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404 Maritime Patrol And Training Squadron
404 Long Range Patrol and Training Squadron is a long range patrol and training squadron in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron was originally No. 404 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and later the Canadian Forces Air Command. History The squadron was formed at Thorney Island in Sussex, England on 15 April 1941 under Royal Air Force operational control. Tasked with coastal patrol and attack, the squadron flew the Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV & later the Beaufighter. From May 1944 to September 1944 they were based at RAF Davidstow Moor in Cornwall, England. As part of the RAF Dallachy strike wing of four Beaufighter-equipped squadrons, they took part in an attack on German ships on the Norwegian coast on 9 February 1945. The ships included a destroyer and "flak" ships as well as merchantmen. The ships were located in a fjord and German fighter aircraft scrambled in defence. As a result of the heavy losses to the Dallachy Wing the attack was subsequently called ...
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Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2020, the Royal Canadian Air Force consists of 12,074 Regular Force and 1,969 Primary Reserve personnel, supported by 1,518 civilians, and operates 258 manned aircraft and nine unmanned aerial vehicles. Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Chief of the Air Force Staff. The Royal Canadian Air Force is responsible for all aircraft operations of the Canadian Forces, enforcing the security of Canada's airspace and providing aircraft to support the missions of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army. The RCAF is a partner with the United States Air Force in protecting continental airspace under the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The RCA ...
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Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early AI Mark IV radar, aircraft interception radar without major performance penalties. The Beaufighter was used in many roles; receiving the nicknames ''Rockbeau'' for its use as a rocket-armed attack aircraft, ground attack aircraft and ''Torbeau'' as a torpedo bomber against Axis powers, Axis shipping, in which it replaced the Bristol Beaufort, Beaufort. In later operations, it served mainly as a maritime strike/ground attack aircraft, RAF Coastal Command having operated the largest number of Beaufighters amongst all other comm ...
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Canadian Forces Aircraft Squadrons
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''Canadian''. Canada is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of French and then the much larger British colonization, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada, and thus a Canadian identity and Canadian values. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geograph ...
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Ken Gatward
Group Captain Alfred Kitchener Gatward, (28 August 1914 – 19 November 1998), known as Ken Gatward, was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot of the Second World War. Early life Gatward was born in 1914 above Hornsey police station, where his father was Chief Inspector of police. He attended St George's College in Palmers Green, and later became a journalist before joining the wallpaper manufacturers Coloroll. He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1937. RAF career At the outbreak of war in 1939 Gatward was a sergeant pilot and was commissioned on 27 July 1940 and flew Bristol Blenheims with No 53 Squadron on low level raids. Converting to Bristol Beaufighters in 1941 he flew with No 236 Squadron. Operation Squabble Intelligence gathered by Major Ben Cowburn of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the early Spring of 1942 showed that the Germans paraded down the Champs-Élysées in Paris every day between 12:15 and 12:45. With this information, Air Chief Marsha ...
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Allan Bundy
Allan Selwyn Bundy (1920 – 9 December 2001) was the first Black Canadian combat pilot.Thomas Toliver Smith (14 January 2016)Allan Bundy ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Bundy was a talented athlete who excelled in track and field. He attended Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ... to study chemistry as a scholarship student. When the Second World War began he applied to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) but was rejected due to his race. In 1942 he received a notice of conscription from the Canadian Army, which he did not accept; he informed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, when they arrived to follow up on the notice, that he wanted to serve in the RCAF. He was accepted and trained as a Flying Officer, an o ...
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Canadair Argus
The Canadair CP-107 Argus (company designation CL-28) is a maritime patrol aircraft designed and manufactured by Canadair for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The Argus served throughout the Cold War in the RCAF's Maritime Air Command and later the Canadian Force's Maritime Air Group and Air Command. Design and development In 1949, Canadair recognized that the RCAF would soon be looking for a replacement for the Avro Lancasters being used in the maritime patrol role and proposed the CL-29, a variant of the North Star, itself a variant of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster or DC-4 transport.Pickler, 1995, p.120 When the RCAF issued the specification in 1952, it was for a larger and more capable aircraft, and two proposals were received. These included a Lockheed Constellation variant from Lockheed, however its low speed handling was deemed inadequate by the RCAF, while Bristol proposed a variant of their Britannia airliner. However, concerns were raised over its floating controls, ...
