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| No. 421 (Red Indian) Squadron RCAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 9 April 1942 to 23 July 1945 15 September 1949 to 31 August 1992 |
| Country |  Canada |
| Branch | .svg) Royal Canadian Air Force andRoyal Canadian Artillery |
| Type | Article XV squadron |
| Nickname | Red Indian |
| Motto | Bellicum Cecinere |
| Battle honours | Defence of Britain 1942-43, Fortress Europe 1942-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Normandy 1944 Arnhem Rhine |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Supermarine Spitfire de Havilland Vampire Canadair Sabre Canadair CF-104 Starfighter McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet |
No. 421 Squadron RCAF was a unit of theRoyal Canadian Air Force. It was the last RCAF fighter squadron to be formed in the UK duringWorld War II.
Initially established atRAF Digby in April 1942 withSupermarine Spitfire Mk VA, the squadron moving toRAF Fairwood Common in May and received SpitfireMk VB.
The squadron's motto wasBellicum cecinere ("They have sounded the war trumpet").[1] Its badge was, in front of two tomahawks in saltire, aRed Indian warrior.
During 1942 the squadron was under10 Group and flew its mission fromRAF Warmwell,RAF Fairwood Common,RAF Bolt Head,RAF Ibsley,RAF Angle,RAF Zeals andRAF Charmy Down.[2] In January 1943 the squadron joined the127 (Canadian) Wing and moved toRAF Redhill. Late in spring of 1943 the squadron receivedSpitfire Mk IX and flew under the command of Wing CommanderJohnnie Johnson.[3]
In preparation for theNormandy landings the 127 Wing was assigned toRAF Second Tactical Air Force. On June 16 the squadron was along with the other squadrons of 127 Wing the first to be moved toNormandy and flewair superiority missions. After theallied breakout and quick advance towards theReich 421 squadron was based inAdvanced landing ground B-56Evere inBelgium by October 1944. During December 1944 the squadron receivedSpitfire XVI. In 1945 the unit participated in the liberation of the Netherlands, before moving into Germany. At the end of the war the unit had achieved over 90 aerial victories.
Having been disbanded shortly after the war the squadron was re-activated on 15 September 1949 atChatham flyingVampire aircraft. It moved overseas flying fromRAF Odiham in the UK between January and November 1951. The squadron returned to Canada still flying Vampires fromRCAF station St-Hubert until September 1952 when it returned overseas flyingCanadair Sabres fromGrostenquin, France. In 1962 it was equipped withCF-104 Starfighters and in 1967 the squadron moved toZweibrücken becoming part of1 Air Division RCAF (later renamed 1 Canadian Air Group) based atCFB Baden-Soellingen, West Germany. During the early 1980s it was equipped withCF-18 Hornets. At the end of theCold War the squadron was disbanded and its aircraft and personnel returned to Canada.[4]
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1Aircraft administered and serviced by the RCAF but crewed by theRoyal Canadian Artillery. 2 Non-standard code as unit using OW added L. Letters normally denoted parent Command, aircraft type (LLiberator transport, DDakota etc), unit, and individual aircraft. 3 VC .svg) XXA where VC was the civil code used by the RCAF replacing CF-, XX was the unit code and A was the aircraft ID letter4 XX nnn 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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