No. 419 Squadron — Moose

No. 419 “Moose” Squadron was a Royal Canadian Air Force bomber unit formed in December 1941. It began operations on the Vickers Wellington, converted to the Handley Page Halifax, and from 1944 flew the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster B.X. On the formation of the Canadian No. 6 Group at the start of 1943 it joined that group, and it made its home at RAF Middleton St George in County Durham.

The squadron took its name and its fierce moose emblem from an early commanding officer, Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton, who was lost on operations in 1942. Its most honoured airman was Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, who on the night of 12/13 June 1944 stayed in his blazing Lancaster trying to free the trapped rear gunner, suffering fatal burns; he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.