. Station North Bay. The squadron was formed here in the Gateway City on the 1st of April, 1953 under the command of Wing Commander George Edward Nickerson DFC. CD of Kenora, Ontario. During the Second World War, he flew heavy bombers. The 'Wolverines' had the distinction of being the first R.C.A.F. unit to operate the Canadian-built two-seat, twin-engine all-weather fighter on North American air defence. The squadron's stay here was very short. It transferred to R.C.A.F. Station Uplands (Ottawa) on the 31st of August, 1953.

Sadly, on the 10th of November, Nickerson and his Airborne Intercept Navigator, Flying Officer Kristjan Marteinn Eyolfson DFC from Leslie, Saskatchewan, were killed in CF-100 Mk. 3B, s/n 18146 (coded SA*146). It crashed and burned ten miles west of Shawville, Quebec. The results of the accident investigation determined that Nickerson had been overcome by anoxia. I have no idea why Eyolfson did not punch out.

I have attached a photo of Flying Officer K. M. Eyolfson.

May they both rest in peace.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day xsbank

Outstanding photo sir.

I have attached a photo of a CF-101B Voodoo s/n 101038 from 425 'Alouette' AW (F) Squadron based at C.F.B. Bagotville, Quebec carrying out a rare daylight intercept of a Russian Tu-95 Bear D over the Atlantic. I'm not sure if this Cold Shaft bird was scrambled from Gander or Goose. When I was at Chatham, our crews did a two week rotation standing 'Q' at Gander.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

It is estimated that roughly 60 percent of all Royal Canadian Air Force personnel who served overseas during the Second World War, served some or all of their time with Royal Air Force rather than R.C.A.F. Units. Canada, up to the latter stages of 1942 had been covering a part of the R.C.A.F. costs overseas with Britain bearing the rest of the financial responsibilities. With Britain paying so much, it dampened the argument over Canadianization. This led to the Canadian personnel being referred to as the “The Lost Legion”. The ranks of No. 77 (B) Squadron were no different.

The photo shows a No. 77 (B) Squadron, English Electric-built Handley Page Halifax B. Mk. II, Series I (Special) s/n JB911 and coded KN*X coming across the dispersal area at the squadron's home, R.A.F. Station Elvington, Yorkshire circa July, 1943. At the time, the squadron was with R.A.F. Bomber Command's No. 4 Group. The squadron used the Halifax B. Mk. II from December, 1942 to May, 1944. They were supplemented by the Halifax B. Mk. V from late 1943 to May, 1944. Both these versions were completely replaced by the more capable Halifax B. Mk. III in May, 1944.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day


"Six turnin and four burnin"

An Avro Canada CF-100 'Canuck' Mk. 5, s/n 18580 from the R.C.A.F. Station Uplands, Ontario-based No. 428 'Ghost' AW (F) Squadron intercepts a Strategic Air Command B-36H Peacemaker s/n 52-1356 over Ottawa, Ontario. The B-36 was also affectionately known as the 'The Big Stick'. Note the CF-100's flaps are half way down.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G`day

Harvard Mk. II`s from No. 424 `City of Hamilton` (F) Squadron (Auxiliary taxi past Harvards and Mustang Mk. IV`s of the same squadron during a joint exercise involving the Canadian Army at R.C.A.F. Station Hamilton, Mount Hope, Ontario. Nicknamed 'Hamilton Tigers' after the Hamilton Tigers Football Club, the squadron operated the North American Harvard Mk. II from November 1947 to December 1958 and the North American Mustang Mk. IV from November 1950 to September 1956.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

An un-named R.C.A.F. navigator aboard a Handley Page Halifax bomber from I believe No. 427 'Lion (B) Squadron, a checks his map.

Cheers.Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

Here is an R.C.A.F. pilot sitting in the left seat of a Handley Page Halifax.

