No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron

Motto: "Saeviter ad lucem" ("Ferociously towards the light").
Badge: In front of a full moon, a cougar leaping down.
Authority: King George VI, March 1945.

The twelfth RCAF bomber squadron formed overseas during the Second World War, No. 432 originated at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, on 1st May 1943, as a unit in No. 6 (RCAF) Group of Bomber Command. Equipped originally with Wellingtons, it later converted to Lancaster Ils and then to Halifaxes. No. 432 undertook its first operation on 23rd/24th May 1943, just over three weeks after having formed, and by the end of the war in Europe, almost two years later, it had flown 3,100 sorties on 238 bombing and mining operations (including 44 attacks on the Ruhr and 11 on Berlin) and lost 71 aircraft. The squadron won 144 decorations comprising 2 DS0s, 1 CGM, 119 DFCs, 1 bar to the DFC, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre.

Bomber Command WWII Bases:
Formed 1.5.43 as No. 432 (Bomber) Squadron at:

• Skipton-on-Swale, Yorks : May 1943-Sep 1943
• East Moor, Yorks : Sep 1943 onwards

Bomber Command WWII Aircraft:

• Vickers Wellington X : May 1943-Nov 1943
• Avro Lancaster II : Oct 1943-Feb 1944
• Handley Page Halifax B.III, B.VII : Feb 1944 onwards

Code Letters:

• "QO"

First Operational Mission in WWII:

• 23rd/24th May 1943 : 11 Wellingtons bombed Dortmund.

Last Operational Mission in WWII:

• 25th April 1945 : 19 Halifaxes bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge.

 

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