Canada. Canadian Armed Forces. Transport Squadron, 440 : 440 squadron was formed in October 1932 at Vancouer, B.C., as Number 11 Army Co-operation Squadron and was redesignated 111 Coastal Artillery Co-operation Squadron in 1937. 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. 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, 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 in 1953 at Bagotville, Quebec as a all-weather fighter squadron. It was during this time that the Squadron developed its official badge comprised of a bat flying amongst clouds to represent its all-weather capability. 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.
440 Communications and Rescue Squadron was reformed KU111 composite unit at Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 8 July, 1968, flying in search and rescue, transport and utility roles. The Squadron moved to Canadian Force Base Namao at Edmonton and was re-equipped 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. As of 2008, 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.
