Air Force Index

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No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force    No 415 was formed at Thorney Island on the 20th of August 1941. It had a torpedo-bomber role with Coastal Command until July of 1944 when it transferred to No 6 (RCAF) Group of Bomber Command. Under Coastal Command it made bomb and torpedo attacks on enemy shipping, enemy-occupied ports and port installations. In October 1943 No 415 was equipped with Wellingtons and Albacores, tracking down E- and R-boats, and flying night patrols in preparation for the Normandy landings. In the D-Day operations No 415 laid smoke screens for the Allied Naval Forces. Under Bomber Command, No 415 became a heavy-bomber squadron with Halifax III, attacking Hamburg in late July and ultimately flying 104 missions in its final 9 months. No 415 was disbanded in May 1945. Airfields No. 415 Squadron flew from: RAF Thorney Island, Hampshire from the 20th August 1941 (formed, Group 16 Coastal Command. Beaufort I, Blenheim IV, Hampden) RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire from June 1942 RAF Wick, Caithness from August 1942 RAF Leuchars, Fife from September 1942 RAF Thorney Island from November 1942 (Wellington XIII, albacore I) RAF Bricham Newton, Norfolk from November 1943 RAF East Moor, Yorkshire from the 12th July 1944 (Group 6 Bomber Command. Halifax VII disbanded the 15th May 1945   19th July 1944 New Coastal Command Squadron formed 5th Jan 1945 Night Ops 5th Jan 1945 Aircraft Lost 2nd Feb 1945 Halifax Lost 13th Feb 1945 Night Ops 17th Feb 1945 Halifax Lost 20th Feb 1945 Halifax Lost 21st Feb 1945 Night Ops 23rd Feb 1945 Night Ops 27th Feb 1945 Night Ops 2nd Mar 1945 Night Ops 3rd Mar 1945 Night Ops 25th Mar 1945 Night Ops 8th Apr 1945 Night Ops 13th Apr 1945 Night Ops 18th Apr 1945 Night Ops 22nd Apr 1945 Night Ops If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Logbooks Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession? If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you. View Logbook entries Those known to have served with No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Bloomfield H.. F/Sgt. Campbell Paul Brewer. W/O (d.18th February 1943) Donald James Corke. P/O. (d.24th April 1943) Ennis Roy Milton. F/Sgt. (d.31st July 1942) Heffernan Daniel Joseph. F/O Henson George Arthur. P/O. (d.13th Jun 1944) Huddart Jack Vincent. F/O Ker James Henry Maxwell. Sgt. (d.11th Mar 1943) Ker James Henry Maxwell. Sgt. (d.11th March 1943) Maffre Kenneth Reginald. F/O (d.18th February 1943) McComb Bud Douglas Roy. W/O (d.31st July 1942) Niblock Zina Manford. W/O (d.18th February 1943) Richardson John. Flt.Sgt. Shelley Ted. Sgt. Stallard Doug. Vokey Reginald Ernest. W/O (d.18th February 1943) The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. 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Want to know more about No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force? There are:2016 items tagged No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. Sgt. Ted Shelley 415 Squadron Ted Shelley served with 415 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. I have my dad's medals, uniform and other war memorabilia. Tom Shelley Add to this record. P/O. George Arthur Henson 415 (Swordfish) Squadron (d.13th Jun 1944) My Grandmother's note states her brother, George Henson a Wireless Operator Air Gunner from Barrie, Ontario was killed in action at age 24. He was with 415 Swordfish Squadron. The crew of the Wellington aircraft #H2659 were on an anti E boat patrol and were last seen about seven miles north by north-west of Ostende, Belgium. George has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial at Englefield Green, Egham in Surrey, England. Darin Cook Add to this record. P/O. James Corke Donald 415 Squadron (d.24th April 1943) James Donald was a Pilot Officer in the 415th Torpedo Bomber Squadron. James had been a bomber pilot and had completed the required number of sorties for a pilot in the war, but he requested transition to fighter planes to make the transition from the four-man crew of the Hampden bomber to the single pilot fighter, the Spitfire. He was instructing pilots in the Hampden when ironically he was involved in a tragic aerial accident with a Spitfire during a training flight. James was killed on 24th of April 1943 as a result of that accident, at the age of 21. He was buried in West Thorney St. Nicholas Churchyard. Robert Wood Add to this record. Sgt. James Henry Maxwell "Jack" Ker 415 Squadron (d.11th March 1943) Jack Ker served with 415 Squadron. A letter reads "Concerning the loss of your uncle, the Squadron record reports that: Nine aircraft (Hampdens) were airborne Tain for a strike on a surface vessel off the Norwegian coast. Three unidentified aircraft were spotted by coastal radar as they proceeded. One of the crews spotted a fully surfaced submarine, course 220 at 15 knots. No surface shipping was sighted. The weather was not good with frequent rain and hail, and some icing". Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the attack report. We do know that five of the aircraft were diverted to Dyce (now the Aberdeen airport). One aircraft had lost rudder control and made an early return to Tain. Another aircraft returned to Tain with engine troubles. Unfortunately the Reigate crew was reported missing" and presumed lost. It would seem that Jack was on the Squadron when they were presented the Crest and motto: Ad Metam, To the Mark. This occurred on 23rd of January 1943. After reviewing Squadron records, I assume that Jack joined the Squadron in January 1943. David Ker Add to this record. Flt.Sgt. John Richardson 426 Squadron John Richardson flew with 415 and 426 Squadrons. John Luke Add to this record. Sgt. James Henry Maxwell "Jack" Ker 415 Squadron (d.11th Mar 1943) James Ker served with 415 Squadron. David Ker Add to this record. F/O Jack Vincent Huddart 415 Sqdn. My father was a navigator on Halifax bombers, two of which were "E" for x-ray and "S" for Sugar with 415 squadron stationed out of East Moor 1944/45. His pilot was F/O Don Stewart. He completed his tour of operations and returned to complete his engineering degree in Geology at the University of Toronto. John Huddart Add to this record. F/Sgt. H. Bloomfield 415 Sqdn. F/Sgt Bloomfield was a member of 415 Squadron. His aircraft crashed after returning early from convoy protection. It had engine problems and overshot the runway. The crew were: W/O H. McComb F/Sgt H. Bloomfield Sgt J. Labelle Sgt R. Ennis Update W/O McComb, F/Sgt Labelle and F/Sgt Ennis were killed and are buried in North Coates (St Nicholas) Churchyard. Add to this record. W/O Bud Douglas Roy McComb 415 Sqdn. (d.31st July 1942) W/O McComb was a member of 415 Squadron and was killed when his aircraft crashed after returning early from convoy protection. It had engine problems and overshot the runway. The crew were: W/O H. McComb F/Sgt H. Bloomfield Sgt J. Labelle Sgt R. Ennis Update W/O McComb, F/Sgt Labelle and F/Sgt Ennis are all buried in North Coates (St Nicholas) Churchyard. It looks as though F/Sgt Bloomfield may have survived as he is not listed on the CWG website. Add to this record. F/Sgt. Roy Milton Ennis 415 Sqdn. (d.31st July 1942) I am looking for any first hand information regarding members of 415 Squadron around 1941-1942: W/O H. McComb F/Sgt H. Bloomfield Sgt J. Labelle Sgt R. Ennis Update W/O McComb, F/Sgt Labelle and F/Sgt Ennis are all buried in North Coates (St Nicholas) Churchyard. Their aircraft crashed when it returned early from convoy protection. It had engine problems and overshot the runway. It looks as though F/Sgt Bloomfield may have survived as he is not listed on the CWG website. Greg Ennis Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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