415 Maritime Patrol Squadron
Information
Role
Aircraft Operated	CP-140 Aurora CP-140 Aurora The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the S-3 Viking...
Home Station	CFB Greenwood CFB Greenwood Canadian Forces Base Greenwood , commonly referred to as "14 Wing Greenwood" or CFB Greenwood, is a Canadian Forces Base located in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is primarily operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is one of two bases in the country using the CP-140 Aurora...
Motto	"Ad Metam" ("To the mark")
History
Date Founded	1941
Badge	Argent a swordfish proper variant
Notable Battle Honours	Atlantic 1942, English Channel and North Sea 1942-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1944-45, German Ports 1944-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1942-43

No. 415 Squadron RCAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 that first saw service during the Second World War. After unification of Canada's armed forces in 1968, the squadron continued to provide service within the Canadian Forces

Canadian Forces

The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

.

History

No. 415 was created at Thorney Island

Thorney Island

There are two Thorney Islands known to Wikipedia, both in England:*Thorney Island *Thorney Island...

 on 21 August 1941 as a torpedo-bomber squadron, armed with Hampden

Handley Page Hampden

The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...

s. It flew from a number of different bases, hitting enemy convoys and shipyards. In October 1943, it rearmed with Wellington

Vickers Wellington

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...

s and Albacore

Fairey Albacore

The Fairey Albacore was a British single-engine carrier-borne biplane torpedo bomber built by Fairey Aviation between 1939 and 1943 for the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and used during the Second World War. It had a three-man crew and was designed for spotting and reconnaissance as well as delivering...

s; operating out of Bircham Newton

Bircham Newton

Bircham Newton is the smallest of the three villages that make up the civil parish of Bircham, in the west of the English county of Norfolk. The village is located about 1 km north of the larger village of Great Bircham, 20 km north-east of the town of King's Lynn, and 60 km...

, it became a successful E- and R-boat hunter unit. During the D-Day

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

 operations, it used its bombers to lay protective smoke screens for the Allied ships as they assaulted the coastline and landed troops ashore.

In July 1944, the squadron was transferred to RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...

's No. 6 Group (RCAF) and transitioned to East Moor

RAF East Moor

RAF East Moor was a Royal Air Force air station operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The station was located near Sutton-on-the-Forest, North Yorkshire, UK and was a sub-station of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.-History:...

. There, it rearmed with Halifax III

Handley Page Halifax

The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...

s and began major bombing of German targets on July 28/29, when it attacked Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

. For 9 months afterward, it made bombing runs over important enemy targets in a variety of places, until 25 April 1945, when it made its last mission: an attack on the gun batteries on the island of Wangerooge

Wangerooge

Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...

. The squadron disbanded in May, 1945.

The squadron was re-formed at RCAF Station Summerside in 1961 as a Maritime Air Command patrol squadron and flew Argus

Canadair CL-28

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Donald, David. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X....

 aircraft. No 415 continued in this role after unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968. In 1981 the Argus was replaced with the CP-140 Aurora

CP-140 Aurora

The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the S-3 Viking...

 and was transferred to CFB Greenwood

CFB Greenwood

Canadian Forces Base Greenwood , commonly referred to as "14 Wing Greenwood" or CFB Greenwood, is a Canadian Forces Base located in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is primarily operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is one of two bases in the country using the CP-140 Aurora...

 when CFB Summerside was deactivated. In 2005 the squadron was stood down and consolidated with 405 Squadron

No. 405 Squadron RCAF

405 Maritime Patrol Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force within the Canadian Forces, initially formed as No. 405 Squadron RCAF during the Second World War.-World War II:...

.