No. 6 Repair Depot (6 RD) was an aircraft modification and repair unit of 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 ...

's Air Materiel Command located at Trenton, Ontario. Duties of No. 6 RD included handling aircraft at other stations around southern Ontario and assisting with aircraft being serviced or modified at other locations such as

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

where aircraft were modified for postwar use. No. 6RD personnel ferried many aircraft types to and from Trenton, and flew aircraft to storage facilities after the

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 ...

. Aircraft salvage was another responsibility. Crashed aircraft or aircraft that had forced-landed were cleaned up or dismantled to be shipped back to Trenton.Milberry 1984, p. 262. CFB Trenton was built over swamps and sometimes No. 6 RD personnel lived in tents for temporary housing. Nicknamed "tent city", the mechanics had to sleep there for many weeks in a row. During New Year's Eve of 1952, fireworks set fire to hangar No. 9 and it burned to the ground along with three Lancasters, two Mitchells, one

Grumman Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and ...

, a

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 numerous pieces of handling equipment. No. 6RD specialized in the repair of

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trainers as well as

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s, Liberators and

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for the RCAF and the RAF in 1940 until after the Second World War. The unit's slogan was "Nil Nobis Irreparabile" (Translation: Nothing Beyond Repair For Us") until 1978 when they changed their slogan to "Excellence". In 1970, the name changed to the Aerospace Maintenance Development Unit, or AMDU. The AMDU helped in the exchange of the Canadian

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s to Venezuela. Also, the No. 6 RD personnel built the Silver Dart II in 1959.

Commanding officers

* G/C F.L. Tretheway (Mar. 1940 – Oct. 1941) * G/C.A.H. Simmonds (RAF) (Oct. 1941 – Sept. 1942) * G/C W.M. Keddie (RAF) * G/C A.R. Layard, OBE * G/C G.G. Truscott, OBE * G/C S.A. Greene, MBE * G/C D.H. McCaul, CD * G/C T.A. Spruston, MBE * W/C W.H. Smith * G/C C.R. Thompson, CD * G/C E.P. Brigland, CD * G/C A.I. Pudsley, CD * Col M.T. Friedl, CD * LCol R.F. Brown, CD * Col J.W. Garland, DGC, CD * Col W.G. Doupe, CD * Col J.H. Spratley, CD * Col J.D. Young CD * Col M.F. Phillips, CD * Col R.I. McDowell, CD * Col G.G. Chivers, CD

References

* * * {{cite web , url=http://airforceapp.forces.gc.ca/CFAWC/eLibrary/Journal/Vol1-2008/Iss2-Summer/Sections/09-The_Evolution_of_Air_Materiel_Command_e.pdf , title=The Evolution of Air Materiel Command , author=C. L. ANNIS, OBE , publisher=The Canadian Air Force Journal , date=Summer 2008 Royal Canadian Air Force