442 Transport and Rescue Squadron
| 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron | |
|---|---|
| 442e Escadron de transport et de sauvetage | |
19 Wing Comox | |
| Motto(s) | Un Dieu, une reine, un cœur (French for 'One God, one queen, one heart') |
| Battle honours |
|
| Website | canada |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Lieutenant-Colonel Francois Fasquelle |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Transport | CC-295 Kingfisher and AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant |
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron (French: 442e Escadron de transport et de sauvetage) is a
Victoria Search and Rescue Region, which includes most of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon
as well as 560,000 square kilometres in the Pacific Ocean, up to 600 nautical miles (1,100 km) offshore. The squadron also serves as the operational training unit for the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft.
History
The unit was first activated in 1942 flying Curtis Kittyhawks as 14 Fighter Squadron with the
Northwest Europe flying the North American Mustang IV, claiming over 58 enemy aircraft and hundreds of vehicles, locomotives and rail cars.[3] The squadron was disbanded in England in 1945 following the end of hostilities, and reformed a year later at RCAF Station Sea Island as an auxiliary fighter squadron with deHavilland Vampires. Starting in 1956 the Vampires were augmented with the more modern Canadair Sabre 5. However, by 1958 they reequipped with deHavilland Otters and Beech Expeditors flying as a redesignated auxiliary transport squadron.[4]
It was again disbanded in 1964.
The squadron was reformed during the 1968
unification of the Canadian Forces as 442 Communications and Rescue Squadron at CFB Comox before being redesignated to its current name and role a few months later. Since then, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron has become the busiest search and rescue unit in the country.[5]
-
CC-115 Buffalo of 442 Squadron in 2004 (retired in 2020) -
442 Squadron Cormorant 901 in 2008
.JPG)
References
- ^ Volume 4: Operational Flying Squadrons, Department of National Defence/Directorate of History and Heritage, 19 August 2010
- ^ Aleutian Campaign, Department of National Defence/Royal Canadian Air Force, 10 December 2008, archived from the original on 9 January 2012, retrieved 24 January 2012
- ^ World War II, Department of National Defence/Royal Canadian Air Force, 10 December 2008[permanent dead link]
- ^ Post-War, Department of National Defence/Royal Canadian Air Force, 10 December 2008[permanent dead link]
- ^ 1960s and beyond, Department of National Defence/Royal Canadian Air Force, 10 December 2008[permanent dead link]
External links
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1 Aircraft administered and serviced by the RCAF but manned by the
Royal Canadian Artillery .2 Non-standard code as unit using OW added L. Letters normally denoted parent Command, aircraft type (L Liberator transport, D Dakota etc), unit, and individual aircraft. 3 VC .svg){kind=small} XXA where VC was the civil code used by the RCAF replacing CF-, XX was the unit code and A was the aircraft ID letter4 XX nnn where XX was the unit code and nnn was the last 3 digits of the serial number. Unit code was replaced with "RCAF" in 1958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
