No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force

No 425 (Alouette) Squadron was formed as the fifth, and a French-Canadian, RCAF bomber squadron overseas at Dishforth, Yorkshire on the 25th of June 1942 as part of No 4 Group Bomber Command. It flew operations from the 5th of October 1042 until the 27th of April 1943 when it became non-operational before its move to North Africa. From Kairouan it flew with No 205 Group against targets in Sicily and Italy. It returned to Britain in November 1943, leaving its Wellingtons behind and converting to Halifax, resuming operations in February 1944. No 425 returned to Canada in June 1945.

Airfields No. 425 Squadron flew from:

RAF Dishforth, Yorkshire from the 25th of June 1942 (formed, Group 4 Bomber Command. Wellington III)
RAF Dishforth from 1st January 1943 (Group 6, Wellington X)
Kairouan, Tunisia from 19th June 1943
Hani East, Tunisia from the 29th of September 1943
RAF Dishforth from 6th November 1943
RAF Tholthorpe, Yorkshire from the 12th of December 1943 (Halifax III, Lancaster X)
to Canada on the 13th June 1945 (Lancaster X)

20th Dec 1942 425 Squadron Lancaster lost

9th Jan 1943 Gardening

14th Jan 1943 Gardening

21st Jan 1943 Gardening

23rd Jan 1943 Daylight Ops

23rd Jan 1943 Search

26th Jan 1943 Ops

29th Jan 1943 Enemy Aircraft

29th Jan 1943 Ops

30th Jan 1943 Ops

30th Jan 1943 Enemy Aircraft

4th Feb 1943 Enemy Aircraft

26th May 1943 Operational reorganisation

25th Apr 1944 Aircraft Lost

6th Jun 1944 Coastal Defences

6th Jun 1944 Supply Lines

29th Jul 1944 Aircraft Lost

2nd Nov 1944 425 Squadron Halifax lost

18th Dec 1944 Aircraft Lost

5th Jan 1945 Night Ops

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

5th Mar 1945 Halifax Lost

5th Mar 1945 Aircraft Lost

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

15th August 1945 Tiger Force

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Those known to have served with
No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.

Arvanetes George.
Ashford Albert Edward. WO.
Corbett DFC. William David. F/Lt. (d.8th Mar 1945)
Dube Henri Edouard. P/O. (d.8th Aug 1944)
Higgins Alfred Arthur John. Sgt.. (d.24th Apr 1944)
LaForce James Edward. LAC.
Owen DFM Leonard Stanley. Sgt.
Perry Ronald Bertram. Sgt. (d.6th August 1943)
Slater Harry Jack. F/O.
White Eric. Sgt. (d.13th May 1944)

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. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force from other sources.

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Want to know more about No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force?

There are:2036 items tagged No. 425(Alouette) 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.

F/Lt. William David Corbett DFC. 425 Squadron (d.8th Mar 1945)

One night in February, 1945, Pilot Officer William Corbett piloted an aircraft detailed to attack Mainz. On the outward journey the port outer engine became unserviceable. Undeterred, Pilot Officer Corbett continued to the target and executed a successful attack. On the return flight the starboard inner engine showed signs of over-heating. Nevertheless, skilfully using the defective engine, Pilot Officer Corbett flew the aircraft safely to an airfield in England. This officer had proved himself to be an excellent captain and has set a fine example to all. Supplement To The London Gazette, 6 April, 1945
On the night of the 7th/8th of March 1945, 99 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 425, 426, 429, and 432 Squadrons were ordered to attack the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt. The crews were over the target at between 8,000 and 13,000 feet, releasing 594,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, bombing missed the target. P/O W. Corbett RCAF and crew, flying Halifax III MZ-815 coded KW-C, failed to return from this operation. The crew were all were lost without a trace.

P/O G. Forsyth RAF
P/O J. Hickson RCAF
F/O V. McAllister RCAF
P/O G. Ware RCAF
P/O J. Morin RCAF
P/O L. Parent RCAF

David Bliss

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George Arvanetes 425 (Alouette) Squadron

My 93 year old Uncle George Arvanetes is still alive in British Columbia, Canada. He served as rear gunner on Halifax, completing 33 sorties when he was based in Tholthorpe with RCAF 425 (Alouette) Squadron.

Donald Wayne Patterson

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WO. Albert Edward "Ginge" Ashford 426 Squadron

Albert Ashford, Ginge joined 426 Squadron from 425 Squadron RCAF in May 1944. He flew as an Air Gunner with the same crew throughout this time,
Captain, Tony Selfe
Nav, F/O Sowerby
B/A F/O Reg Paul
F/E, Sgt Fellows
WAG, Sgt Bielby
MUG, Sgt Turner
RG, Sgt A E Ashford.

