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The role of 3 CFFTS in Southport MB, is to conduct military pilot training. On average 75% of new RCAF winged pilots graduate from 3CFFTS, of which approximately 65% become helicopter pilots and 35% carry on to fly various multi-engine fixed winged aircrafts. After receiving their wings, each graduate is awarded a posting to an RCAF unit at a Canadian Forces base where they will continue to learn. This cache series was hidden for course RW1301 and ME1302 which graduated on May 24, 2013.
440 "Vampire" Transport Squadron
The mission of 440 "Vampire" Transport Squadron is to conduct operations in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
440 Squadron's tasks include airlift, utility and liaison flights in support of Canadian Forces Northern Area, the Canadian Rangers, other Canadian Forces activities and the Cadets in the North. Like all Air Force flying squadrons, 440 Squadron can conduct search and rescue missions as a secondary search and rescue resource, but has no dedicated search and rescue capability.
440 Squadron operates four of the famous Canadian-designed and -produced CC-138 Twin Otters to carry out its wide range of tasks. The Squadron operates these rugged aircraft in some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet and is the only formed Canadian Forces unit that is based full-time in the North.
The Squadron is comprised of approximately 55 aircrew and technicians who are a mixture of Regular Force and Reserve Force members.
In addition to conventional airport operations, the Squadron maintains the capability to conduct "off-airport" operations on skis in the winter and on tundra tires in the summer.
Squadron Badge
440 "Vampire" Squadron shows a bat in front of clouds. The bat suggestive of night flying and use of radar, and the cloud conditions of poor visibility. The badge is as appliable today as it was fifty years ago, as 440 "Vampire" Transport Squadron operates daily in the harshest conditions experienced by any Air Force flyin squadron.
Motto
KA GANAWAITAK SAGUENAY
- "He who protects the Saguenay"
Aircraft
CC-138 Twin Otter
History
440 squadron was formed in October 1932 at Vancouer, B.C., as Number 11 Army Co-operation Squadron flying the DeHavilland DH-60 Moth. In 1937 it was redesignated 111 Coastal Artillery Co-operation Squadron. Following the start of the Second World War the Squadron was ordered to establish a detachment at Patricia Bay (now the Victoria International Airport), to provide an RCAF presence on Vancouver Island and to co-operate with the Victoria coastal defences and HMCS Naden (now Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt) in October 1939.
The Squadron was disbanded in February of 1941 and reformed again in November the same year as 111 Fighter Squadron, flying the Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk. In 1942, 111 Squadron participated in the Aleutian Campaign, conducting operations against the Japanese in the North Pacific from Anchorage, Alaska.
In 1944, the Squadron redeployed to the United Kingdom and was renumbered 440 Fighter Bomber Squadron on 1 February 1944. Training on the Hawker Hurricane IV fighter, the Squadron was operationally equipped with the powerful Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber. 438, 439 and 440 Squadrons made up 143 Wing, operating from Ayr, Scotland.
In the lead-up to the Normandy Invasion on D-day, June 6, 1944, 440 Squadron conducted attacks on radar sites, V-1 flying bomb launch sites, transportation and line of communications targets in Occupied Europe. Commencing in D-Day, 440 Squadron conducted dangerous ground-attack missions through hailstorms of enemy ground fire in support of the advancing Allied armies in North-West Europe.
On 27 June, 1944, three weeks after the initial invasion, 440 Squadron deployed to continental Europe, where the Squadron was better positioned to support the Allied armies on the ground. The Squadron followed the advancing front lines across North-West Europe and remained in Flensburg, Germany after the end of hostilities where the Squadron was disbanded on 7 September, 1945.
With the advent of the jet age, 440 Squadron was reactivated at Bagotville, Quebec, in 1953 and became the third RCAF Squadron to receive the Canadian -designed and Canadian-produced Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck all-weather fighter. It was during this time that the Squadron developed it's official badge comprised of a bat flying amongst clouds to represent the all-weather fighter capability of the CF-100.
In 1957, 440 (AWF) Squadron moved to Zweibrucken, West Germany, to become part of 3 Wing, part of the First Canadian Air Division on NATO duty in Europe. The Squadron maintained combat readiness at Zweibrucken until the end of 1962, when the Squadron was again disbanded as the CF-100 was retired from the all-weather fighter role.
440 Communications and Rescue Squadron was reformed KU111 composite unit at Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 8 July, 1968, flying Douglas Dakotas and Vertol H-21 Vertol helicopters in the search and rescue, transport and utility roles. The Squadron moved to Canadian Force Base Namao at Edmonton and was re-equipped with the Canadian-designed and -produced De Havilland Canada CC-115 Buffalo and de Havilland Canada CC-138 Twin Otter in 1971.
In addition to the its Namao-based search and rescue and transport missions, 440 Squadron maintained a two-aircraft detachment at Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories. With the closure of the 18 Wing at Namao in 1994, the Squadron moved to Yellowknife.
The mission of 440 "Vampire" Transport Squadron is to conduct operations in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
440 Squadron's tasks include airlift, utility and liaison flights in support of Canadian Forces Northern Area, the Canadian Rangers, other Canadian Forces activities and the Cadets in the North. Like all Air Force flying squadrons, 440 Squadron can conduct search and rescue missions as a secondary search and rescue resource, but has no dedicated search and rescue capability.
440 Squadron operates the famous CC-138 Twin Otters to carry out its wide range of tasks. The Squadron operates these rugged aircraft in some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet and is the only formed Canadian Forces unit that is based full-time in the North.
Original cache content : Log book, pencil, Sqn crest.
Additional Hints
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