No. 6 Group RCAF | |
---|---|
Active | 25 October 1942 – 31 August 1945 |
Country | Canada |
Branch | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Role | Strategic and tactical bombing |
Size | 14 squadrons at peak strength |
Part of | RAF Bomber Command |
Garrison/HQ | Allerton Park, Yorkshire |
Motto(s) | Latin: Sollertia et ingenium ("Initiative and skill") [1] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Air Vice-Marshal G.E. Brookes, Air Vice-Marshal C.M. McEwen |
Insignia | |
Group badge heraldry | A maple leaf superimposed on a York rose [1] |
Aircraft flown | |
Bomber | Vickers Wellington Short Stirling Handley Page Halifax Avro Lancaster |
Trainer | British Aircraft Eagle Foster Wikner Wicko Airspeed Oxford |
No. 6 Group RCAF was a group of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) heavy bomber squadrons in Europe during the Second World War, between 1942 and 1945. The group operated out of airfields in Yorkshire, England.
No. 6 Group was a Royal Canadian Air Force formation, differing from the previous No. 6 Group RAF. In 1936, No. 1 (Air Defence) Group RAF, a group of auxiliary bomber squadrons formed in 1926, was renamed No. 6 (Auxiliary) Group. No. 6 (Auxiliary) Group was renamed No. 6 (Bomber) Group on 1 January 1939. No. 6 (Bomber) Group initially was an operational bomber group. The first bombing attack on the naval base at Wilhelmshaven was by Nos. 107 and 110 Squadrons from No. 6 (Bomber) Group RAF with Bristol Blenheim bombers on 4 September 1939. In the spring of 1940, that group became dedicated to controlling Bomber Command Operational Training Units providing three months training to new bomber crews and occasionally adding bombers to bomber streams. No. 6 (Bomber) Group RAF was renamed No. 91 (Bomber) Group RAF on 11 May 1942 and the 6 Group designation was transferred to the RCAF on 25 October 1942. [2] [3]
No. 6 Group RCAF was made up of Article XV squadrons: RCAF units formed under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, for service with British operational formations; hence No. 6 Group was part of Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command. However, a significant number of personnel from the RAF, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and other Allied air forces were attached to 6 Group during the war.
Significant operations involving 6 Group included raids on U-boat bases in Lorient and Saint-Nazaire, France and night bombing raids on industrial complexes and urban centres in Germany.
The RCAF began participating in operations by RAF Bomber Command in 1941, but its squadrons were initially attached to RAF groups. In addition, many individual RCAF personnel belonged to RAF aircrews, in RAF squadrons. The Canadian government wanted RCAF bomber squadrons and personnel to be concentrated, as much as possible, in a distinct, identifiably Canadian group. To this end, 6 (RCAF) Group was formed on 25 October 1942 [4] with eight squadrons.
At the peak of its strength, 6 Group consisted of 14 squadrons. [5] Fifteen squadrons would eventually serve with the group, which was almost every RCAF heavy bomber squadron. [5] [6] Headquarters for 6 Group was at Allerton Park near Knaresborough and Harrogate in North Yorkshire.
Station | Squadron | Aircraft | Version |
---|---|---|---|
RAF Croft | No. 420 Squadron RCAF No. 427 Squadron RCAF 1535 BATF | Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington Airspeed Oxford | Mk.III Mks.III, X |
RAF Dishforth | No. 424 Squadron RCAF No. 425 Squadron RCAF No. 426 Squadron RCAF No. 428 Squadron RCAF No. 1659 (Canadian) Heavy Conversion Unit RAF 1512 BATF | Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington Handley Page Halifax Airspeed Oxford | Mks.III, X Mks.III, X Mks.III, X Mks.III, X Mks.I, II |
RAF Leeming | No. 420 Squadron RCAF | Handley Page Halifax | Mk.II |
RAF Middleton St. George | No. 419 Squadron RCAF | Handley Page Halifax | Mk.II |
RAF Skipton-on-Swale | No. 408 Squadron RCAF | Handley Page Halifax | Mk.II |
RAF Topcliffe | Group Communications Flight (GCF) | British Aircraft Eagle Foster Wikner Wicko |
No. 6 Group flew 40,822 operational sorties. [4] A total of 814 aircraft [4] and approximately 5,700 airmen did not return from operations and 4,203 [10] airmen lost their lives.
No. 6 Group was mainly formed from 4 Group, which was based primarily in Yorkshire. Once split, most of 6 Group`s airfields were north of York and most of 4 Group`s were south and east of the city. [11] Like most other groups within RAF Bomber Command, the "base" system was used for station organization. [12]
Four bases comprising 11 stations made up No. 6 Group. A base consisted of a main station, or headquarters, and a number of sub-stations. Late in 1943, Bomber Command bases were designated with a two-number identifier. The first number represented the group number, and the second number represented the base within that group. The first base within the group was the group's training base. No. 61 Base was therefore the training base for No. 6 Group. Each base was commanded by an air commodore, and each station was commanded by a group captain.