During Ops on D Day in LW377 to Cherbourg the aircraft was hit by bomb taking out port inner engine. He bailed out over Start Bay Devon.
Extract from RCAF Overseas Vol 2, Toronto Oxford University Press 1945, "The following night the Canadians were back on railway targets with the marshalling yards at Ghent as the objective. The accurately-laid eggs caused fires and explosions and inflicted moderate damage. Night fighters were active both over the target and on the homeward journey and several combats took place. Sgts. A. E. Ashford, J. D. Turner and L. S. Owen, gunners on an Alouette Squadron kite skippered by FSgt. C. A. Selfe, were successful when attacked by a Ju88 over the North Sea. After several bursts from our lads’ guns the enemy broke away and hurtled into the mist in a spin with his whole starboard side in flames." The Log Book of A E Ashford shows this as taking place on the 10th of May 1944, Aircraft Coded KW-O Halifax III of 425 Alouette Squadron.

Paul A Ashford

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F/O. Harry Jack Slater 425 (Allouette) Squadron

Jack Slater flew as a Flight Engineer with 425 (Allouette) Squadron.

Val Pollard

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Sgt.. Alfred Arthur John Higgins 425 Squadron. (d.24th Apr 1944)

Alfred Higgins was my second cousin once removed. I found his death details on the CWGC website. I'm just sorry I don't have any stories to tell about him.

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Sgt. Eric White Bomber Command 426 Squadron (d.13th May 1944)

Eric White 653213 was my father's great uncle and Dad asked me to try and find out as much as I could about him as he was never told. I was able to find out that he was the Flight Engineer of Sqdn 426 Bomber Command. He flew in a Halifax mark 111 serial NA510. Others on board were
Sqdn leader I M McRobie
Flying officer G W Bedford
WO 2nd class M A Brazey
WO 2nd class C A McLeod
Flight sgt A H Hammond
Flight sgt Bremrose

They took of from RCAF air base Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire heading towards their target Cambrai, France. The Aircraft caught on fire and crashed near Villers-Les-Cagnicourt in Pas-De Calais on 13th June 1944. I believe once they knew they were in trouble they decided to evacuate the plane but Eric White and I M McRobie stayed on board to keep the plane level. It eventually crashed killing both on impact the locals found the body of Eric but McRobie was never found. A H Hammond, C A McLeod and Bremrose all managed to evade with the help of the locals but Bedford and Brazey were taken prisoner.
The locals buried Eric White in Cagnicourt and every year hold a ceremony over his grave.

T. Rayner

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P/O. Henri Edouard Dube 425 Squadron (d.8th Aug 1944)

A distant cousin showed up on our steps Monday and the surprise about all this is that she's traveling across the Maritimes on a "scooter" with two dogs. Apparently, she was on a quest to find out about her grandmother's family (my grandfather's sister). What is amazing about all this is that her grandmother lost her husband during WWII. He was a Canadian pilot that crashed during a bombing mission over NAZI Germany. Through her entire life, she had never found out as to what had happened to him other than he was missing in action. Alexandra’s grandmother lived till 94, ever wondering if he was dead or if he'd ever return home. I didn't have a clue who this cousin was but it turns out that Alexandra is quite inquisitive and had done a lot of research on our family, the Roussel Clan. Anyway, she was curious about finding information about her grandmother’s “love of her life” so was in Edmundston doing research on the subject matter. She couldn't find much on the individual but found out where we lived.
Meanwhile, in 2010, my other great uncle (her grandmother's and my grandfather's brother) had sent me some information about this. Apparently, he was a good friend of this pilot when they were kids and by pure coincidence, in 2004, he was in Olizy, France, on a bus tour where he found a commemorative monument honoring this pilot by the name of Henri Dubé. He and his crew had been shot down and they had to crash land in France. They were rescued by the French Liberation Army but Henri decided to carry on to Paris on his own. He took off, eventually met up with an American pilot and they headed towards the capital. They got caught by Nazi soldiers and sent to a prison camp. They escaped from there and got again captured but this time they were shot to death. They were thrown in a mass grave but eventually the people of Olizy, unearthed the bodies and gave them a proper burial, complete with the story on the monument. My Uncle Ray, who lives in California, knew that I was a military history buff and had sent me a photo of the memorial with the explanation.
So you can imagine how Alexandra (the granddaughter) felt when she found out what had happened to her grandfather. – Talk about a series of coincidence and a sense of closure for her. It's just too bad that her grandmother never lived long enough to find out the truth.

Gino Roussel

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No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force

Logbooks

Those known to have served with
No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

Announcements

Want to know more about No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force?

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project - No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War -

No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force

Logbooks

Those known to have served with No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Forceduring the Second World War 1939-1945.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

Announcements

Want to know more about No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force?

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War -

Those known to have served with
No. 425(Alouette) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.