| 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron | |
|---|---|
| 442e Escadron de transport et de sauvetage | |
 Squadron badge featuring ahaietlik | |
| Active | 1944–1945, 1946–1964, 1968–present |
| Country | Canada |
| Branch | Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Type | Tactical transport, search and rescue |
| Part of | 19 Wing Comox |
| Mottos | Un Dieu, une reine, un cœur (French for 'One God, one queen, one heart') |
| Battle honours |
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| Website | canada |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Rivard |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Transport | Past -Grumman HU-16 Albatross,C-47 Skytrain,CC-115 Buffalo,CH-113 Labrador. Current -Lockheed CC-130 Hercules,CC-295 Kingfisher andAgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant |
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron (French:442e Escadron de transport et de sauvetage) is aRoyal Canadian Air Force tactical transport andsearch and rescue unit based atCanadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox inBritish Columbia. The squadron flies sixCC-295 Kingfisher aircraft, replacing sixCC-115 BuffaloSTOL aircraft, which have been retired as of 2020, and fiveAgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant rescue helicopters. One of each is on constant readiness to deploy in response to distress calls in theVictoria Search and Rescue Region, which includes most of British Columbia and the territory ofYukon as well as 560,000 square kilometres in the Pacific Ocean, up to 600 nautical miles (1,100 km) offshore. The squadron also serves as the operational training unit for the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft.
The unit was first activated in 1942 flying Curtis Kittyhawks as 14 Fighter Squadron with theRCAF Western Air Command due to the threat to Canada's west coast after thePearl Harbor attack. The squadron moved to Alaska and participated onstrafing and bombing missions against then-Japanese heldKiska during theAleutian Islands Campaign.[2] The squadron was then renumbered to 442 Fighter Squadron and transferred toEngland in January 1944 and flew attack and long-range bomber escort sorties inNorthwest Europe flying the North American Mustang IV, claiming over 58 enemy aircraft and hundreds of vehicles, locomotives and rail cars.[3] The squadron was disbanded in England in 1945 following the end of hostilities, and reformed a year later atRCAF Station Sea Island as an auxiliary fighter squadron with deHavilland Vampires. Starting in 1956 the Vampires were augmented with the more modern Canadair Sabre 5. However, by 1958 they reequipped with deHavilland Otters and Beech Expeditors flying as a redesignated auxiliary transport squadron.[4] It was again disbanded in 1964.
The squadron was reformed during the 1968unification of the Canadian Forces as442 Communications and Rescue Squadron atCFB Comox before being redesignated to its current name and role a few months later. Since then, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron has become the busiest search and rescue unit in the country.[5]
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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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