443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron (french: links=no, 443^e Escadron d'hélicoptères maritimes) is a Canadian Armed Forces helicopter squadron under 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 ...

(RCAF), located 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 by ...

, British Columbia. It was originally a

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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 served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...

in Europe with the Supermarine Spitfire.

History

Royal Air Force- 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945

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 b ...

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 and was soon based at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the J ...

, Lincolnshire, together with Nos. 441 and 442 Squadrons as

Article XV squadrons Article XV squadrons were Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand air force squadrons formed from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (1939) during World War II. These units complemented another feature of the BCATP, under wh ...

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 Holmesley South to form No. 144 Wing RAF,

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces ...

, 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 Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. 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 strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of i ...

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

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and into the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to maintain its close air support of the ground forces. Having returned to

RAF Warmwell Royal Air Force Warmwell or more simply RAF Warmwell is a former Royal Air Force station near Warmwell in Dorset, England from 1937 to 1946, located about 5 miles east-southeast of Dorchester; 100 miles southwest of London. During the Second W ...

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 Uetersen (, formerly known as ''Ütersen ( Holstein)'') is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately south of Elmshorn, and northwest of Hamburg at the small Pinnau River, close to the ...

on 15 March 1946.

Post war

The squadron was re-formed on 12 September 1951 at

RCAF Station Sea Island RCAF Station Sea Island was a World War II, British Commonwealth Air Training Plan station located near Vancouver, British Columbia. History World War II No 8 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) formed here on 22 July 1940. Aerodrome info ...

(Vancouver) and became New Westminster (Vancouver) Auxiliary Squadron. Aircraft flown include 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 April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

, Harvard, 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 Canadian Forces Base Shearwater , 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 eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Hal ...

, Nova Scotia. In the late 1980s, the squadron moved to

Patricia Bay Patricia Bay ("Pat Bay" to locals) is a body of salt water that extends east from Saanich Inlet and forms part of the shoreline of North Saanich, British Columbia. It lies due west of Victoria International Airport. A municipal park covers most of ...

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 Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) warships in the Arabian Sea after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The squadron currently 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