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Squadron History Index

No. 419 Squadron

Nickname: Moose
Motto: MOOSA ASWAYITA - "Beware of the moose"

Battle Honours:
English Channel and North Sea 1942-1944, Normandy 1944, Rhine Baltic 1942-1944, Fortress Europe 1942-1944, Biscay 1942-1944, France and Germany 1944-1945, Biscay Ports 1942-1945, Ruhr 1942-1945, Berlin 1943-1944, German Ports 1942-1945

A Moose attacking, representing the squadron's nickname, is a fierce fighter indigenous to Canada.

The History

No. 419 Squadron formed at Mildenhall on 15 December 1941 as a Vickers Wellington squadron in No. 3 Group, Bomber Command. It started operations in January 1942, converting almost immediately to Wellington Mk IIIs with which it fought on, moving north to Leeming as part of the new No. 6 Group in August 1942. Here in November it re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk IIs, which it flew for the next 18 months on the night offensive against Germany. After three quick moves it settled at Middleton St George in November and stayed there for the rest of its service in Bomber Command. In April 1944 the squadron began to convert to Avro Laneasters, using the Mk X which was produced in Canada and flown across the Atlantic. It was with one of these that Pilot Officer A. C. Mynarski won the squadron's VC in June 1944. The squadron remained continuously on the offensive until 25 April 1945, when it flew its last sortie. It flew back to Canada in June 1945 and was disbanded at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on 5 September 1945.

No. 419 Squadron reformed as an All-Weather (Fighter) unit at North Bay, Ontario on 15 March 1954, the squadron flew CF-100 aircraft on North American air defence until August 1957 when it then joined No. 1 Air Division Europe to replace No. 414 (Fighter) Squadron in No. 4 (Fighter) Wing at Baden-Soellingen, Germany. On the withdrawal of CF-100 aircraft from operational service, the squadron was disbanded on 31 December 1962. Upon unification of the forces No. 419 squadron became the operational training squadron for the CF-5 Freedom Fighter. With the demise of 433 and 434 CF-5 operations. The squadron role was changed to that of Lead-in-Fighter training and adversary training for the CF-18 Hornet.

No. 419 squadron has been re-formed as a fighter lead-in training squadron at CFB Cold Lake flying the CT-155 Hawk as part of the NATO Flying Training Program

Representative Aircraft

  • Wellington IC (January 1942 - November 1942)
  • Wellington III (February 1942 - November 1942)
  • Halifax II (November 1942 - April 1944)
  • Lancaster X (March 1944 - August 1945)
  • CF-100 Canuck
  • CF-116 CF-5
  • CT-155 Hawk

Operational History

  • First Operational Mission in WWII: 11th January 1942 : 2 Wellingtons bombed Brest.
  • Last Operational Mission in WWII: 25th April 1945 : 15 Lancasters bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge.
The material above is mirrored from RCAF.com with the permission of Bob Hurst - who retains copyright to the material listed.