No. 417 Squadron

Nickname: City of Windsor
Motto: SUPPORTING LIBERTY AND JUSTICE

Battle Honours:
Defence of Britain 1942, Egypt and Libya 1942-43, North Africa 1943, Sicily 1943, Italy 1943-45 Salerno Anzio and Nettuno Gustav Line Gothic Line

Its Badge, in front of a palm tree eradicated a sword and fasces in saltire. This squadron operated with the 8th Army in North Africa, in the Sicilian landings, and in Italy in close support of the Army. The palm tree suggests the desert, the sword air support to the Army, and the fasces the fighting in Italy.

The History

No. 417 Squadron formed at Charmy Down on 27 November 1941 and was equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk IlAs in the following month. Although it became operational in February 1942, it then moved to Scotland (Tain) and a month later prepared for overseas deployment, arriving in Egypt (Kasfareet) in June 1942. It was not until September that it received some Hawker Hurricane Mk IIs for work- up, and with these on Suez Canal defence the squadron claimed its first victory, a Junkers Ju 88. It slowly re-equipped with Spitfire Mk VBs and Mk VCs, and in February 1943 moved to the Western Desert and offensive action, joining in the victorious advance through to Tripoli, resulting in many moves from one desert landing ground to another. In July 1943 the squadron moved to Malta (Luqa), from where it began patrols over Sicily in preparation for the invasion. This landing it fully supported, moving into Pachino and following on with close support for the invasion of Italy. By then it had received Spitfire HF.MK Vllls, and with these it fought out the war in Italy. Moving into Italy, No. 417 became part of the fighter force on the Adriatic coast, being particularly heavily involved in the Sangro river battle. It provided high-altitude cover for the landings at Anzio, a place where it remained on defence during the next six months, then moved north for armed reconnaissances ahead of the 8th Army. Close-support flying was No. 417's final contribution as the offensive drew to a successful close in 1945. At the end it moved into Treviso and was disbanded there on 1 July 1945.

No. 417 Squadron, RCAF Spitfire

A long-span Spitfire HF.MK VIII of No. 417 Sqn lands at an Italian airfield. The squadron had moved from Sicily to the mainland in September 1943.

No. 417 Squadron reformed as a Fighter Reconnaissance unit at Rivers, Manitoba on 1 June 1947, the squadron flew Mustang aircraft in close support training with army units until disbanded on 1 August 1948. Upon reunification No. 417 Squadron reformed as the operational training squadron for all CF-104 Starfighter squadrons. The squadron was based at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta. The squadron was disbanded in 1983 with the retirement of the CF-104 Starfighter from Canadian service.

Reformed April 1, 1993 as 417 Combat Support squadron taking over the duties of the Cold Lake Base Flight equipped with the CT-133 Silver Star and CH-146 Griffon helicopter.

Representative Aircraft

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