No other information available.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

Two R.C.A.F. air gunners fom No. 408 'Goose' (B) Squadron pose by the tail gunner's position (four Browning .303 calibre machine guns) of this Handley Page Halifax Mk. VII, coded EQ*D.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

Here is a roughed-up Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk. I from Western Air Command's No. 118 'Cougar' (F) Squadron. The squadron was sent to fight the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands as part of the R.C.A.F.'s 'Y' Wing based at Annette, Island. While there, they fell under operational control of United States Alaskan Command, The Cougars arrived at Annette, Island on the 21st of June, 1942 and stayed there until the 15th of August, 1943. During that time, the squadron was commanded by Squadron Leader A. M. Yuile (15th of June, 1942 - 27th of February, 1943); Squadron Leader F. G. Grant (28th of February, 1943 - 28th of July, 1943) and Squadron Leader J. R. Beirnes (29th of July, 1943 - 15th of August, 1943)

The aircraft's R.A.F. serial number was replaced by an R.C.A.F. one – 1043. The aircraft was transferred to No. 133 'Falcon' (F) Squadron at R.C.A.F. Station Patricia Bay, British Columbia circa March, 1944. It carried the radio call letter 'W'. The squadron used the Kittyhawks until July, 1945. They had begun to be replaced by the Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk. 26 during April, 1945.

Now back to our Kittyhawk prang. The accident took place at 15:05 hours on the 1st of September, 1942 at Annette Island. The pilot, R99658 Sergeant L D Manzer was coming back from a low-level attack against Japanese targets when upon landing, ran off the runway. His landing gear collapsed and he jumped a boundary fence, He then turned 30 degrees to the left and crashed over a four foot embankment.

Cheers...Chris

[Old Dog Flying]

One of the many types of aircraft operated by the air arms of Canada during WW2 was the Supermarine Walrus, one of the ugliest aircraft ever to come out of the same company that produced to exquisite Spitfire.

This really antiquated aircraft was used on the East coast during the war out of Dartmouth and later sold to Kenting Aviation for aerial photography on the east coast as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. It did not last long due to the Wood fuselage but it did garrner the unussual name of "Puttsy Puttsy" due to the sound of its engine.

Maybe Chris can give a more detailed review of its history in Canada. The photo is of a 1:48 scale model produced by Classic Airframes.

Barney



A close-up of the rigging used to support the centre-section which everything else was connected to!

[Moose47]

G'day

This Supermarine Walrus Mk. II s/n Z1781 (c/n W1064) initially served at R.C.A.F. Station Yarmouth, Nova Scotia with No. 1 Naval Air Gunners School. This school was formed on the 10th of February, 1943 at Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (H.M.S. Daedalus), Hampshire, England as No. 745 Squadron. The Fleet Air Arm referred to it as No. 2 Telegraphist Air Gunners School while in Canada. The Canadians on the other hand referred to it as the aforementioned No. 1 Naval Air Gunners School. The school was disbanded on the 30th of March, 1945.

The Royal Canadian Air Force took the aircraft on strength with Eastern Air Command on the 20th of March, 1946. On the same day, a request from the Royal Canadian Navy was sent to the R.C.A.F. enquiring about the possible use of Z1781 with the Royal Canadian Navy Air Component Training at Dartmouth. The request was granted and the aircraft transferred to the R.C.N. It served with No. 1 Training Air Group's, No. 743 Squadron (FRU 743), the Royal Canadian Navy's Fleet Requirements Unit. No. 743 Squadron was formed at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in March, 1943 as part of B.C.A.T.P.'s No. 1 Naval Air Gunners School. It was a joint RCAF and Royal Navy operation with the Brits providing pilots to fly aircraft used to train naval air gunners. No. 743 Squadron (FRU 743) would later be re-designated as VU-32 at R.C.N. Air Station Shearwater in May of 1954.

