No. 433 Squadron — Porcupine

No. 433 “Porcupine” Squadron was formed at RAF Skipton-on-Swale in September 1943 — the last Canadian bomber squadron to be raised overseas — as part of the Canadian No. 6 Group. It began operations on the Handley Page Halifax early in 1944 and converted to the Avro Lancaster in the war’s final months.

The squadron was adopted by the Porcupine mining district of northern Ontario, from which it took its name and its badge of a porcupine. Its motto, in French, was Qui s’y frotte s’y pique — roughly, “whoever rubs against it gets pricked”.