433 Squadron is a unit of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environm ...

. It operates

CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

fighter jets Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

from

CFB Bagotville Canadian Forces Base Bagotville , commonly referred to as CFB Bagotville, and also known as Bagotville Airport or Saguenay-Bagotville Airport, is a Canadian Forces base located west of Bagotville in the city of Saguenay. Located in the centre ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Its Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Colonel Tom "''Banger''" Lawrence.

History

433SquadronRCAFMembersInTruckDecember1944

No. 433 Squadron formed at

RAF Skipton-on-Swale Royal Air Force station Skipton-on-Swale or more simply RAF Skipton-on-Swale is a former Royal Air Force station operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The station was located at Skipton-on-Swale west of Thirsk (near the ...

on 25 September 1943, but was without aircraft for nearly two months. When these arrived they were the latest version of the

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

, the Mk III, and No. 433 worked up on them to begin operations on 2 January 1944. For the next year the squadron was continuously operational on Halifaxes over the Continent by night. In January 1945 the Halifaxes were replaced by

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

Mk Is, and No. 433 used these for three months, by which time the war in Europe had come to an end. No. 433 was not disbanded but, as part of No. 1 Group, flew trooping flights from Germany and Italy, bringing back troops and POWs. This continued until 15 October 1945, when the squadron disbanded at Skipton-on-Swale. No. 433 Squadron reformed as an All-Weather (Fighter) unit at

CFB Cold Lake Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake , abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta. The facility is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is approximately south of the ...

, Alberta, on 15 November 1954, and moved to

CFB North Bay Canadian Forces Base North Bay, also CFB North Bay, is an air force base located at the City of North Bay, Ontario about north of Toronto. The base is subordinate to 1 Canadian Air Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is the centre for North Ame ...

, Ontario, in October 1955, the squadron flew

CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to e ...

aircraft on North American air defence until disbanded on 1 August 1961. Reformed post-unification No. 433 ''Escadrille tactique de combat'' was a French language squadron of Mobile Command based at

. No. 433 Escadrille flew the

CF-5 Freedom Fighter The Canadair CF-5 (officially designated the CF-116 Freedom Fighter) is the Canadair licensed-built version of the American Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter aircraft primarily for the Canadian Forces (as the CF-5) and the Royal Netherlands Air For ...

in the tactical and reconnaissance role until conversion to the

CF-188 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

in 1984. The squadron was deactivated in 2005, and its assets and personnel amalgamated into 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron. The squadron was reactivated on 9 June 2015.Royal Canadian Air Force news
/ref> The squadron celebrated its 75th anniversary on 15 September 2018. Monument_Freundstein_(68)_433th_Squadron.jpg, Monument dedicated to 433rd Squadron in Freudstein Ecusson_433th_Squadron.jpg, Pucelle du 433rd Squadron Liste_Victime_Freudstein_433th_Squadron.jpg, "On this mountainside of the Riesenkopf in the night of the 2nd and 3rd december 1944 crashed coming back from a mission in the Ruhr the bomber HALIFAX - MZ 807 from the 433rd Squadron "Porcupine""

References

External links

433 Tactical Fighter Squadron history
{{RCAF Squadrons Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons Canadian Forces aircraft squadrons Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations established in 1968 Military units and formations disestablished in 2005