Canadian Warplanes 3: Fairchild Bolingbroke, RCAF

Fairchild Bolingbroke (Umeyou Photo) Fairchild Bolingbroke Mk. IV, RCAF (Serial No. 9118), coded BK-V, No. 115 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron, Patricia Bay, British Columbia, 1942. The Fairchild Bolingbroke was a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer flown by the RCAF during the Second World War.  Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim … Read more

Canadian aircrew: Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Fairey Barracuda

Fairey Barracuda (IWM Photo, A20180) Fairey Barracuda Mk. II carrying an 18-inch (46 cm) aerial torpedo.  The ASV radar “Yagi” antennae are visible above the wings.  Flown by RCN and RCNVR pilots in service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy. Fairey Barracuda Mk. II.  Canadians serving with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm flew … Read more

Canadian aircrew: Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Grumman Avengers

Grumman Avengers flown by RCN and RCNVR pilots in service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (FAA Photo) Royal Navy Grumman Avenger over the British escort carrier HMS Biter (D97) during convoy escort duty in the Atlantic, 1943/44. The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American-built torpedo … Read more

Canadian aircrew: Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Grumman Hellcats

Grumman Hellcats flown by RCN and RCNVR pilots in service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (IWM Photo, A24533) Royal Navy Grumman Hellcats flown by Dutch pilots of No. 1840 Squadron based at Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton, Northern Ireland, 23 June 1944. The British Fleet Air Arm (FAA) received 1,263 F6Fs Hellcats under … Read more

Canadian aircrew: Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Grumman Martlets

Grumman Martlets flown by RCN and RCNVR pilots in service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (RN Photo) Grumman Martlet flown by RCN and RCNVR pilots in service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy. Grumman Wildcats ordered by the French government in 1939, but when France fell to the Germans in 1940, the … Read more

Canadian Warplanes 3: Handley Page Halifax, RCAF

Handley Page Halifax (World War Photos) Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK. The Handley Page HP 57 Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War, developed to the same specification as the Avro Lancaster … Read more

Canadian Warplanes 3: Handley Page Hampden, RCAF

Handley Page Hampden (RCAF Photo via Chris Charland) Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944. Handley Page HP 52 Hampden Mk. I (96), (Serial Nos. L4142, 45, 57, L6069, P1167, P1200, 30, P1311, … Read more

Canadian Warplanes 3: Hawker Hurricane, RCAF

Hawker Hurricane (City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1023) Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, RCAF (Serial No. 314), Vancouver, British Columbia, 1939. The Hawker Hurricane is a single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF).  The Hurricane developed through … Read more

Canadian Warplanes 3: Bristol Beaufighter, RCAF

‍Bristol Beaufighter (IWM Photo, CH13180) Bristol Beaufighter Mk. X (Serial No. NE425), coded 2–G, No. 404 Squadron, RCAF, later coded EE, being fitted with 3-inch 25 lb rockets. The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often referred to simply as the “Beau”) was a multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War in the UK.  It was … Read more