Second World War Bomber Squadrons
The Royal Canadian Air Force raised bomber squadrons overseas in the Second World War, most of them in No. 6 (RCAF) Group in Yorkshire. This map shows 15 squadrons at the base where each formed and 73 later bases and stays. Click any dot for the squadron's name, dates and a link to its people and history.
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Large dots are the base where a squadron formed (its first base); small dots are the bases it moved to, including the squadrons' stay in North Africa and the Tiger Force squadrons' move to Nova Scotia in 1945. The dashed line follows a squadron's bases in order. Many squadrons shared a base, so a numbered disc stands for that many squadrons: click it to see them all. Use the year slider (or Play) to watch the bases build up year by year from 1941 to 1946 (each stays on the map once it has opened), the country list to look at one country, and Full screen for a bigger map. Click the map, then scroll, to zoom. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
All units on the map
Bomber squadron (15)
- RCAF 405 Squadron "Vancouver", Driffield (1941–1941)
- RCAF 408 Squadron "Goose", Lindholme (1941–1941)
- RCAF 415 Squadron "Swordfish", Thorney Island (1941–1942)
- RCAF 419 Squadron "Moose", Mildenhall (1941–1942)
- RCAF 420 Squadron "Snowy Owl", Waddington (1941–1942)
- RCAF 424 Squadron "Tiger", Topcliffe (1942–1942)
- RCAF 425 Squadron "Alouette", Dishforth (1942–1942)
- RCAF 426 Squadron "Thunderbird", Dishforth (1942–1942)
- RCAF 427 Squadron "Lion", Croft (1942–1942)
- RCAF 428 Squadron "Ghost", Dalton (1942–1942)
- RCAF 429 Squadron "Bison", East Moor (1942–1943)
- RCAF 431 Squadron "Iroquois", Burn (1942–1943)
- RCAF 432 Squadron "Leaside", Skipton-on-Swale (1943–1943)
- RCAF 433 Squadron "Porcupine", Skipton-on-Swale (1943–1945)
- RCAF 434 Squadron "Bluenose", Tholthorpe (1943–1943)