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Squadron History Index

No. 428 Squadron

Nickname: Ghost
Motto: USQUE AD FINEM - "To the very end"

Battle Honours:
English Channel and North Sea 1943-44, Baltic 1944, Fortress Europe 1943-1944, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-1944, Normandy 1944, German Ports 1943-45, Biscay 1943-44 Rhine

Its Badge, in a shroud, a death's head. The badge refers to the Squadron "Ghost" designation earned through many hours of night bombing operations, and also the death and destruction which it carried to the enemy.

The History

No. 428 Squadron formed at Dalton on 7 November 1942, another candidate for the new No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group. It was equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk IIIs and Mk Xs, and first went into action in January 1943. It flew Wellingtons for six months and then moved to Middleton St George and re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk Vs, later supplemented by Mk II Series IIAs. The offensive was soon resumed and the squadron was operational whenever possible in the attack on Germany. It was Halifaxes of No. 428 Squadron which carried out the first high-level mining raid, dropping mines by parachute from 15,000ft (4570m) over Brest in January 1944. In June 1944 the squadron was re-equiped with Canadian-built Avro Lancaster Mk Xs, and from then on fought the rest of the Second World War with its home-built bombers. It remained in service in the UK until the end of May 1945. It then took its Lancasters to Canada, being stationed at Yarmouth until disbandment there on 5 September 1945.

No. 428 Squadron, RCAF Handley Page Halifaxes B.Mk Vs

Handley-Page Halifax B. Mk IIs and B.Mk Vs wear No. 428 'Ghost' Sqn's 'NA' codes at Middleton St. George during 1943. Lancasters arrived in June 1944

Re-formed as a night-fighter squadron at Uplands on 21 June 1954 and flew the CF-100. No. 428 AW(F) Squadron was disbanded on 31 May 1961.

No. 428 Squadron, RCAF CF-100 Canuck all weather interceptors

No. 428 Squadron disbanded in 1945. Since then its duties have included a spell as an all-weather fighter squadron with the Canadian-built CF-100 Canuck All Weather Fighter

Representative Aircraft

  • Wellington III (November 1942 - April 1943)
  • Wellington X (April 1943 - June 1943)
  • Halifax V (June 1943 - January 1944)
  • Halifax II (November 1943 - June 1944)
  • Lancaster X (June 1944 - September 1945)
  • CF-100 Canuck

Operational History

  • First Operational Mission in WWII: 26th/27th January 1943 - 5 Wellingtons bombed Lorient.
  • 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.