On the 7th of July, 1947, Walrus s/n Z1781 was transferred back to Central Air Command's No. 10 Group (the forerunner to Maritime Group) at Dartmouth, where it was designated APDAL (Aircraft Pending Disposal at Location). It was struck off strength on the 6th of December, 1947 and declared a war asset. This Walrus was bought by Kenting Aviation in 1948 and subsequently registered as CF-GKA.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

This formation shot shows Avro Anson Mk. II, s/n 11296 from No. 8 Bombing & Gunner School at Lethbridge, Alberta. No. 8 B&G School was formed on the 13th of October 1941 as part of No. 4 Training Command. It was disbanded on the 15th of December, 1944. The following day, the school was re-designated as No. 1 Reserve Equipment Maintenance Unit.

Anson 11296 was taken on strength with the R.C.A.F. on the 22nd of December, 1942. It was put into Stored Reserved on the 16th of October, 1944 at Ft. McLeod, Alberta and later sold through War Assets on the 8th of March, 1948.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G'day

A weapons team loads a Douglas AIR-2A Genie unguided air-to-air rocket on to a Canadian Forces McDonnell CF-101B Voodoo. The Genie carried a 1.5 kiloton W25 nuclear warhead. It was used by Canada from 1965 to 1984. The nuclear warheads were the property of the United States. There were six detachments of the U.S.A.F.'s 425th Munitions Maintenance Squadron in Canada. The squadron provided custodial and maintenance functions for U.S. material in Canada.

Detachment 1 - No. 446 'Griffon' Surface-to-Air Missile Squadron, R.C.A.F. Station / C,F.B. North Bay, Ontario. Located five nautical miles north of here on Highway 11N.

Deatchment 2 - No. 447 Surface-to-Air Missile Squadron, R.C.A.F. Station / C.F.S. LaMacaza, Quebec

Detachment 3 - No. 425 'Alouette' AW (F) Squadron, R.C.A.F. Station / C.F.B. Bagotville, Quebec

Detachment 4 - No 416 'Lynx' AW (F) Squadron, R.C.A.F. Station / C.F.B. Chatham, New Brunswick

Detachment 5 - No. 409 'Nighthawk' AW (F) Squadron, R.C.A.F. Station / C.F.B. Comox, British Columbia

Detachment 6 - No. 425 'Alouette' AW (F) Squadron, Bagotville Detachment at Val D'or Airport, Quebec

Note:
AW stands for All-Weather
C.F.S. is Canadian Forces Station
C.F.B. is Canadian Forces Base.

I still have my old radiation dosage card from C.F.B. Chatham showing my body had accumulated 3 rads.

Cheers...Chris

[URC]

RCAF B-17's ?

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/v2/equ ... rt-eng.asp

The RCAF held six Flying Fortresses on strength from 6 December, 1943 to 27 December, 1946, three being Mk. II Model 299-Os (or B-17Es), and three were Model 299-Ps (or B-17Fs) as was 9204 depicted here. All six belonged to 168 Heavy Transport Squadron which operated out of RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario and were tasked to fly mail to Canadian troops serving in Europe. 9204 was severely damaged at Rockcliffe on 17 September, 1944 and was never repaired, but it had contributed to the squadron's overall total of 636 trans-Atlantic mail flights (of which 240 were flown by the B-17s); 26,417 flying hours; 2,245,269 pounds of mail from Canada to U.K.; and 8,977,600 pounds from U.K. to the continent.

http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/RCAF_forts_detailed.html

Looks like 4 of them crashed and 2 ended up in Argentina. Anymore pictures or info. on these B-17's ?

[Moose47]

G'day URC

Boeing Fortress Mk. II s/n 9204 was returning from the United Kingdom when at 20:20 hours, the undercarriage collapsed while taxiing past Hangar No. 66 after landing at R.C.A.F. Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. Both outer engines were severely damaged while the inner engines were only mildly damaged. As a result of the accident, the damage was assessed as Category 'A' . The Fortress was subsequently written off and reduced to produce and spares.

The crew members were:

Pilot- C6727 Flight Lieutenant W. G. Proudfoot

Co-Pilot – J47542 Pilot Officer N. L. Martin

Wireless Operator /Air Gunner – J46745 Flying Officer W. A. MacDonald

Navigator – C1835 Flight Lieutenant C. Gates

Crew – R94009 Corporal J. E. E. Morin

There were no injuries.

