No. 401 Squadron — RCAF

No. 401 Squadron traces its roots to No. 1 Squadron RCAF, which arrived in Britain in June 1940 and entered combat during the Battle of Britain, claiming thirty enemy aircraft destroyed over fifty-three days. Renumbered 401 on 1 March 1941, the squadron converted from Hurricanes to Spitfires that autumn and operated under No. 11 Group Fighter Command from RAF Biggin Hill, flying offensive sweeps and bomber escorts over Occupied Europe. It transferred to No. 83 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force in mid-1943, and on 5 October 1944 a five-aircraft patrol claimed the first Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft destroyed by any RAF or RCAF unit. By the war’s end the squadron had accumulated 186.5 confirmed aerial victories — the highest total of any 2nd TAF unit — before disbanding at Faßberg, Germany, on 3 July 1945.