From Tholthorpe to Trenton: the history of 434 “Bluenose” Squadron

On May 31, 2018, 434 Squadron was re-established as 434 Test and Evaluation Squadron. It is now part of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Aerospace Warfare Centre located at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont.

The squadron will amalgamate five existing test and evaluation flights (TEFs) and create two new TEFs under the command of a single unit.

• The Helicopter Operational Test and Evaluation Flight at 12 Wing Shearwater, N.S., is responsible for the operationalization of the CH-148 Cyclone Maritime Helicopter.
• The Long Range Patrol Operational Test and Evaluation Flight at 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S., is focused primarily on the CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft.
• The Transport Operational Test and Evaluation Flight, located at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., deals with all air mobility fleets such as the CC-130J Hercules, CC-177 Globemaster III and CC-150 Polaris transport aircraft.
• The Land Aviation Test and Evaluation Flight, located at St. Hubert, Que., deals with tactical aviation helicopters such as the CH-147F Chinook and CH-146 Griffon.
• The Fighter Operational Test and Evaluation Flight at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., deals with fighter aircraft.
• The new Search and Rescue Test and Evaluation Flight will be stood up at 19 Wing Comox, B.C. It will be responsible for the new fixed-wing search and rescue, CH-149 Cormorant, CC-130H Hercules and CH-146 Griffon search and rescue fleets.
• The new Aerospace Test and Evaluation Flight will be co-located with 434 Squadron headquarters in 8 Wing Trenton. It will deal with ground-based aeronautical systems such as radars, navigational aids, meteorological systems and data links.

Here, we take a look at the squadron’s history:

No. 434 “Bluenose” Squadron was the RCAF’s 13th overseas bomber squadron, formed on June 13, 1943 at RCAF Station Tholthorpe, Yorkshire, England.

Assigned to No. 6 (RCAF) Group of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command, many of the initial squadron’s personnel were Maritimers, who chose the fabled Lunenburg schooner, Bluenose, as the centrepiece of the unit’s badge. Wing Commander Charles Edwin Harris, DFC, from Antigonish, N.S., was the squadron’s first commanding officer.  Affectionately known as “Tubby,” Harris was one of a number of Canadians serving in the RAF when he assumed command of the Canadian squadron.

The squadron first went to war in Handley Page Halifax bombers. Their first combat action took place on the night of the August 12-13, 1943, when nine out of 10 squadron aircraft successfully attacked their primary targets in Milan, Italy, including the Alpha-Romeo motor works. No. 434 Squadron’s last combat sorties were flown on the April 25, 1945. Now equipped with Canadian-built Avro Lancasters, 15 of the squadron’s aircraft bombed German gun emplacements on Wangerooge, part of the East Friesland islands. During its service overseas, the squadron flew 2,582 sorties, amounting to 14,622 operational hours. Seventy-five aircraft were lost with 347 aircrew killed in action or presumed dead, 121 prisoners of war and 16 who managed to evade capture.

A special tribute to the effectiveness of No. 434 Squadron took place during a propaganda speech one night by the infamous Lord Haw Haw. He told listeners that “the Royal Canadian Air Force had gathered together in a single squadron, the ‘Bluenose’, the worst pirates, thugs, murderers and brigands from the prisons of Canada.”

Lord Haw Haw was William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to Great Britain during the Second World War.

After VE (Victory in Europe) Day, the squadron flew 45 trips while taking part in Operation Exodus, the repatriation of Allied prisoners of war. The first crews headed back to RCAF Station Dartmouth, N.S., on June 7, 1945, with the rest following three days later. Selected as part of “Tiger Force,” Canada’s planned air contribution to the war against Japan, squadron personnel were on leave when the Japanese surrendered on August 15.  434 Squadron, under the command of Win Commander John C. Mulvihill, AFC, was officially disbanded at Dartmouth on Sept. 5, 1945.

Reformed at Uplands (near Ottawa), Ont., as a fighter squadron on Canada’s birthday in 1952, it was placed under the command of veteran pilot and ace, Wing Commander John Davidson “Mitch” Mitchner, DFC and Bar. Assigned to Air Defence Command and equipped with the Canadair F-86 Sabre, the squadron transferred to Europe between March and April 1953. Stationed at No. 3 Fighter Wing, Zweibrüken, West Germany, the squadron was part of the RCAF’s 1 Air Division operating with Allied air forces as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Two iconic figures commanded the Bluenose squadron while in Germany: Wing Commander Owen Bartley “O.B.” Philp, DFC, CD, the father of the Snowbirds aerobatic team, and Wing Commander Fernand “Fern” Villeneuve, AFC, CD, the first commanding officer of the Golden Hawks aerobatic team in 1959.

For many years, the Bluenosers flew variants of the Sabre. Then, on Jan. 15, 1963, they were temporarily deactivated while being re-equipped with the Lockheed CF-104 Starfighter. Built under licence by Canadair, the supersonic aircraft resulted in a change in role for 434 Squadron, reactivated on April 8, 1963, from day-fighter to low-level nuclear strike and attack.

A Canadian defence policy shift saw the RCAF’s contribution to NATO reduced by six squadrons. 434 Squadron was a victim of the cuts and subsequently disbanded on March 1, 1967.

It was a short-lived disbandment, as the Bluenosers were re-activated on Feb. 15 of the following year as an operational training squadron at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, Alta. Now equipped with the CF-116 Freedom Fighter (more commonly referred to as the CF-5), the squadron spent the next decade fulfilling its training duties and participating in various training exercises throughout North America. 434 Squadron made Canadian military history as they became the first to be checked out in air-to-air refuelling in 1972, courtesy of a Boeing CC-137 from 437 Squadron in Trenton, Ont. They set another record when on Nov. 7, 1976, when two 434 Squadron CF-5s flew from Comox, B.C., to Shearwater, N.S., with the aid of air-to air refuelling. This was the first coast-to-coast, non-stop flight flown by a Canadian fighter.

On July 2, 1977, the lieutenant-governor of Alberta presented the Bluenosers with their squadron standard (Colour) on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of 25 years of honorable and dedicated service to Canada.

The squadron was re-designated as 434 Tactical Fighter Squadron on Dec. 1, 1978. Now with a more focused, operational role, it was transferred to Bagotville, Que., in 1982. The Bluenosers kept up a busy pace with training and exercises and became a familiar sight in the skies of the Saguenay Valley. The unit’s stay in Quebec was to be short-lived, and in July 1985, the squadron transferred to Chatham, N.B. There it remained until deactivation on March 17, 1989.

In the early 1990s, there was a pressing need to provide more realistic airborne training for all branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. 434 Squadron was re-activated as 434 Composite Squadron at Shearwater on July 4, 1992, flying Canadair CC-144 Challengers and CT-133 (also known as T-33) Silver Star aircraft. Their tasks included acting as airborne targets, electronic warfare training, forward air controller training, coastal surveillance and aeromedical evacuation. On April 1, 1993, the squadron was again re-designated, this time as 434 Combat Support Squadron.

August 1995 saw the squadron move from Shearwater to Greenwood, N.S. On April 28, 2002, the squadron was disbanded and its colours were placed in the All Saints Cathedral in Halifax.

They were recently retrieved from the cathedral in preparation for the re-establishment of the squadron.

Chris Charland is a senior associate Air Force historian.