416 Tactical Fighter Squadron

Canadian air force squadron

416 Tactical Fighter Squadron
ActiveNovember 18, 1941–July 6, 2006
Country Canada
Branch Royal Canadian Air Force
TypeAviation squadron
Motto(s)Ad Saltum paratus (Ready for the leap)
Battle honoursDefence of Britain 1942-44; English Channel and North Sea 1943; Fortress Europe 1942-44; Dieppe; France and Germany 1944-45; Normandy 1944; Arnhem; Rhine; Gulf and Kuwait.
Aircraft flown
FighterCF-18 Hornet
Military unit
Sabre Mk 5 of No. 416 Squadron at RCAF Station Grostenquin, France, 1953
CF-100 Canucks of No. 416 Squadron at RCAF Station St.Hubert. QC, 1960
CF101B Voodoo of 416 (AWF) Squadron from CFB Chatham, NB, 1980

416 "City of Oshawa" Tactical Fighter Squadron (416 TFS) was a unit of the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron operated the CF-18 Hornet fighter jet from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada. In 2006, 416 TFS stood down and was amalgamated with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron to form 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron.

The unit was originally formed during the Second World War as a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

History

No. 416 Squadron RCAF was formed at RAF Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1941 as a fighter squadron for service during the Second World War and was based at various RAF stations in Scotland, England and continental Europe. The squadron was disbanded in March 1946. The squadron was reformed in 1952 at RCAF Uplands in Ottawa, Ontario for operations in Europe as part of Canada's Cold War presence. The squadron was located at Grostenquin, France. By 1957, the squadron was relocated to Canada at RCAF St Hubert near Montreal as an air defence squadron flying Avro Canada CF-100 all weather fighters. In 1962, the CF-100s were replaced with the CF-101 Voodoo and the squadron was moved to RCAF Chatham, New Brunswick, where they flew the interceptor until the end of 1984. 416 Squadron thus became the world's last front-line unit flying Voodoos.

In 1988 the squadron relocated to CFB Cold Lake as a Tactical Fighter Squadron flying CF-188s, and later merged with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron to reform 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron in 2006.

The squadron's nickname was City of Oshawa, Lynx.

Battle honours

  • Defence of Britain 1942-44
  • English Channel and North Sea 1943
  • Fortress Europe 1942-44
  • Dieppe
  • France and Germany 1944-45
  • Normandy 1944
  • Arnhem
  • Rhine
  • Gulf and Kuwait

Aircraft

References

Notes
Bibliography
  • Hitchens, F.H.; Hovey, H. Richard; Schmidt, Don; McNamaee, Harold (eds). 416 Squadron: Complete History 416 Squadron. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Graphic Arts, 1974. (Limited edition of 300 books). Republished by Hangar Bookshelf (1987).
  • Johnson, Rick with Hitchens, F.H.; Hovey, H. Richard; Schmidt, Don; McNamaee, Harold. 416 Squadron History. Belleville, Ontario, Canada: The Hangar Bookshelf, 1984. [ISBN missing].

External links

  • DND – History of 416 Squadron
  • History of 416 Squadron
  • 416 Squadron bases 1939–1945
  • flagCanada portal
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Squadron
numbers
Pre-WWII Squadrons
100-series squadrons
WW2 400-series
Article XV squadrons
WW2 600-series
AOP squadrons1
Post-war squadrons
Squadron
codes
WW2 Canada
1 August 1939 - May 1942
Unit formation in 1940 - May 1942
  • AN
  • BF
  • GK
  • GV
  • LU
  • PO
  • QE
  • TQ
  • RA
Dartmouth Hurricanes 1942
May 1942 - 16 October 1942
WW2 Overseas
1940-1946
Operational squadrons
Transport squadrons
Post-WW2
1947 - 1958
1947 - 1951 (VCXXA)3
1951 - 1958 (XXnnn)4
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 VCXXA where VC was the civil code used by the RCAF replacing CF-, XX was the unit code and A was the aircraft ID letter

4 XXnnn 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