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No. 411 (Grizzly Bear) Squadron RCAF

Active	1941-1946, 1950-1996
Country	Canada
Branch	Royal Canadian Air Force
Base	RAF Digby 1941-1946 CFB Downsview 1950-1996
Nickname(s)	Grizzly Bear
Motto(s)	Inimicus Inimico
Equipment	Supermarine Spitfire, Havard and DHC-1 Chipmunk, de Havilland Vampire, Canadair Sabre, Beechcraft Model 18, DHC-3 Otter, CH-136 Kiowa
Battle honours	Defence of Britain 1941-44, English Channel and North Sea 1942-43, Fortress Europe 1941-44, Dieppe, France and Germany 1944-45, Arnhem, Normandy 1944, Rhine

No. 411 "City of York" Squadron RCAF was a Second World War Royal Canadian Air Force squadron that operated as part of RAF Fighter Command in Europe with the Supermarine Spitfire.^[1]

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Transcription

History

The squadron was formed on 16 June 1941 at RAF Digby in Lincolnshire, England as an Article XV squadron under the control of the British Royal Air Force.^[2] The squadron was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire and after a period of training the squadron began operations in August 1941 with the Spitfire VB variant.^[2] Part of the Hornchurch Wing it operated over continental Europe on Rhubarb sorties and as bomber escorts. After some rest periods the squadron joined the Kenley Wing for more operations over Europe.

Converting to the Spitfire IX in October 1943 it then became a fighter-bomber squadron.^[2] Within two weeks of the D-Day it was operating from France in the close-support role and it also operated armed reconnaissance flights.^[2] Following the advancing troops the squadron was soon based in Germany until it was disbanded at Utersen on 21 March 1946.^[1]^[2]

411 Squadron was reformed as an auxiliary fighter squadron at RCAF Station Downsview Ont. just outside Toronto on 1 October 1950. It was known as the 'County of York' squadron, the county in which Toronto was at the time located. With Havards and Chipmunks as trainers the squadron operated the de Havilland Vampire until 1956, then transitioned to the Canadair Sabre Mark V, made by Canadair in Montreal in the 1950s.

In the fall of 1958, 411 was moved from Air Defence Command to Air Transport Command, and became a light transport squadron flying the Expediter C-45, a version of the Beechcraft Model 18. The squadron adopted a Search and Rescue role in spring of 1960 with the acquisition of the DHC-3 Otter.^[3] These aircraft were operated with the RCAF code 'CSR-123', standing for Canadian Search and Rescue Model 123. The C-45 Expediter was retired in 1966.

In 1969, 411 Squadron was transferred from Air Transport Command to 10 Tactical Air Group, and the squadron's primary role changed to the support of army operations. It continued to hold a secondary SAR role, and to do mapping surveys and sovereignty flights in the Canadian arctic. In 1981, the Otter was retired and the squadron transitioned to the CH-136 Kiowa (OH-58) helicopter, which it operated in a reconnaissance and tactical support role.^[3] The squadron disbanded in 1996 following the closure of RCAF Station Downsview.

Aircraft operated

Dates^[1]	Aircraft^[1]	Variant^[1]	Notes
1941	Supermarine Spitfire	I and IIA	Single-engined fighter
1941-1943	Supermarine Spitfire	VB
1943-1944	Supermarine Spitfire	IX
1945	Supermarine Spitfire	XVI
1945-1946	Supermarine Spitfire	XIV

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jefford 1988, page 90
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Orbis 1985, p 4137
^ ^a ^b McClenaghan, John and Blatchford, Derek. 411 City of North York Squadron: 50 Years of History (c)1992. ISBN 0-9695370-0-X