I will post more on the other Fortress accidents as time permits.

Cheers...Chris

[Moose47]

G`day

Here is a Lockheed Hudson Mk. III, s/n BW709 and coded Z4. It was taken on strength with the R.C.A.F's Eastern Air Command on the 17th of February, 1942 The aircraft was then transferred to the Royal Air Force's No. 31 Operational Training Unit at Debert, Nova Scotia.
No. 31 O.T.U. was part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and tasked with training general reconnaissance crews. After a period of time being stored at R.C.A.F. Station Moncton as War Reserve, Hudson BW709 would go on to serve with No. 4 Composite Flight which was later re-designated as Eastern Air Command Composite Flight at R.C.A.F. Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. On the 1st of April, 1946, the aircraft was designated APDAL – Aircraft Pending Disposal at Location at R.C.A.F. Station Dartmouth. It was struck off strength with the R.C.A.F. on the 26th of May, 1948 and became the responsibility of of War Assets.

Cheers...Chris

[Old Dog Flying]

A few Hudsons were converted to VIP transports as depicted here in miniature..1:48 scale. This aircraft served on the West coast and it is interesting to note that at one period during the war, all serial numbers were removed to confuse the Japanese spies.

The Smedley bit is a reinactment of a bit of shit that I dropped myself into while based at Downsview

Barney

[Moose47]

G`day

Here is Vickers Viking IV. It wears the Canadian government registration G-CYEZ. The Viking IV was intended as a replacement for the Curtiss HS-2L flying boat. It was a British design already in production by the parent company in England. Vickers shipped the first two aircraft to Canada without engines, while Canadian Vickers of Montreal, Quebec built the remaining six. They were all destined for military service in Canada. The Viking IV was powered by the 350 horsepower Rolls Royce Eagle VIII instead of the standard 450 horsepower Napier Lion. It was used for economic reasons. This limited the five-seat aircraft to only the pilot and two other people.

The aircraft experienced other problems including the aircraft's hull. Just in to its third year of operation, one aircraft had its hull split in two after a wing tip float dug in. Another hull broke in two during take-off while a third disintegrated while in flight killing the three onboard. The aircraft performed well after modifications to the hull were made by strengthening it.

The Viking IV was initially used primarily in aerial survey with a secondary transport role. With the introduction of the Canadian Vickers Vedette and Fairchild FC-2 into R.C.A.F. service, the Viking IV was relegated to a a pure transport role.

G-CYEZ's acceptance flight took place on the 19th of November, 1923. It served with the following units:

Air Board at Victoria Beach, Manitoba

No. 1 (Operations) Wing in Manitoba

No. 5 (Operations) Squadron, a sub-unit of No. 1 (Operations) Wing

Transport Flight – Winnipeg Air Station.

Viking IV, G-CYEZ was struck off strength with the R.C.A.F. on the 28th of September, 1930.

The last Viking IV was struck off strength on the 4th of May, 1931.

Cheers...Chris

[krashguard]

G'day

Here is an R.C.A.F. pilot sitting in the left seat of a Handley Page Halifax.

No other information available.

Cheers...Chris

Chris, This a photo of Wing Commander Bill Swetman, who was the youngest ever Wingco in the RCAF with 426 Squadron. I believe Bill is still alive and living in the London, ON area

[Moose47]

G'day

Thank you so much for identifying him.

J15176 Wing Commander (promoted to the rank on the 1st of October, 1944) William Herbert Swetman from Montreal, Quebec, received the Distinguished Flying Cross while with No. 405 'Vancouver' (B) Squadron (effective the 16th of June 1942) and the Distinguished Service Order with with No. 426 'Thunderbird' (B) Squadron (effective the 25th of March, 1944). Swetman commanded the Thunderbirds at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire from the 18th of August, 1943 to the 4th of April, 1944.

Cheers...Chris