RCAF Station Marville (also known as 1(F) Wing or 1 Wing) was a

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) station located near Marville in the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

, northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was one of four RCAF

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

consisting of three fighter squadrons each, established in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in the early 1950s to support the goals of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in Europe during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. These wings were part of No. 1 Air Division. Two wings were located in France (RCAF Station Marville and

RCAF Station Grostenquin RCAF Station Grostenquin, also known as 2 (Fighter) Wing or 2 Wing, was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station located five km north of the town of Grostenquin in the Moselle department, Lorraine, northeastern France. It was one of four RCAF win ...

), and two were located in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

(

RCAF Station Zweibrücken 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 environme ...

and

RCAF Station Baden-Soellingen 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 environme ...

History

No. 1 Wing, Canada's first NATO fighter wing, was initially located at

North Luffenham North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

since its French base was not ready. The first of the wing's three fighter squadrons (all squadrons flying

Sabres A sabre is a type of sword. Sabre, Sabres, saber, or SABRE may also refer to: Weapons and weapon systems * Sabre (fencing), a sporting sword * Sabre (tank), a modern British armoured reconnaissance vehicle * Chinese sabre or ''dao'', a variety ...

), No. 410 Squadron, arrived at North Luffenham in November 1951. The squadron and its aircraft, along with those of No. 441 Squadron, were ferried across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

aboard . The personnel of 441 arrived by ocean liner in February 1952. In May–June 1952, No. 439 Squadron flew from

RCAF Station Uplands 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 environme ...

via Bagotville, Goose Bay,

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in an exercise known as "Operation Leapfrog."L'Ecuyer, M
North Luffenham Canada to England – 1952: 439 Squadron
www.marville.org. Retrieved: November 4, 2007. No. 410 and 441 Squadrons left North Luffenham in 1954 for temporary bases in Germany (410 Squadron was relocated to Baden, and 441 to Zweibrücken). They finally arrived at the completed Marville base in 1955. No. 439 Squadron flew directly from North Luffenham to Marville in 1955. No. 5 Air Movements Unit serviced flights between Marville and

CFB Trenton Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hu ...

. A barracks block was used as a transient hotel, called the Lorraine Inn, for personnel and families en route to or from other bases. In 1956 four

CF-100 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 ...

squadrons were established in Europe for NATO service. This aircraft had all weather and night operation capabilities. One squadron in each wing was replaced by a CF-100 squadron. At Marville, 445 Squadron replaced 410 Squadron. In 1962, the two remaining sabre squadrons converted to

CF-104 Starfighter The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (CF-111, CL-90) is a modified version of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft built in Canada by Canadair under licence. It was primarily used as a ground attack aircraft, despite being ...

s, as did all the other Air Division Sabre squadrons. The CF-104 supported Canada's new and controversial

nuclear strike Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

role since it could be equipped with

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s. The Starfighter also had a reconnaissance role. No. 445 Squadron was disbanded in December 1962. NATO bases in France, including Marville, were short-lived. In 1963 the

Government of France The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

announced that all nuclear weapons in France were to be placed under French control. This was unacceptable to the RCAF (and other NATO units stationed in France), so the two nuclear strike squadrons at 2 Wing were hastily moved to Zweibrücken and Baden-Soellingen while remaining non-nuclear armed units in France were repositioned to Marville. Marville's two remaining squadrons converted to a strictly reconnaissance role. In March 1966 the Government of France announced that it would be withdrawing its military forces from NATO and that NATO units based in France would have to leave or fall under French command. The RCAF then moved Marville's 439 and 441 Squadrons to

CFB Lahr Canadian Forces Base Lahr (IATA:LHA, ICAO: EDTL, former code EDAN) was a military operated commercial airport located in Lahr, Germany. It was operated primarily as a French air force base, and later as a Canadian army base, beginning in the late ...

in April 1967.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Brereton Greenhous and Hugh A. Halliday, ''Canada's Air Forces 1914-1999'', (Art Global, 1999). . *

Larry Milberry Larry Milberry (born 1943) is a Canadian aviation author and publisher. Milberry is a lifelong aviation enthusiast whose first book, ''Aviation in Canada'', was published by McGraw-Hill in 1979. Now an aviation classic, this book was written over ...

, General Editor, ''Sixty Years, The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924-1984'', (CANAV Books, 1984). . *Loubette, Fabrice. ''Les forces aériennes de l'OTAN en Lorraine, 1952-1967'' (Part II, Chapter 2, Marville RCAF 1 Wing), Metz (France) : Serpenoise, 2008. .

External links

410 Squadron History

439 Squadron History

441 Squadron History

445 Squadron History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rcaf Station Marville Marville Canada–France relations Military installations closed in 1967