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405 Long Range Patrol Squadron is a unit of the
No. 405 Squadron RCAF was formed at
In April 1950, as a Maritime Patrol Squadron, the squadron was equipped with modified Mark X Lancasters. These were replaced in mid-1955 by the P2V7 Neptune giving the squadron a much greater anti-submarine capability.
In April 1958 the squadron was given the distinction of being the first to fly the Canadian-built
405 Squadron405 Maritime Patrol SquadronHistory of 405 Squadron
* Canadian Department of National Defence – Honours & Recognition for the Men and Women of the Canadian Armed Forces 10th Edition – 2016. Accessed 14 March 2019
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) within the Canadian Forces
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The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...
, initially formed as No. 405 Squadron RCAF during the 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 ...
.
Service history
World War II
No. 405 Squadron RCAF was formed at Driffield
Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...
, Yorkshire, on 23 April 1941 as an Article XV squadron
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 ...
and equipped with the Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...
bomber. It flew the RCAF's first bombing operation ten weeks later on 12/13 June, attacking the railway marshalling yards
A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...
at Schwerte
Schwerte ( Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous ...
. It converted to 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 orig ...
in April 1942, taking part in the historic 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne on the night of 30/31 May 1942.
In late October 1942, the squadron was loaned to Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
to fly anti-submarine patrols in the Bay of Biscay at the time of the North African landings.
Returning to Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
at the beginning of March 1943, the squadron flew with No. 6 Group RCAF for short time before being selected for the elite No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group based at Gransden Lodge Airfield
Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield located west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
The Cambridge University Gliding Club (now Cambridge Gliding Centre) moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared ...
, with which it served until the end of the war. Through the last 20 months of the bomber offensive the squadron was equipped with the Avro Lancaster.
The squadron's last operational mission took place on 25 April 1945 when nine Lancasters bombed the Berghof, and four aircraft bombed enemy gun batteries on island of Wangerooge
Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.
Wangerooge is one of the East F ...
. The squadron was disbanded on 5 September 1945.
Post war
The squadron was reformed on 1 April 1947 as No. 405 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron atRCAF Station Greenwood
Canadian Forces Base Greenwood , or CFB Greenwood, is a Canadian Forces Base located east of Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is primarily operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is one of two bases in the country using the ...
, and was later redesignated No. 405 Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron and then No. 405 Maritime Patrol Squadron.
In April 1950, as a Maritime Patrol Squadron, the squadron was equipped with modified Mark X Lancasters. These were replaced in mid-1955 by the P2V7 Neptune giving the squadron a much greater anti-submarine capability.
In April 1958 the squadron was given the distinction of being the first to fly the Canadian-built CP-107 Argus
The Canadair CP-107 Argus (company designation CL-28) is a maritime patrol aircraft designed and manufactured by Canadair for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In its early years, the Argus was reputedly the finest anti-submarine patrol bombe ...
. The squadron made its last flight in the Argus on 10 November 1980 before introducing the CP-140 Aurora
The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the Lockheed S-3 Viking. "Aurora" refers to the R ...
.
Current operations
Though 405 Squadron's primary combat functions are anti-submarine (ASW) andanti-surface warfare
Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's s ...
(ASUW), most of its time is spent fulfilling a variety of non-combat roles. These include search and rescue, counter-drug operations with the RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
, and anti-pollution and fisheries patrols. It flew operations in the Arabian Sea after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
References
;Notes ;Bibliography405 Squadron
* 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
{{RCAF Squadrons Canadian Forces aircraft squadrons Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons