ALG Wormhout was the Advanced Landing Ground home base of 'B' Flight, 665 (AOP) Squadron RCAF, which operated from April to June, 1945 during

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The base was located twelve miles southeast of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. For more than six weeks, the five Auster Mark V aircraft of 'B' Flight operated from ALG Wormhout. Initially, the aircraft were tasked with directing

Czech Army The Army of the Czech Republic ( cs, Armáda České republiky, AČR), also known as the Czech Army, is the military service responsible for the defence of the Czech Republic in compliance with international obligations and treaties on collecti ...

artillery gunfire onto targets in the Dunkirk area. After the surrender of Dunkirk on May 9, 1945, the Flight was tasked with communication and VIP flight duties in support of

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 19 ...

Royal Canadian Artillery , colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/ The ...

Captain Horace Trites was the Flight Commander of 'B' Flight, 665 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF; the other four pilots in the Flight included Captain Jean-Louis Lamy, Captain Beverly Dane Baily, Captain Bill Milliken, and Captain F.R.'Ray' Irwin. Captain Irwin and his observer, Gunner R.D. 'Ray' Knight, are credited with having been the last Canadians to fire a hostile shot in the European theatre of Second World War, on May 7, 1945.

References

*"Canada's Flying Gunners," by Lieutenant Colonel D.L. Fromow, CD (Ottawa: Air O.P. Pilots Association, 2002) *"Where The Hell Are The Guns?," by George Blackburn, MC (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1997) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alg (Advanced Landing Ground) Wormhout ALG Wormhout