426 Squadron
General Information:
Years Active:1949 – 1962
Current Home Station:
| CFB Trenton, Ontario | July 1971 – Present (2026) |
Historic Home Stations:
| RAF Station Dishforth, Yorkshire. | 15 October 1942 – 17 June 1943 |
| RAF Station Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire, England – | 18 June 1943 – 24 May 1945. |
| Driffield, Yorks. | 25 May 45 – 24 Jun 45. |
| Tempsford, Beds. | 25 Jun 45 – 1 Jan 46. |
| RCAF Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | 1 August 1946 – March 1947 |
| RCAF Station Lachine, Quebec – March 1947 – | |
| McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington, USA | July 1950 – July 1951 |
| RCAF Station Lachine, Quebec | July 1951 – August 1959 |
| RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario | September 1959 – December 1961 |
| RCAF Station St Hubert, Quebec | January 1962 – September 1962 |
| CFB Uplands, Ontario | May – July 1971 |
Historic Aircraft:
| Vickers Wellington Mk.III – | October 1942 – April 1943 |
| Vickers Wellington, Bomber Mk.X – | March 1943 – June 1943 |
| Avro Lancaster, Bomber Mk.II – | July 1943 – May 1944 |
| Handley Page Halifax, Bomber Mk.III – | April 1944 – June 1944, December 1944 – March 1945 |
| Handley Page Halifax, Bomber Mk.VII – | June 1944 – May 1945 |
| Consolidated Liberator, Cargo Mk.VI – | July 1945 – December 1945 |
| Consolidated Liberator, Cargo Mk.VIII – | July 1945 – December 1945 |
| Douglas Dakota | August 1946 – Approximately April 1948 |
| Lockheed Lodestar | August 1946 – September/October 1946 |
| Canadair North Star | September 1947 – September 1962 |
- Lockheed CC-130 Hercules
- CC-130H ( – )
- CC-130J ( – Present)
- Airbus CC-150 Polaris ( – )
Commander:
| Wing Commander Sedley Selby Blanchard Killed in action. | 15 October 1942 – 14 February 1943 |
| Wing Commander Leslie Crooks, DSO, DFC Killed in action (RAF) | 15 February 1943 – 17 August 1943 |
| Wing Commander W.H. Swetman, DSO, DFC | 18 August 1943 – 4 April 1944 |
| Wing Commander E.C. Hamber, DFC | 8 April 1944 – 10 July 1944 |
| Wing Commander C.W. Burgess | 11 July 1944 – 2 January 1945 |
| Wing Commander Fitzroy Cavendish Carling-Kelly Prisoner of War | 3 January 1945 – 28 January 45 |
| Wing Commander C.M. Black, DFC | 29 January 1945 – 24 May 45 |
| Wing Commander D.R. Miller, AFC | 25 May 1945 – 11 December 1945. |
| Wing Commander J.F. Green, DFC | 12 December 1945 – 1 January 1946. |
| Wing Commander C.A. Willis, DFC | August 1946 – February 1947 |
| Wing Commander C.G.W. Chapman, DSO | March 1947 – February 1949 |
| Wing Commander C.H. Mussells, OBE, DSO, DFC | February 1949 – March 1951 |
| Wing Commander J.K.F. MacDonald, DFC, CD | June 1951 – August 1952 |
| Wing Commander H.W. Lupton, AFC | September 1952 – July 1955 |
| Wing Commander A.J. Mackie, DFC, CD | July 1955 – November 1959 |
| Wing Commander J.O. Maitland, CD | November 1959 – October 1961 |
| Wing Commander A.J. Mackie, DFC, CD | October 1961 – September 1962 |
| Lieutenant Colonel D. Kuhn | July 1971 – |
Battle Honors:
| ENGLISH CHANNEL AND NORTH SEA | 1943 |
| BALTIC | 1943 |
| BISCAY | 1943 |
| FORTRESS EUROPE | 1943-1944 |
| FRANCE AND GERMANY | 1944-1945 |
| Biscay Ports | 1943-1944 |
| Ruhr | 1943-1945 |
| Berlin | 1943-1944 |
| German Ports, | 1943-1945 |
| Normandy | 1944 |
| Rhine |
Daily Diary / Historical Reports / ORB Links:
Key Dates / Notes:
- 15 October 1942 – Authorized as ‘No.426 (Bomber) Squadron’
- 25 May 1945 – Redesignated ‘426 (Transport) Squadron’
- 31 December 1945 – Disbanded
- 1 August 1946 – Reform Squadron at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The Unit was reformed from the Dartmouth Detachment of ‘164 (Transport) Squadron’
- 1 March 1947 – Squadron Relocated to Dorval, Quebec
- 12 September 1947 – First North Star Aircraft arrives at the squadron.
- May 1949 – Reissue all Organization Orders
- July 1950 – Unit operating out of McChord Air Force Base Tacoma, Washington, USA. The unit was located here to support operations on the Pacific Airlift.
- Fall 1950 – The squadron took in to use a Guidon that they carried in the Armed Forces Day Parade while the Squadron was operating from McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma,Washington, USA. It appears that the Guidon Was in the Custody of CFB Edmonton at some point.(according to the book Old Colours Never Die)
- 1 July 1951 – Relocate Squadron Back to Dorval, Quebec
- December 1954 – Rewrite of all organization orders
- After 1 January 1961 – Squadron relocated to RCAF Station St Hubert, Quebec from RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario.
- 31 August 1962 – Squadron disbanded at RCAF Station St Hubert, Quebec. A rear party was to be maintained to continue supporting the Pisa component until their closeout on 9 September 1962.
- 9 March 1967 – The Squadrons Guidon was lain up at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario.
- 3 May 1971 – Reformed as ‘426 Transport Training Squadron’, from ‘4 Field Technical Training Unit’ (authorized 10 March 1959) and ‘4 Transport Operational Training Unit’ (authorized 1 March 1952).
- 19 August 1978 – Squadron Standard presented by the Honourable Pauline McGibbon, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.
Ephemera:
Internal Links:
External Links:
Sources:
- RCAF Squadrons and Aircraft, John Griffin and S. Kostenuk, 1977
- Old Colours Never Die, Francis J. Dunbar and Joseph H. Harper, 1992
I was in Athens in around 1958 involved with the salvage of a North Star. I was with the 2 Wing Salvage crew. I can’t recall if it was an aircraft from 426 Squadron. It took us a month to strip the aircraft before we hauled the airframe to the scrap pile.