No. 411 "City of York" Squadron RCAF was 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 ...

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 ...

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 The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

.Jefford 1988, page 90

History

The squadron was formed on 16 June 1941 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 ...

in Lincolnshire, England as an Article XV squadron under the control of the British Royal Air Force.Orbis 1985, p 4137 The squadron was equipped with the

and after a period of training the squadron began operations in August 1941 with the Spitfire VB variant. Part of the Hornchurch Wing it operated over continental Europe on

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of '' Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhi ...

sorties and as bomber escorts. After some rest periods the squadron joined the Kenley Wing for more operations over Europe. Converting to the Spitfire IX in October 1943 it then became a fighter-bomber squadron. Within two weeks of the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

it was operating from France in the close-support role and it also operated armed reconnaissance flights. Following the advancing troops the squadron was soon based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

until it was disbanded at Utersen on 21 March 1946. 411 Squadron was reformed as an auxiliary fighter squadron at RCAF Station Downsview Ont. just outside Toronto on 1 October 1950. It was known as the 'County of York' squadron, the county in which Toronto was at the time located. With Havards and

Chipmunks Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

as trainers the squadron operated the

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...

until 1956, then transitioned to the

Canadair Sabre The Canadair Sabre is a jet fighter aircraft built by Canadair under licence from North American Aviation. A variant of the North American F-86 Sabre, it was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) unt ...

Mark V, made by Canadair in Montreal in the 1950s. In the fall of 1958, 411 was moved from Air Defence Command to Air Transport Command, and became a light transport squadron flying the Expediter C-45, a version of the Beechcraft Model 18. The squadron adopted a Search and Rescue role in spring of 1960 with the acquisition of the DHC-3 Otter.McClenaghan, John and Blatchford, Derek. 411 City of North York Squadron: 50 Years of History (c)1992. These aircraft were operated with the RCAF code 'CSR-123', standing for Canadian Search and Rescue Model 123. The C-45 Expediter was retired in 1966. In 1969, 411 Squadron was transferred from Air Transport Command to 10 Tactical Air Group, and the squadron's primary role changed to the support of army operations. It continued to hold a secondary SAR role, and to do mapping surveys and sovereignty flights in the Canadian arctic. In 1981, the Otter was retired and the squadron transitioned to the CH-136 Kiowa (OH-58) helicopter, which it operated in a reconnaissance and tactical support role. The squadron disbanded in 1996 following the closure of

RCAF Station Downsview Canadian Forces Base Toronto (also CFB Toronto) is a former Canadian Forces base in Toronto, Ontario. The airfield is currently operated as Toronto / Downsview Airport. RCAF Station Downsview The Downsview Lands were part of an extensive land p ...

Aircraft operated

Notes

References

* * {{RCAF Squadrons Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons Canadian Article XV squadrons of World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1945