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Lockheed Neptune
The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (designated P2V by the United States Navy prior to September 1962) is a Maritime patrol aircraft, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. It was developed for the US Navy by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed to replace the Lockheed Ventura, Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon, and was replaced in turn by the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Designed as a land-based aircraft, the Neptune never made a carrier landing, but a small number were converted and deployed as carrier-launched (using JATO assist), stop-gap nuclear bombers that would have to land on shore or ditch. The type was successful in export, and saw service with several armed forces. Design and development Development of a new land-based patrol bomber began early in World War II, with design work starting at Lockheed's Vega Aircraft Corporation, Vega subsidiary as a private venture on 6 December 1941.Scutts ''Air International'' January 1995, pp. 42–43. At first, the new design was ...
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Beechcraft Model 18
The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beechcraft, Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November 1969 (over 32 years, a world record at the time), over 9,000 were built, making it one of the world's most widely used light aircraft. Sold worldwide as a civilian executive, utility, cargo aircraft, and passenger airliner on tailwheels, nosewheels, skis, or floats, it was also used as a military aircraft."Beechcraft D18S Twin Beech."
''National Air and Space Museum'' of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Retrieved: 17 December 2014.

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De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.. Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito's use evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, Pathfinder (RAF), pathfinder, Day fighter, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder (air combat), intruder, maritime strike aircraft, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. It was also used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation as a fast transport to carry small, high-value cargo to and from Neutrality (international relations), neutral countries through German-occupied Europe, enemy-controlled airspace. The crew of two, pilot and navigator, sat ...
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RCAF 404 Buffalo Sqd, Maritime Patrol, Circa 1960's
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2020, the Royal Canadian Air Force consists of 12,074 Regular Force and 1,969 Primary Reserve personnel, supported by 1,518 civilians, and operates 258 manned aircraft and nine unmanned aerial vehicles. Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Chief of the Air Force Staff. The Royal Canadian Air Force is responsible for all aircraft operations of the Canadian Forces, enforcing the security of Canada's airspace and providing aircraft to support the missions of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army. The RCAF is a partner with the United States Air Force in protecting continental airspace under the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The RCAF also ...
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RCAF Station Greenwood
Canadian Forces Base Greenwood , or CFB Greenwood, is a Canadian Forces Base located east of Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is primarily operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is one of two bases in the country using the CP-140 Aurora and CP-140A Arcturus anti-submarine/maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft, the other being CFB Comox. Its primary RCAF lodger unit is 14 Wing, commonly referred to as 14 Wing Greenwood. RAF Station Greenwood The relatively fog-free climate of the farming hamlet of Greenwood was selected by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal Air Force for an airfield as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), following the signing of that formal agreement on December 17, 1939. The airfield for RAF Station Greenwood was constructed between 1940 and 1942 with the first training units arriving as part of No. 36 Operational Training Unit (OTU) on March 9, 1942. Early training aircraft types included the Lockhee ...
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Black Friday (1945)
On 9 February 1945, near the end of the Second World War, a force of Allied Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffered many losses during an attack on the German destroyer German destroyer Z33, ''Z33'' and its escorting vessels; the operation was called Black Friday by the survivors. The German ships were sheltering in a strong defensive position in Førde Fjord, Norway, forcing the Allied aircraft to attack through massed anti-aircraft fire (''FlaK''). The Beaufighters and their escort of North American P-51 Mustang, Mustang Mk III fighters from 65 Squadron RAF were intercepted by twelve Focke-Wulf Fw 190s of ''Jagdgeschwader 5'' (Fighter Wing 5) of the ''Luftwaffe''. The Allies damaged at least two of the German ships for the loss of seven Beaufighters shot down by FlaK. Two Beaufighters and a Mustang were shot down by the Fw 190s and four or five of the German aircraft were shot down by the Allied aircraft, including that of the ace Rudi Linz. The decision to attack ''Z33'' a ...
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