No. 431 Squadron

Badge: An Iroquois Indian’s head

Motto: The hatiten ronteriios (War­riors of the air)

Authority: King George VI, March 1945

The Iroquois Indian’s head represents the squadron’s nickname. The motto is in Iroquois.

Formed at Burn, Yorkshire, England on 11 November 1942 as the RCAF’s 28th – 11th Bomber – squadron formed overseas, the unit flew Wellington, Halifax and Canadian-built Lancaster aircraft on strategic and tactical bombing operations. After hostilities in Europe, it was selected as part of “Tiger Force” for duty in the Pacific, and returned to Canada for reorganization and training. The sudden end of the war in the Far East resulted in the squadron being disbanded at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 5 September 1945.

Brief Chronology: Formed at Burn, Yorks., Eng. 11 Nov 42. Disbanded at Dartmouth, N.S. 5 Sep 45.

Title or Nickname: “Iroquois”

Adoption: Town of Simcoe, Ont.

Commanders

• W/C J. Coverdale (RAF) 1 Dec 42 – 21 Jun 43 KIA.
• W/C W.F.M. Newson, DFC 26 Jun 43 -10 May 44 OTE.
• W/C H.R. Dow, DFC 14 May 44 – 25 Jul 44 POW.
• W/C E.M. Mitchell 27 Jul 44 – 10 Jan 45 OTE.
• W/C R.F. Davenport 14 Jan 45 – 11 Mar 45 KIA.
• W/C W.F. McKinnon 18 Mar 45 – 15 Jun 45.
• W/C E.M. Bryson, DFC 4 Aug 45 – 5 Sep 45.

Higher Formations and Squadron Locations

Bomber Command:

No. 4 Group,

• Burn, Yorks. 11 Nov 42 – 14 Jul 43.

No. 6 (RCAF) Group,

• Tholthorpe, Yorks. 15 Jul 43 – 9 Dec 43.

No. 64 (RCAF) Base,

• Croft, Yorks. 10 Dec 43 – 6 Jun 45.
• En route to Canada 7 Jun 45 – 11 Jun 45.

RAF ‘Tiger Force” (for ops), RCAF Eastern Air Command (for training):

No. 6 (RCAF) Group,

No. 662 (RCAF) Wing,

• Dartmouth, N.S. 12 Jun 45 – 5 Sep 45.

Representative Aircraft (Unit Code SE)

Vickers Wellington B.Mk.X (Dec 42 – Jul 43)

• HE182 A HE183 J HE184 M HEl 97 G HEl 98 D HEl 99 R HE200 P HE201 T HE202 Z HE203 B HE204 C HE205 X HE213 F HE379 H HE396 K HE440 Y HE443 0 HE503 S LN282 L LN283 P LN248 Q LN291 V LN403 W LN405 U

Handley Page Halifax B.Mk.V (Jul 43 – Apr 44)

• DK185 S DK264 V LK632 M LK639 E LK640 Q LK649 G LK657 K LK701 L LK705 X LK897 P LK898 0 LK905 D LK918 F LK963 H LK964 T LK991 U LL150 N LL172 B LL173 C LL174 Z LL175 A LL231 J LL232 R LL233 Y

Handley Page Halifax B.Mk.Ill (Mar – Oct 44)

• LK828 S LK833 R LK837 H LW412 F LW462 B LW576 0 MZ364 M MZ509 C MZ517 D MZ529 E MZ537 L MZ600 N MZ655 T MZ656 X MZ657 K MZ859 A MZ860 P MZ861 Q MZ922 J NA498 G NP999 W NR121 B NR122 Y NR123 V

Avro Lancaster B.Mk.X (Oct 44 – Sep 45)

• KB741 Y KB774 D KBBOl S KB802 V KB806 X KB807 B KB808 U KB809 Q KB810 H KB811 T KB812 F KB813 S KB815 K KB817 P KB818 G KB819 J KB821 P KB822 W KB823 E KB827 M KB847 R KB872 N KB888 0 KB900 C

Operational History: First Mission 2/3 March 1943, 7 Well­ington X’s from Burn dispatched to lay mines in the “Nec­tarines” (Frisian Islands) area: 5 were successful, 2 aborted.

First Mission, Bombing: 5/6 March 1943, 3 Wellington X’s from Burn bombed Essen, Germany.

Last Mission: 15 April 1945, 15 Lancaster X’s from Croft dispatched to bomb gun positions on the Island of Wangerooge; 12 bombed the primary target; 1, unable to release its bombs over the aiming point, jettisoned the load over the centre of the smoke pall, hitting the airfield; 2 failed to return (believed to have collided).

Summary Sorties: 2584 (including 11 airlifting 240 POW’s back to England).

• Operational/Non­operational Flying Hours: 14,621/8986.
• Bombs dropped: 14,004 tons.
• Victories: Aircraft: 6 destroyed, 1 probably destroyed, 4 damaged.
• Casualties:
  • Operational: 72 air­craft; 490 aircrew, of whom 313 were killed, 54 missing, 104 POW, 18 safe, 1 injured.
  • Non-operational: 14 person­nel killed.

Honours and Awards: 1 DSO, 63 DFC’s, 10 DFM’s, 2 CGM’s, 1 MiD.

Battle Honours:

• English Channel and North Sea 1943-1944.
• Baltic 1943-1944.
• Fortress Europe 1943-1944.
• France and Germany 1944-1945 : Biscay Ports 1943-1944, Ruhr 1943-1945, Berlin 1943-1944, German Ports 1943-1945, Normandy 1944, Rhine. Biscay 1943-1944.