No. 426 Squadron — Thunderbird
- Group
- 6 Group
- Home station
- RAF Linton-on-Ouse
About
No. 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron formed at RAF Dishforth in October 1942 as a Royal Canadian Air Force bomber unit, flying the Vickers Wellington. On the creation of the Canadian No. 6 Group in January 1943 it joined that group, and in June it moved to RAF Linton-on-Ouse, where it converted to the Avro Lancaster and later to the Handley Page Halifax.
The squadron’s emblem was the thunderbird of North American native legend, a being said to bring storm and destruction; its motto was “On wings of fire”. Across the war it flew well over 3,000 sorties in the strategic campaign against Germany.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Bomber Command Museum of Canada — No. 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron and History of War — No. 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron (RCAF) in the Second World War. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.
Operations flown
- Wilhelmshaven — 19 February 1943
- Operation Nuremberg raid — 30 March 1944 (Nuremberg)
Aircraft (3)
| Serial | Code | Type | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| BJ919 | OW | Vickers Wellington | Lost on operations |
| DS840 | OW-C | Avro Lancaster | Lost on operations |
| DS852 | OW-Q | Avro Lancaster | Lost on operations |
No service records linked to this squadron yet. Aircraft, crews and sorties will appear here soon.