Commonwealth Air Forces

[gekho]

104 British-built Lysanders were delivered to Canada supplementing 225 that were built under license at Malton, Ontario (near Toronto) with production starting in October 1938 and the first aircraft flying in August 1939. The RCAF primarily operated them in the Army Co-operation role, where they represented a major improvement over the antiquated Westland Wapiti which could trace its origins back to 1916. Initial training was conducted at Rockcliffe, Ontario (now a part of Ottawa, Ontario) with 123 Squadron running an Army Cooperation school there. Units that operated the Lysander for training in this role in Canada include 2 Squadron, 110 Squadron (which became 400 Squadron overseas) and 112 Squadron.

414 Squadron RCAF was formed overseas with Lysanders, joining 2 Squadron RCAF, 110 squadron RCAF and 112 Squadron RCAF and all four were ready to begin operations when the high losses suffered by RAF Lysanders put plans on hold but they continued training with the Lysanders until replacements were available. 118 Squadron and 122 Squadron would be the only units to use their Lysanders for active duty operations - 118 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and 122 at various locations on Vancouver Island where they performed anti-submarine patrols and conducted search and rescue operations. During the same period, 121 Squadron used the Lysander for Target Towing duties, with a high visibility yellow and black striped paint job but by late 1944 all Lysanders had been withdrawn from flying duties.

 

[Crimea_River]

Keep it coming! Good stuff.

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[Catch22]

Cool!

 

[gekho]

The Fairey Battle was a disaster as a light day bomber, being too slow, vulnerable and under-gunned for air warfare in Second World War. Those surviving the early war years were reallocated to training duties. From August 1939, 739 Battles served in Canada as trainers. Most were used for bombing and gunnery training, with a small number equipped as target tugs. Some aircraft had the rear cockpit replaced with a Bristol turret for turret-gunnery training.

After First World War, relatively slow, light bombers were considered militarily feasible until, early in Second World War, Fairey Battles were blown from the sky by fast single-seat fighters and anti-aircraft fire. Their place in the military armoury was filled by fighter aircraft which were fast and could effectively defend themselves after dropping their bomb.

 

[gekho]

Canada developed a very sizable aircraft industry during the Second World War, and one of the aircraft it produced in large numbers was the Consolidated Catalina. Between then Boeing of Canada and Canadian Vickers produced 721 Catalinas, many of which served in Canada as the Canso, with the RAF as the Catalina IVB or with the USAAF as the OA-10. The first PBYs to serve with the RCAF were actually produced by Consolidated between August and November 1941. These thirty six aircraft were designated as the Catalina IIA by the RAF and the Canso in Canada.

 

[gekho]

In the middle of May 1940 Canada had its first look at the Curtiss P-40. At that time a party of American officers flew to Uplands Airport near Ottawa where they saw the XP-40 and a Spitfire I had flown in comparative tests. Wing Commander F.V. Beamish (RAF) and Squadron Leader E.A. McNab were critical of the XP-40, feeling that although it had its merits; it was not as good a fighter as the Spitfire, an opinion which the wartime use of the two types proved. Nevertheless, in 1941-42 there were not enough Spitfires for everyone, and both overseas and in Canada, RCAF squadrons found themselves flying Tomahawks and Kittyhawks, aircraft which proved quite equal to the tasks assigned to them.

 

[gekho]

