No. 429 "Bison" Squadron (RCAF): Second World War

Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books

No.429 "Bison" Squadron was a RCAF squadron that formed in Britain in November 1942 as a night bomber squadron, in No.4 Group of Bomber Command. On 1 January 1943 it joined No.6 (RCAF) Group, remaining there for the rest of the war. Operations began with the Vickers Wellington on 21 January 1943.

On 12 August 1943 the squadron moved to RAF Leeming to convert to the Handley Page Halifax. Operations with the new aircraft began in September 1943, and continued until 15 March 1945. The squadron then converted to the Lancaster, but only flew a small number of sorties between 31 March and 25 April 1945. At the end of the war the squadron was used to transport liberated POWs back to Britain, before being disbanded on 31 May 1946.

Aircraft
November 1942-April 1943: Vickers Wellington III
January-August 1943: Vickers Wellington X
August 1993 to January 1944: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk II
October 1943 to March 1944: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk V
March 1944 to March 1945: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk III
March 1945-May 1946: Avro Lancaster I and III

Location
7 November 1942-12 August 1943: East Moor
12 August 1943-31 May 1946: Leeming

Squadron Codes: AL

Duty
November-December 1942: No.4 Group, Bomber Command
January 1943-April 1945: No. 6 (RCAF) Group, Bomber Command

Books

Battlefields in the Air: Canadians in the Allied Bomber Command, Dan McCaffery. A look at Bomber Command's controversial campaign against Germany, and the role played in it by the Canadian pilots of No.6 Group. McCaffery's well researched text is supported by eye witness accounts from both the Canadian air crew and the German targets of the bombing campaign.

Halifax Squadrons of World War II , Jon Lake. This is a very good book on the combat record of the Handley Page Halifax. It covers much more than just its role as a front line bomber, with chapters on the Halifax with Coastal Command, the Pathfinders and SOE, amongst others. [see more]

Lancaster Squadrons 1944-45, Jon Lake. A well balanced look at the career of the Avro Lancaster in 1944-45, the period most famous for the systematic night bombardment of German cities. This was also the period that saw the Lancaster used to support the invasion of France, and the period that saw 617 Squadron drop Barnes Wallis's huge streamlined bombs with great precision. [see more]

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