RCAF No 402 (Winnipeg Bears) Squadron

RCAF No 402 (Winnipeg Bears) Squadron Spitfire photographs

Aircrew RCAF 402Sqn SqnLdr Norm Bretz and pilots 1942 01

Airworthy Spitfire warbird LFVb RCAF 402Sqn AEA EP120 01 to 13

Spitfire FXIV RCAF 402Sqn AEJ RN119 at B88 Heesch Holland IWM MH6855

Spitfire FXIV RCAF 402Sqn AEJ RN119 at B88 Heesch Holland IWM MH6855

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV, RN119 'AE-J', of No 402 Squadron RCAF, at a dispersal surfaced with pierced steel planks (PSP) at B88/Heesch, Holland. RN119 also served with No. 412 Squadron RCAF, and in the post-war years with the Belgian Air Force.

Imperial War Museum IWM MH 6855 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205207970

Spitfire MkIXc RCAF 402Sqn AEN BS430 background 1942 01

Spitfire MkIXc RCAF 402Sqn AEN SLdr Norman Bretz BS430 1942 TC15015 Supermarine Spitfire MkIX Page 21

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEB Ian Keltie EN398 Mar 1943 01

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEB Ian Keltie EN398 Mar 1943 02

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEB Ian Keltie EN398 Mar 1943 0A

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEW Lorne Cameron BS152 Aug 1942 01

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEW Lorne Cameron BS152 Aug 1942 02

Spitfire MkIX RAF 402Sqn AEW Lorne Cameron BS152 Aug 1942 0A

Spitfire MkIX RCAF 402Sqn AEU BS428 1942 01

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 402Sqn AEG Norm Keene BS353 1943 01

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 402Sqn AEH EA Bland BM509 May 1942 01

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 402Sqn AEH Harlen Fuller BM509 May 1942 01

Spitfire XIV RAF 402Sqn AEB Brian MacConnell 1945 01

Spitfire XIV RCAF 402Sqn AEP RM727 Nov 1944 01

Spitfire XVI RCAF 402Sqn AEQ and AET named Refoogee II 1945 01

Spitfire MkXVI RCAF 402Sqn AE-P RM727 England 1944

RM727 XIV CHA G65 33MU 25-6-44 91S 31-7-44 402S 'AE-P' 9-11-44 CAC ops 10-3-45 [405S 12-4-45] Shot down by flak nr Parchim 19-4-45 [402S 26-4-45 3BRU CE 18-7-46]

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 402Sqn AE-A Robert Morrow BM257 Redhill 1942

BM257 Vb CBAF M45M LFVb LFVb 9MU 25-3-42 402S 30-4-42 165S 23-9-42 132S 19-7-43 118S 10-10-43 AAEE 30-10-43 rogue aircraft flew left wing low. ailerons in bad state returned to sqdn fault free 132S 25-1-44 VASM 17-3-44 fuel syst mods Armee de l'Air 19-1-45 GC2/18

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 402Sqn AE-A Geoffrey Northcott EP120 Apr 1943

EP120 Vb CBAF2403 CBAF M46 45MU 23-5-42 501S 'SD-Y' 4-6-42 struck AB403 on runway Ibsley CAC 16-7-42 ros CAC ops Dieppe 19-8-42 19S 9-9-42 402S 22-4-43 53OTU 12-10-44 to 5377M St.Athan 13-7-45 then 8070M BoB film 18-4-68 Wattisham extant as G-LFVB

Spitfire MkVb RCAF 4025Sqn AE-R F/O Rick R Richards BL547 RAF Horne Surrey UK June 1944 Eduard 0A

Info Eduard: On D-Day, No. 402 Squadron had a mixture of older Mk.Vb and Mk.Vc Spitfires in its armament and was led by the famous ace S/Ldr G. W. Northcott. The squadron was part of No. 142 Wing, which, under the command of another well-known Canadian ace, W/Cdr John Milne Checketts, operated as part of the air defense of Great Britain, albeit under 2 TAF operational control in the role of fighter-bombers. No. 402 Squadron was re-equipped with Spitfires Mk.IX in July, but their time with the unit was brief. Early August 1944 saw a move to Hawkinge, where the Squadron was rearmed with the new Spitfires Mk.XIV with which they immediately engaged in combat against V-1 flying bombs. In late September 1944 the squadron was transferred to 2 TAF in Belgium and joined No. 125 Wing. In December it then joined No. 126 Wing RCAF, where it flew alongside Mk.IX Spitfires. The end of the war found the unit on German soil at Wunstorf with a total score of 49.5 enemy shot down. One of the Spitfires Mk.Vb operating with No. 402 Squadron during D-Day was serial number BL547 which sported the fuselage codes AE-R. It was most often flown by F/O Rick Richards who had a drawing of Black Rufe, a character from the comic strip Li’l Abner, painted on the nose of his Spitfire. Under the cockpit, it bore the standard markings of most No. 402 Squadron Spitfires, a red Canadian leaf in a white crest with the City of Winnipeg in white lettering.