References

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 1985.
Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

v t e Royal Canadian Air Force units
Wings	1 Wing Kingston 2 Wing Bagotville 3 Wing Bagotville 4 Wing Cold Lake 5 Wing Goose Bay 8 Wing Trenton 9 Wing Gander 12 Wing Shearwater 14 Wing Greenwood 15 Wing Moose Jaw 16 Wing Borden 17 Wing Winnipeg 19 Wing Comox 22 Wing North Bay
Squadrons	21 Aerospace Control and Warning Squadron 42 Radar Squadron 51 Aerospace Control and Warning Operational Training Squadron 103 Search and Rescue Squadron 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron 402 Squadron 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron 404 Long Range Patrol and Training Squadron 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron 406 Maritime Operational Training Squadron 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron 412 Transport Squadron 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron 414 Electronic Warfare Support Squadron 415 Long Range Patrol Force Development Squadron 417 Combat Support Squadron 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron 426 Transport Training Squadron 429 Transport Squadron 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron 436 Transport Squadron 437 Transport Squadron 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron 439 Combat Support Squadron 440 Transport Squadron 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron 444 Combat Support Squadron 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron
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Royal Canadian Air Force

List of aircraft

Wings: 1 Wing Kingston; 3 Wing Bagotville; 4 Wing Cold Lake; 5 Wing Goose Bay; 8 Wing Trenton; 9 Wing Gander; 12 Wing Shearwater; 14 Wing Greenwood; 15 Wing Moose Jaw; 16 Wing Borden; 17 Wing Winnipeg; 19 Wing Comox; 22 Wing North Bay
List of Squadrons

Training: Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering

History: Canadian Aviation Corps (1914–1915); Canadian Air Force (1918–1920); Canadian Air Force (1920–1924); Royal Canadian Air Force (1924–1968); Canadian Forces Air Command (1975–2011); Royal Canadian Air Force (2011–present)

Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons

Squadron
numbers

Pre-WWII Squadrons	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 18
100-series squadrons	110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 145 147 149 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 170
WW2 400-series Article XV squadrons	400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443
WW2 600-series AOP squadrons¹	664 665 666
Post-war squadrons	103 444 445 446 447 448 449 450

Squadron
codes

WW2 Canada

1 August 1939 - May 1942	AY BK BT DM EX FD FY JY KA KO LT MX NA OP OY PB QN RE TM XE XO YO ZD
Unit formation in 1940 - May 1942	AN BF GK GV LU PO QE TQ RA
Dartmouth Hurricanes 1942	1 or 2 1 or 2 1 or 2
May 1942 - 16 October 1942	AE AF AG AN AZ BA BD BV DE DZ EA ED EN ET FG FN GA GR HA HJ JK KL LM LR LV LZ MA MK MR NO PQ QG RA RS SZ TF TN UV UY VD VW XP XY YA YH YZ ZM ZR

WW2 Overseas
1940-1946

Operational squadrons	AB AE AL AN AU AW BM BX 2I CI DB DG DH DN EE EQ 5V FD F3 6U GX G9 HU I8 9G KH KP KW LQ NA ND NH OW PT QB QL QO QY RA RR RU RV SE SP SW TH VR VZ WL YI YO YZ ZL ZU Z2
Transport squadrons	OWL² ODM ODN ODO

Post-WW2
1947 - 1958

1947 - 1951 (VC XXA)³	AA AB AC AD AG AH AK AM AN AO AP AQ AT AU AW AX BA BC BN BQ BU XV
1951 - 1958 (XX nnn)⁴	AF AM AN AP AQ AS AX BA BB BH BQ BR BT BU BV DL FG GW HG HO IG JF JW KE KH LP MN NQ PF PR QP QT RX SA SP SV TF UD VN XK XV

¹Aircraft administered and serviced by the RCAF but manned by the Royal Canadian Artillery.

² Non-standard code as unit using OW added L. Letters normally denoted parent Command, aircraft type (L Liberator transport, D Dakota etc), unit, and individual aircraft.

³ VC

XXA where VC was the civil code used by the RCAF replacing CF-, XX was the unit code and A was the aircraft ID letter

⁴ XX

nnn where XX was the unit code and nnn was the last 3 digits of the serial number. Unit code was replaced with "RCAF" in 1958

This page was last edited on 13 February 2024, at 12:59

No. 411 Squadron RCAF

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