RCAF Aviation History: Airmen in action, 1939-1945

RCAF airmen in action during the Second World War.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5101219)

RCAF Curtiss Kittyhawk pilots, No. 14 Squadron, RCAF, Alaska, c 1942. In 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy occupied two islands, Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutians off Alaska.  RCAF home defense Kittyhawk squadrons saw combat over the Aleutians, assisting the USAAF.  The RCAF initially sent No. 111 Squadron, flying the Kittyhawk Mk. I, to the US base on Adak island.  During the drawn-out campaign, 12 Canadian Kittyhawks operated on a rotational basis from a new, more advanced base on Amchitka,75 miles (121 km) southeast of Kiska.  No. 14 and No. 111 Sqns took "turn-about" at the base.  During a major attack on Japanese positions at Kiska on 25 September 1942, Squadron Leader Ken Boomer shot down a Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe seaplane.  The RCAF also purchased 12 P-40Ks directly from the USAAF while in the Aleutians.  After the Japanese threat diminished, these two RCAF squadrons returned to Canada and eventually transferred to England without their Kittyhawks.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4327476)

Two pilots head for aircraft for night flying at RCAF Station Uplands, Ontario, 18 Sep 1940.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4752280)

WO 1 René Briand, an RCAF wireless air gunner (WAG).  During his first tour of operations with the Alouette bomber squadron he flew on missions all over the Nazi territories of occupied Europe. This photo was taken inside his aircraft showing Briand sitting in front of his wireless set, 4 January 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4206886)

F/O Frank Moore and F/L Frederick Ashbaugh, No. 104 Squadron, RAF, (Legion Balkans). TJ15538 Flight Lieutenant Frederick Alexander Ashbaugh born in Busby, Alberta and raised in Vancouver, B.C. was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross while with No.104 (B) Squadron. The award was effective the 31st of August, 1944 as per London Gazette dated the 8th of September, 1944 and AFRO 2231/44 dated the 13th of October, 1944. Ashbaugh survived the war. The Squadron flew Wellingtons, then Liberators and finally the Lancaster B. Mk. VII (F.E. - Far East) until November, 1945 from Abu Sueir, Egypt. (Chris Charland)

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(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4558165)

RCAF Sergeant Boucher, Air Gunner, Sergeant Laliberté, Bomb-aimer and Sergeant Paradis, Air Gunner, under a Vickers Wellington bomber, 2 May 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5081612)

After sneaking to harass Allied shipping a German submarine was recently sighted and machine-gunned by a Coastal Command RCAF Sunderland Flying boat crew. L to R: WO1 J.O. Fink, WO1 T.E. Campbell, F/O W.J. Bice, P/O N.C. Rowley and F/O Thomas Speedie, 7 April 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, PL-43751, MIKAN No. 5081614)

RCAF Short Sunderland aircrew, L to R: F/O Frederick Field, P/O N.C. Rowley, WO1 T.E. Campbell, F/O W.J. Bice and WO1 J.O. Fink, Coastal Command, after their machine-gun attack on a German U-boat which had been attempting to harass Allied shipping.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4542831)

Tractor hauling high explosive to the heavy bombers of No. 6  Bomber Group RCAF Overseas, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4895150)

Canadian ground crew bombing up an RCAF bomber in the UK, 26 August 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4542834)

Canadian ground-crew bomb-up an RCAF heavy bomber in England, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4542833)

Canadian ground-crew refuel and bomb-up an RCAF heavy bomber in the UK, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3615003)

RCAF aircrew with an Avro Lancaster B.II (Serial No. DS848), coded QO:R, of No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron, RCAF, in the UK in 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5013713)

de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, RCAF aircrew Cleveland, Day, Lt Luma (USAAF), Colin Finlayson. 418 Squadron, 3 April 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5101130)

RCAF Squadron Leader D.C. Laubman holding his flying kit in front of a Supermarine Spitfire in the UK, 6 March 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199522)

Ground-crew servicing a Hawker Hurricane IIB aircraft of No. 402 (City of Winnipeg) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Fairwood Common, Wales, March 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4542808)

Motor Transport girls with No. 6 RCAF Bomber Group in England, c1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3209021)

Leading Aircraftsman M.J. Merentette of the Royal Canadian Air Force giving a mug of tea to Private R. Weaver of The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (British Army), a wounded soldier en route to England. France, 16 June 1944.

Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5162416)

These Canadians, members of an RAF Lancaster crew, wound up their tour of operations and the pair on the right, FS W.N. Elliott (centre) and FS D.J. Jaffary, air gunners, are headed for their homes. The pilot, F/L N.H. Armstrong, left remains in Britain to instruct at an OTU, 11 May 1945.

Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5162415)

After a tour on operations on the same RAF Lancaster crew. F/L Art H. Murton, left, pilot, has been posted back to Canada. His navigator, F/O H.M. Bertling, right, remains in Britain to instruct at an OTU. They specialized in mine laying, which required a high degree of bombing skill. F/L Art Murton received the DFC effective 30 October. He was with the RAF's No. 103 ( B ) Squadron.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5196718)

Squadron Leader Hay with Flight Lieutenant Turvey, No. 417 )Fighter) Squadron, RCAF, Italy, ca 1943-1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4302115)

RCAF Flight Sgt. C.R. Ryerse, of Port Dover, Ontario, at the controls of a Blenheim at an Operational Training Unit [OTU] in England, 28 March 1943.

Sadly, J19445 Flying Officer Clinton Richard Ryerse went missing in action on the 19th of September, 1944 while a piloting a Douglas Dakota (Serial No. FD865) from No. 267 (T) Squadron. He and his crew had been carrying out a transport flight. At the time, the squadron was based at Bari, Italy. Neither he nor any of the rest of the crew's remains were ever found. As a result, their names are inscribed on the Malta War Memorial. The Malta Memorial is situated in the area of Floriana just outside the main entrance to Malta's capital Valletta.

(Ken Bell, Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3229987)

Victory Salute by aircraft of No. 84 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force, with a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XIV of No. 430 Squadron, RCAF at Hengelo in the Netherlands, 15 May 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4205640)

F/O Ralph Hunter, veteran tactical recce pilot (Edmonton), with Captain Gilbert Uren (British) debriefing.  Waiting their turn are F/L Earl Ross (Pictou) and P/O Robert Farquharson (Glasgow), 28 Feb 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5559130)

The target was Sterkrade, a strategic industrial town in the Ruhr, Germany, heavily defended with flak batteries and night-fighters. The trio from No. 431 Iroquois Squadron shown here, are telling an intelligence officer how they saw the objective pranged. Shown are (left to right) P/O Hal Phillips from Vancouver, BV,  F/O Gordon Dumville from Rocanville, Saskatchewan, and F/O R. W. Harrison from Lorlie, Saskatchewan. All had completed more than ten missions with the RCAF Bomber Group, 17 June 1944.

16/17th June 1944, bombing raid on Sterkrade in the Ruhr with 321 Aircraft, including 162 Halifaxes, 147 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos – flown by Nos. 1, 4, 6 & 8 Groups to Attack the Synthetic-Oil Plant at Sterkrade/Holten despite a poor Weather Forecast. The Ruhrchemie AG Synthetic Oil Plant (“Oberhausen-Holten” or “Sterkrade/Holten”) was a Bombing Target of the Oil Campaign which pitted the RAF, the RCAF, and the USAAF against Facilities supplying Germany with Petroleum, Oil, and Lubrication (POL) Products.
The Target was found to be covered by thick Cloud and the Pathfinder Markers quickly disappeared. The Main Force Crews could do little but Bomb on to the diminishing Glow of the Markers in the Cloud. RAF Photographic Reconnaissance & German Reports agree that most of the Bombing was scattered, although some Bombs did fall in the Plant area, but with little effect upon Production. Unfortunately, the Route of the Bomber Stream passed near a German Night-Fighter Beacon at Bocholt, only 30-miles from Sterkrade. The German Controller had chosen this Beacon as the Holding Point for his Night Fighters. Approximately 21 Bombers were Shot Down by Fighters and a further 10 by Flak. 22 of the Lost Aircraft were Halifax’s, these losses being 13.6% of the 162 Halifax’s on the Raid.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5085632)

Operations monitoring at the Eastern Air Command HQ, Halifax, 9 January 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3574064)

Briefing of an RCAF photographic crew prior to a tri-metrogon photographic flight, 1 March 1945.

Trimetrogon is an aerial photographic survey method that involves the use of three cameras in one assembly. One camera is pointed directly downwards, and the other two are pointed to either side of the flight path at a 30° depression angle (60° from vertical).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583690)

Processing of prints for tri-metrogon mapping, No.1 Photographic Establishment, RCAF, Rockcliffe, Ontario, Canada, 1 March 1945.

