No. 432 "Leaside" Squadron (RCAF): Second World War

Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books

No.432 "Leaside" Squadron was a RCAF bomber squadron, formed on 1 May 1943 around a nucleus of eighteen crews provided by No.427 squadron. As a result it was able to fly its first operation on 23 May, only three weeks later.

On 22 October 1943 No.432 became the last of No.6 Groups to use the Wellington on a raid, before converting to the Lancaster. It converted to the Halifax III early in 1944, flying its first operation with the new aircraft on 28 February 1944. The aircraft remained part of the main bomber force until the end of the war in Europe.

Aircraft
May 1943-October 1943: Vickers Wellington X
October 1943-February 1944: Avro Lancaster II
February-July 1944: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk III
June 1944-May 1945: Handley Page Halifax B.Mk VII

Location
1 May-18 September 1943: Skipton-on-Swale
18 September 1943-15 May 1945: East Moor

Squadron Codes: QO

Duty
1943-1945: 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]

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