443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron () is a

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

helicopter squadron under the

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 Can ...

(RCAF), on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, British Columbia. It was originally a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

RCAF squadron that operated as part of

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

in Europe with the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

History

Formation and World War II

Originally formed as No. 127 (Fighter) Squadron in the fighter role in July 1942, it operated along the East Coast of Canada (Including RCAF Gander in Newfoundland) flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s until late 1943, when it was selected for overseas service. Arriving in Britain on 8 February 1944, it was redesignated No. 443 Squadron at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

and was soon based at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-s ...

, Lincolnshire, together with Nos. 441 and 442 Squadrons as Article XV squadrons under the control of the British Royal Air Force. Working up on Spitfire Mk. Vs from

RAF Westhampnett Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex. It was built as an emergency landing ...

, the squadron received Spitfire Mk. IXs the following month when a move was made to Holmsley South to form No. 144 Wing RAF, Second Tactical Air Force, and the squadron became operational. The first sorties were as bomber escorts and until the invasion in June the squadron carried out deep penetration missions using drop tanks. During the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

themselves, the squadron provided low-level fighter cover and on 15 June it moved to France in the close-support and armed

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...

role. It was now heavily involved in ground attack sorties and continued to move forward following the Allied advance through

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and into the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to maintain its close air support of the ground forces. Having returned to RAF Warmwell for an air-firing course the squadron missed the Luftwaffe's New Year's attack on Allied airfields. Unlike its two fellow squadrons, it did not return to Britain, but stayed on the continent, following the Allied armies advance into Germany equipped with the Spitfire Mk. XVI. With the end of the war the squadron joined the British Air Forces of Occupation until disbanding at Uetersen on 15 March 1946.

Post war

The squadron was re-formed on 12 September 1951 at RCAF Station Sea Island (Vancouver) and became New Westminster (Vancouver) Auxiliary Squadron. Aircraft flown included the

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and Expeditor. The squadron again disbanded on 31 March 1964. No. 443 was reactivated again on 25 October 1974 as ''443 Anti-Submarine Helicopter Squadron'' at

CFB Shearwater Shearwater Heliport , formerly known as Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east-southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the ...

, Nova Scotia. In the late 1980s, the squadron moved to Patricia Bay on Vancouver Island. In 1995 the squadron changed its name to ''443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron''. It flew the CH-124 Sea King helicopter in support of Canadian Forces warships in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. , the squadron operates three CH-148 Cyclone helicopters.

Aircraft operated

Jefford 1988, p. 92.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. ''Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1980. . * Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). . * Rawlings, John. ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1969 (second edition 1976). . * *Canadian Department of National Defence – Honours & Recognition for the Men and Women of the Canadian Armed Forces 10th Edition – 2016. Accessed 14 March 2019

External links

*
DND – Squadron History

RCAF.com – No. 443 Squadron
{{RCAF Squadrons Canadian Forces aircraft squadrons Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons Military units and formations of Canada in World War II