Trimetrogon is an aerial photographic survey method that involves the use of three cameras in one assembly. One camera is pointed directly downwards, and the other two are pointed to either side of the flight path at a 30° depression angle (60° from vertical). The images overlap, allowing the use of stereographic interpretation of the topography. The name comes from the Metrogon cameras used in the original montages.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583694)

Processing of prints for tri-metrogon mapping, No.1 Photographic Establishment, RCAF, Rockcliffe, Ontario, Canada, 1 March 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3574066)

Preliminary indexing of prints for tri-metrogon mapping, No.1 Photographic Establishment, RCAF, Rockcliffe, Ontario, Canada, 1 March 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5022453)

F/L Jack E. Sheppard, Section Leader in the first Canadian fighter squadron formed in England, is shown with his Spitfire and "Dinghy" the Squadron mascot. F/L Sheppard had been overseas since August 1941, and at the time of the photo, had destroyed three Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, 3 April 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4752282)

S/L Eddie St-Jean is shown here standing in front of his Handley Page Halifax bomber, shortly after he had learned of his award of the DFC. He was a flight commander with the French-Canadian "Alouette" squadron overseas, No. 425 Squadron, RCAF, 21 February 1945.

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(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 5013595)

RCAF Flight Sergeants, F/Sgt. W.E. Egri, F/Sgt. S.H. Levitt and F/Sgt. L.J. Bouche, outside of Buckingham Palace after each received the Distinguished Flying Medal. 14 April 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.

RCAF airmen with a captured Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the UK, c1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583113)

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V, RCAF (Serial No. R7143) of No. 13 (Photographic) Squadron, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 14 January 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583263)

Leading Aircraftman Freemantle paints a mailbag symbol to indicate another overseas mail flight completed by Boeing Fortress Mk. II (Serial No. 9202) of No. 168 (Heavy Transport) Squadron, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 9 May 1944.

(Serial No. 9202) was a Fortress Mk. II (B-17F) along with (Serial Nos. 9204 and 9204). The Fortress Mk. IIA was the equivalent of the B-17E, which was what (Serial Nos. 9205-9207) were. For some reason the RAF received F model B-17's first and gave them the Mk. II designation before receiving any E models and therefore they received the sub-designation of Mk IIA. (Shayne Clayton)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583782)

Groundcrew stripping paint from a Lockheed Lodestar aircraft, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 13 July 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583579)

Personnel of No.1 Detachment of No. 14 (Photographic) Squadron, RCAF Station Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, 9 November 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3652264)

Members of R.C.A.F. Course No. 1 in pigeon handling, n.p., March 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3577677)

Releasing pigeon from aircraft, 15 September 1931.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4295597)

RCAF officer talks to a First Nations man employed on a construction site of one of the bases as part of operations concerning the Northwest Staging Route, September 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3225396)

RCAF recruit training, 1940 they look like they are dressed for the cold.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3589661)

Pilots, with a North American Harvard II aircraft in the background, who took part in a Single Engine Bombing Competition at No. 31 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) (Royal Canadian Airforce Schools and Training Units), Royal Canadian Air Force, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 13 July 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4625556)

Four Canadian members of a Vengeance dive bomber squadron, credited by the British Army with playing an important part in driving the Japanese from India in the recent struggles in the Imphal area, 23 September 1944.

(SDASM Photo)

RAF Vultee Vengeance, possibly at No. 1 (India) Maintenance Unit, Drigh Road, India.

(IWM Photo, CI 576)

RAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator and a Vultee Vengeance, No. 1 (India) Maintenance Unit, Drigh Road, India.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4485681)

RCAF officers from Alberta aboard SS Stratheden as it docked in Quebec: Front Row, left to right, F/L D.W. Schmidt, DFC and Bar, Wetaskiwin; F/O H.E. Patch, DFM, Vegreville; F/L G.A. Berry, DFC, Lloydminster; F/O J. Perry, Lethbridge; Back Row, left to right, F/L J.M. Calder, DFC, Edmonton; F/L G.L. Scott, DFC, Innisfail; F/O G.P. Bodard, DFC, Edmonton; F/L E.S. Dunn, DFC, Calgary and formerly of Medicine Hat, 13 July 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4327474)

Meteorology observer taking wet and dry bulb thermometer readings from instruments housed in Stevenson screen, 16 Sep 1940.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4327475)

Meteorology observer checks bearings on theodolite before releasing pilot balloon which gives speed and direction of upper air currents, 16 September 1940.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4818153)

Air Vice-Marshal McEwen shaking hands with Air Vice-Marshal Brookes, 4 March 1944.