The Royal Canadian Air Force had 148 Liberators on its roster between April 1943 and June 1948. Liberators served operationally with both 10(BR) and 11(BR) Squadrons on the East coast. To Liberator III's go the distinction of sinking two submarines and seriously damaging another. In addition 168 (Transport) Squadron used converted GR.VI's on trans-Atlantic transport duties during the closing months of the war. The conversion to transport was made to a number of Liberator GR.Mk.VI from July 1944 onward. No. 412 Squadron used transport "Libs" briefly in 1947 and until the type was retired in the summer of 1948. Liberator Mk.III and Mk.V were virtually indistinguishable from one another. Both frequently had a "chin" radar installation - a bulbous, half tear-drop under the nose - not unlike the present day Argus installation, while the others had a clean "chin" with the radar in a cylindrical housing which retracted into the belly, aft of the bomb-bay. Liberator GR.Mk.VI had a nose turret, thus making it slightly slower but offering greatly improved forward fire power on the final run in on a submarine. The belts were well laced with tracer to further convince submarines, well protected by armour, that they were in grave danger. Both versions could be fitted with a Leigh light, which from the pilot's point of view was an improvement over the landing lights normally used in night attacks. However it gave the aircraft the performance one might logically expect from a Liberator with a permanently dead fifth engine hanging outboard of number four on the right wing.

The Liberators used by Coastal Command were known as VLR (Very Long Range ) aircraft. The term was most appropriate because 12 to 15 hours out of sight of land without the luxury of a Sunderland's galley or the Canso's bunks certainly heightened the illusion of VLR, a term no doubt coined by the first returning crew. The Liberator GR.Mk.VIII was essentially a GR.VI made by another manufacturer. Old "Lib" pilots recognized them instantly, while kicking the nose wheel tire, because the nose wheel doors opened outward instead of Inward. It is perhaps significant that all the major improvements made to the Liberator detracted from its speed, which is reason enough for quoting a profound observation made by another observer of this phenomenon, "The Liberator was the only Allied aircraft which depended on the curvature of the earth for take off." All GR (General Reconnaissance) Liberators were finished in white overall, except for the plan view which was patterned in the temperate sea scheme. The white paint produced a true matte finish which required frequent scrubbing with Varsol to keep it from absorbing the oil and grime produced by the turbo-superchargers on the underside of the four engine nacelles, two of these being cleverly lined up with the twin fin and rudders. To those who flew the "Lib" she was an absolutely reliable aircraft - mild mannered, if somewhat ponderous; stable to the point of being unmanoeuverable; reliable; dry in wet weather; quiet on the flight deck and unbearably noisy aft; a long, gymnastic trek from nose to tail turret while in flight; reliable; and much maligned by Lancaster crews who insisted on behaving like fighter types when in the presence of a lady.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice stuff!

 

[gekho]

The Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10. By 1940 it was considered to be underpowered, to have inadequate defensive armament and carried too small a bomb load. Many were destroyed during the Pearl Harbor Attack and in the Philippines in early December 1941. By 1942 the survivors were relegated to antisubmarine or transport duty. A B-18 was one of the first American aircraft to sink a German U-Boat, the U-654 on 22 August 1942.

The Royal Canadian Air Force acquired 20 B-18As (designated the Douglas Digby Mark I), and also used them for patrol duties. On 2 October 1942, a B-18A, piloted by Captain Howard Burhanna Jr. of the 99th Bomb Squadron, depth charged and sank the German U-boat U-512 north of Cayenne, French Guiana. Bolos and Digbys sank an additional two submarines during the course of the war. RCAF Eastern Air Command (EAC) Digbys carried out 11 attacks on U-boats. U-520 was confirmed sunk by Flying Officer F. Raymes' crew of No 10 (BR) Sqn, on 30 October 1942.[3] east of Newfoundland. However, the antisubmarine role was relatively short-lived, and the Bolos were superseded in this role in 1943 by the B-24 Liberator which had a substantially longer range and a much heavier payload.

 

[gekho]

During the early stages of development the Bristol company designed a derivative of the Blenheim, the Type 149, in response to an Air Ministry request for a coastal reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft to replace the Avro Anson. The Type 149 was a Blenheim with greater fuel capacity and a lengthened nose for an observer and his gear. The Air Ministry then began to worry that this new aircraft would interfere with the production of the Blenheim I already underway. Instead, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ordered production in Canada as the Bolingbroke Mk I, and the prototype was shipped to Canada to help start the production lines at Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. The Type 149 would enter production in the UK as the Blenheim Mk IV. By 1939, most Blenheim Is had been replaced in Britain by the new Mk IV. The Mk Is continued to serve as trainers and a number were converted into night fighters.

