No. 438 Squadron RCAF

CF Squadron
squadron=438 "City of Montreal" Squadron


role=Tactical Helicopter
aircraft=CH-146 Griffon
home=CFB St Hubert
motto=GOING DOWN
sign= Wildcat
wing=1 Wing
founded=September 1, 1934
badge=The head of a wildcat affronte
honours=Fortress Europe 1944, France and Germany 1944-1945, Normandy 1944, Arnhem, Rhine
was=No.18 Bomber (Non-Permanent) Squadron|No.118 Fighter Squadron

The 438 City of Montreal Squadron is an air force unit of Canadian Forces based at CFB St. Hubert, Quebec. Equipped with 9 CH-146 Griffon helicopters, it provides transportation and support to army units.

The motto 'Going Down' is the last instruction given by the formation leader of the Typhoon bomber before they dive bomb.

WWII Years

The 438 Squadron, part of the 143 Wing, embarked for Europe on November 2 1943.

Aircraft

*P-40 Kittyhawk (December 1941 - October 1943)
*Hawker Hurricane IV (November 1943 - May 1944)
*Hawker Typhoon IB (January 1944 - August 1945)

Members

Roy Burden, RCAF, Pilot

November 15, 1919, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada - January 28. 2005, Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.

Roy became a postal worker in North Vancouver after the war, and retired after working there for 35 years. Roy is one of the six pilots who signed Robert Bailey's painting 'Typhoon Fury' which featured Harry Hardy's plane, the 'Pulverizer II'. He was featured as one of the Typhoon pilots in Wayne Ralph's book, Aces, Warriors, and Wingmen, about the Canadian airmen during World War II. Roy held nothing but contempt for Holocaust deniers after having photographed the mass graves in Bergen Belsen. He saw the faded signs with the skull and crossbones and German writing, warning people of the typhus danger. "The people around there said they didn't know anything, but those signs had to have been up there for years", he said.

Later years

Aircraft

*Vampire
*Silver Star T-33
*Canadair Sabre
*Beechcraft Expeditor
*CSR-123 Otter
*CH-136 Kiowa
*CH-146 Griffon

External links

* [http://www.airforce.forces.ca/hist/438sqn_e.asp DND - History of 438 Squadron]
* [http://www.airforce.gc.ca/1wing/squadron/438_e.asp 1 Wing - 438 Squadron]
* [http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-air-fig-438-e.htm 438 Squadron Operations Record Book, June 1944]