No. 412 Transport Squadron is one of three Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) transport squadrons attached to Ottawa, Ontario. The squadron operates with a strength of about 29 out of the Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Annex.The Annex officially opened on January 11, 1995.[1]
No. 412 Squadron began as a unit of the RCAF during the Second World War.
History
Second World War
No. 412 (Transport) Squadron was formed in 1949, but traces its history back to two separate squadrons: Number 12 Communications Flight at RCAF Station Ottawa and 412 (Fighter) Squadron, which was formed at RAF Digby, England on 30 June 1941.[2]
John Gillespie Magee, the author of the famous aviation poem, High Flight, was serving with 412 Squadron when he was killed in a mid-air collision in his Spitfire in 1941.[3]
The squadron was moved to France in June 1944, days after the Allied landings and operated on continental Europe for the remainder of the war. The squadron was based at Wunstorf, Germany when the war ended in May 1945.[4]
Postwar
After the Second World War, Number 12 Communications Flight was reassigned as 412 Squadron on 1 April 1947, and renamed 412 (Composite) Squadron based at Rockcliffe. In 1955, the 412 moved to Uplands. In the late 1970s a sub-unit was established at CFB Lahr in West Germany. This operation closed in 1993.
Today, 412 (Transport)Squadron provides executive transport for the Office of the Governor General, members of Parliament, high-level government officials, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and foreign VIPs while they are in Canada. 412 (T) Sqn also provides aeromedical evacuation and transport.
Flying Officer L.R.N. Ashley (August 1958). "The Story Of No. 412 Squadron"(PDF). The Roundel. Vol. 10, no. 6. Royal Canadian Air Force. Archived from the original(PDF) on 10 August 2014.
2 Non-standard code as unit using OW added L. Letters normally denoted parent Command, aircraft type (L Liberator transport, D Dakota etc), unit, and individual aircraft.
3 VCXXA where VC was the civil code used by the RCAF replacing CF-, XX was the unit code and A was the aircraft ID letter
4 XXnnn where XX was the unit code and nnn was the last 3 digits of the serial number. Unit code was replaced with "RCAF" in 1958