 

[gekho]

The Short Sunderland was a long-range general reconnaisance and anti-submarine flying-boat and was a military variant of the famous "C" Class Empire boats. The Sunderland's strong defensive armament earned it the nickname "Flying Porcupine" from the Germans, and its remarkably sound design earned it a place in aviation history as one of the finest flying-boats ever built.

RCAF 422 and 423 (General Reconnaissance) Squadrons, working under Coastal Command in Europe, and flying out of England, Ireland, and Scotland, flew a total of 74 RAF Sunderland Mk.IIs and IIIs, as did numerous Canadians flying in RAF squadrons. There are seven recorded incidents of RCAF squadron Sunderlands having sunk German U-boats. Three are believed to have been lost while in action against U-boats, and throughout the war, 422 Squadron alone lost 11 Aircraft and 52 aircrew while flying 1116 operational missions, while 423 Squadron lost 6 Aircraft and 49 aircrew while flying 1392 operational missions.

 

[buffnut453]

Wasn't the B-18 named the Digby in Commonwealth service?

 

[Crimea_River]

Isn't that what the text says?

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff. Those shots of the Catalina in the swell of the waves are pretty powerful.

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool!

 

[gekho]

Over a thousand Mosquitoes were produced by de Havilland's Canadian subsidiary. The first of these was the B Mk VII, of which twenty five were produced. After that another seven Mosquito marks were produced in Canada, all variants on standard versions of the aircraft. There is some confusion over the number of Mosquitoes produced in Canada. Official records suggest 1133 were flown. However, adding up all of the separate production figures for the different types produces a figure of 1065. A large number of FB Mk 26s were cancelled, but some of the aircraft officially cancelled then appear to have been completed anyway, which may explain some of the difference.

 

[gekho]

Little different from the biplanes of First World War and totally obsolete by Second World War, the Fairey Swordfish remarkably remained operational until after 1945. Slow and almost defenceless, it was a successful torpedo bomber against light opposition. Swordfish crippled the Italian fleet at Taranto and helped to sink the German battleship Bismarck. Its main advantage was strength, ease of maintenance, and viceless flying qualities. Swordfish could be flown from aircraft carriers, even in rough seas. By the end of 1941, the wartime Swordfish was confined mainly to anti-submarine operations.

In Canada, Swordfish operated from the Naval Gunnery School in Yarmouth and the Royal Navy Station at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In 1946, Fleet Requirement Unit 743 (RCN) was equipped with Swordfish. Its naval nickname was "Stringbag". The Fairey Albacore went into service early in the war, but proved little better than the Swordfish, which it was intended to replace. In Canada, the open cockpits of some Swordfish were fitted with sliding hoods for more comfortable winter operations.

 

[gekho]

The original three Ansons were built to civil specifications. The design was then modified for RAF use on coastal patrols. Early in Second World War, the Anson was selected as the standard twin-engine aircrew trainer for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan . To ensure availability, a production line was set up in Canada. By 1943 Canadian modifications resulted in the Anson V. Canada built 2 880 Ansons. After the war, Ansons continued in civilian use as light transports.

The Anson V featured a unique moulded-plywood fuselage which replaced the fabric-covered fuselage of earlier models. The smooth contours of the new fuselage enhanced performance and made the aircraft relatively draft-free, an important factor in the Canadian climate. The all-wood Anson was popular for magnetic surveys in Canada's north. Stable, strong, and reliable, it was known as "faithful Annie". After a crash 565 km (350 mi) north of Edmonton, an Anson was flown out with almost 3 metres (10 ft) removed from each wing to even up the damage. Needing full power to fly, it ran out of fuel and landed on the frozen Athabasca River. The pilot temporarily lost his licence, but saved the Anson.