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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.431 "Iroquois" Squadron was a RCAF squadron which formed in Britain on 11 November 1942 as part of Bomber Command. The squadron began operations on 2 March 1943, as part of No.6 (RCAF) Group, and remained part of Bomber Command's main force for the rest of the war.
The squadron remained at Burn until July 1943, when it moved to Tholthorpe to convert to the Handley Page Halifax. It took its Halifaxes to Croft in December 1943, where it later converted to the Canadian built Lancaster X. The squadron returned to Canada in June 1945, and was disbanded on 5 September 1945 after the Japanese surrender.
Aircraft
December 1942-July 1943: Vickers Wellington X
July 1943-April 1944: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk V
March 1944-October 1944: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk III
October 1944-September 1945: Avro Lancaster B.Mk X
Location
11 November 1942-15 July 1943: Burn
15 July-10 December 1943: Tholthorpe
10 December 1943-12 June 1945: Croft
Squadron Codes: SE
Duty
November-December 1942: No.4 Group, Bomber Command
January 1943-June 1945: No.6 (RCAF) Group, Bomber Command
6 Group Bomber Command: An Operation Record, Chris Ward. This is a very detailed reference book that looks at the wartime service of the Canadian group in RAF Bomber Command. A detailed narrative history of the group is followed by a series of chapters on each squadron, with a brief history, list of stations, commanding officers and types of aircraft, and most impressively a list of every individual aircraft to serve with each squadron and its fate [read full review]
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]
Bomber Offensive, Sir Arthur Harris.
The autobiography of Bomber Harris, giving his view of the strategic bombing campaign in its immediate aftermath. Invaluable for the insights it provides into Harris’s approach to the war, what he was trying to achieve and the problems he faced. Harris perhaps overstates his case, not entirely surprisingly given how soon after the end of the war this book was written (Read Full Review)
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