No. 61 (RCAF) Base [13] | No. 62 (RCAF) (Beaver) Base [14] | No. 63 (RCAF) Base [13] | No. 64 (RCAF) Base [13] |
---|---|---|---|
RAF Topcliffe, Yorkshire (HQ) | RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire (HQ) | RAF Leeming, Yorkshire (HQ) | RAF Middleton St. George, County Durham (HQ) |
RAF Dishforth, Yorkshire | RAF East Moor, Yorkshire | RAF Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire | RAF Croft, North Yorkshire |
RAF Dalton, Yorkshire | RAF Tholthorpe, Yorkshire | ||
RAF Wombleton, Yorkshire | |||
No. 6 Group's commanders were: [15]
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1914, with the formation of the Canadian Aviation Corps (CAC) that was attached to the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. It consisted of one aircraft that was never called into service. In 1918, a wing of two Canadian squadrons called the Canadian Air Force (CAF) was formed in England and attached to the Royal Air Force, but it also would never see wartime service. Postwar, an air militia also known as the Canadian Air Force was formed in Canada in 1920. In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) when it was granted the royal title by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968.
Royal Air Force Syerston, commonly known simply as RAF Syerston, is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during the Second World War, operating Vickers Wellingtons, Avro Manchesters, and the Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Post-war, it became home to Jet Provosts of the 2 Flying Training School. It is now home to the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School.
Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire, England.
No. 5 Group RAF was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane.
RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Transport Auxiliary were also stationed at the airfield.
Royal Air Force Swinderby or more simply RAF Swinderby is a former Royal Air Force station airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in the 1930s. It was built near the village of Swinderby, Lincolnshire just off the south east side of the A46 between Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
Royal Air Force Wombleton or RAF Wombleton is a former Royal Air Force sub-station located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) east of Helmsley, North Yorkshire and 11.8 miles (19 km) north-east of Easingwold, North Yorkshire, England.
Royal Air Force Heathfield, or more commonly RAF Heathfield, sometimes known as RAF Ayr/Heathfield due to its proximity to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which was also used by military flights, is a former Royal Air Force station. It opened in April 1941 as an airbase for day and night fighter squadrons. In September 1944 it transferred to Fleet Air Arm control and commissioned as HMS Wagtail. The Royal Navy paid off the airbase in March 1946 and it was reduced to care and maintenance. The United States Air Force used it for storage between 1951 and 1957, with the designation USAAF Station 570.
Royal Air Force Croft or more simply RAF Croft is a former Royal Air Force station located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south of Darlington, County Durham, England and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Richmond, North Yorkshire. The site is also known locally as Croft Aerodrome or Neasham. Constructed at the same time as many other airfields, it was originally named RAF Dalton-on-Tees after the nearby village Dalton-on-Tees. However, it was quickly renamed RAF Croft after initial confusion with the also newly opened RAF Dalton near Thirsk, just 25 miles away.
Royal Air Force Langar or more simply RAF Langar is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Langar, Nottinghamshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) east-southeast of Radcliffe on Trent and about 100 miles (160 km) north-northwest of London, England.
Royal Air Force Balderton or more simply RAF Balderton was a former Royal Air Force station located 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south of Newark-on-Trent, sandwiched between the now extinct Great Northern Railway (GNR) Bottesford-Newark line and the A1 road in Nottinghamshire, England.
Royal Air Force Bottesford or more simply RAF Bottesford is a former Royal Air Force station located on the Leicestershire-Lincolnshire county border, 6.8 miles (10.9 km) north west of Grantham, Lincolnshire and 7.6 miles (12.2 km) south of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and about 107 miles (172 km) north-northwest of London, England.
Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex.
Royal Air Force Dalton or more simply RAF Dalton is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located near to Dalton, North Yorkshire, England.
RAF Tholthorpe was a Royal Air Force air station operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The station, which had been opened in the late 1930s as a grass airfield, was located near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, UK. Tholthorpe airfield operated as a sub-station of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
Royal Air Force Skipton-on-Swale or more simply RAF Skipton-on-Swale is a former Royal Air Force station operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The station was located at Skipton-on-Swale 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. The village of Sandhutton is located just to the east. RAF Skipton-on-Swale was a sub-station of RAF Leeming.
Royal Air Force Docking or more simply RAF Docking is a former Royal Air Force satellite station a few miles from Bircham Newton in Norfolk, England.
424 Transport and Rescue Squadron, nicknamed "Tiger Squadron", is a Royal Canadian Air Force strategic transport and search and rescue unit based at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton in the Canadian province of Ontario. The squadron is the primary provider of search and rescue response for the Trenton Search and Rescue Region, which extends from Quebec City to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Canada–United States border to the North Pole, covering an area of over ten million square kilometres in Central, Western, and Northern Canada.
Royal Air Force Catfoss, or more simply RAF Catfoss, is a former Royal Air Force station during the Second World War. It was located 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Hornsea, Yorkshire, England and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Leconfield, Yorkshire, with the nearest village being Brandesburton.
No. 4 Group RAF (4Gp) was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in the First World War, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command.