1 Canadian Air Division
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1 Canadian Air Division |
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| Lineup | October 1, 1952 - July 1, 1970 May 25, 1988 - September 1, 1992 July 31, 1997 |
| Country |
 Canada
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| Type | Command (air force) |
| motto |
Latin "Per Ardua Ad Astra" German "With boldness to the stars" |
| insignia | |
| Cockade (normal / low visibility ) |
 
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| Fin Flash (normal / low visibility ) |
 
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The 1st Canadian Air Division , also 1st Division aérienne du Canada (German: 1st Canadian Air Division ) is the operational command of the Canadian Air Force . Today it is based on the Canadian Forces Bases (CFB) Winnipeg .
It used to be based in Europe. Its origins and the connection of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to Europe go back to the time of the Second World War .
history
Origins
During the war, units of what was then the RCAF moved to Europe. As a result of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the RCAF squadrons moved to the European continent. You were then the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet , engl. 2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) subordinated to the British Royal Air Force . Therefore, at the end of the war in May 1945, the Canadian squadrons were on airfields in northwest Germany, in the area of the future British occupation zone .
The 2nd TAF was renamed the British Air Force of Occupation (BAFO) in mid-July 1945 . At that time, the Canadian component still consisted of three squadrons, the 39th (RCAF) (Recon) Wing in Lüneburg with three Spitfire squadrons in different reconnaissance versions, the 126th (RCAF) Wing in Uetersen with five Spitfire squadrons in different fighter versions and the 143rd (RCAF) Wing in Flensburg with three Typhoon 1B squadrons .
Most of the squadrons were disbanded in summer 1945, only the fighter squadron in Uetersen existed until mid-March 1946.
Return to Europe
With the outbreak of the Cold War it was decided to station Canadian fighter planes again in Western Europe. From the beginning of the 1950s, a number of military airfields were rebuilt or newly built for the NATO air force ; the majority were in Rhineland-Palatinate and neighboring Lorraine, as well as neighboring areas such as the Lower and Upper Rhine regions.
Canada's contribution was to consist of four squadrons. These relocated between autumn 1951 and autumn 1953, equipped with " Saber " day fighters to their new bases RAF Luffenham (temporarily, permanently from 1955) Marville (1st wing), Grostenquin (2nd wing), Zweibrücken (3rd wing) and Baden-Söllingen (4th wing), the latter was originally supposed to go to horses field , but this base was not finished in time. The command of the squadrons was the responsibility of the 1 Air Division , which was set up in Paris in 1952 and whose headquarters were located in the Château Mercy-les-Metz in Metz from spring 1953 . To support the staff there were also some transport planes in Grostenquin.
In the mid-1950s, the division's squadrons maintained a number of aerobatic teams, including the Sky Lancers. This was done annually by squadrons from different squadrons. In 1955 this was the 2nd wing. The RCAF also helped the German colleagues in building up the (Federal) Air Force , whose majority of fighter planes were initially Canadian Sabers.
Around 1957, a Saber squadron was replaced by a squadron of all-weather fighters of the " Canuck " type in all four squadrons . After NATO had adopted its new strategy of massive retaliation at the same time , it was decided to convert the squadrons to the CF-104 in the nuclear role. The RCAF became the first Starfighter user in Europe from 1962, with all nuclear weapons in the custody of the United States Air Force (USAF).
France , meanwhile itself a nuclear power, demanded in 1963 to take over the supervision of all nuclear weapons on its national territory itself. Since this demand was not acceptable to the two North American allies, the nuclear squadrons located in Lorraine were relocated to the two bases in southwest Germany and the 2nd squadron in Grostenquin was disbanded in mid-1964. The 1st Squadron, whose main role was the tactical aerial reconnaissance, remained stationed in Marville.
Concentration on West Germany
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Finally, in 1966, France demanded the withdrawal of all foreign military units. Therefore, the 1st Squadron and the headquarters of the 1st Air Division moved in 1967 to the Lahr airfield, which was in turn cleared by the French .
The adoption of the new NATO strategy of flexible response in the same period as well as Canada's budget problems led to a downsizing and reorganization of the Canadian armed forces in Europe from 1968 onwards. Since Baden-Söllingen only had one airfield with combat squadrons, the 1st Air Division and the remaining three squadrons were disbanded and in July 1970 the 1st Canadian Air Group , also in Lahr, took their place .
The remaining CF-104 squadrons in Söllingen converted to the conventional role in the early 1970s and at the same time Lahr became home to a helicopter squadron.
The "Starfighter" squadrons were modernized in the 1980s and Söllingen became a base for the CF-18 . Due to the simultaneous upgrading of NATO and the Warsaw Pact , the division and squadron structure, which was dissolved in 1970, was reintroduced in May 1988. The headquarters of the 1st Air Division was still on the CFB Lahr, which also became the home of the 3rd Squadron, while the 4th Squadron was reactivated on the CFB Söllingen. In addition to the helicopter squadron, the 3rd Squadron had two CF-18 units, which were in peacetime in Canada.
Withdrawal from Europe
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Canada decided again to withdraw its troops from Europe. Before that, however, the CF-18s from Söllingen were used in combat during the Gulf War . Immediately after returning from the Gulf, the downsizing of the armed forces began in mid-1991 and the bases in Söllingen and Lahr were returned to Germany in 1993/1994.
present
The 1st Canadian Air Division was re-established in 1997 as the operational command of all squadrons of the Canadian Forces Air Command in place of the previous groups. The headquarters are now in Winnipeg.
In Europe, the RCAF has been operating a small transport command consisting of a few people since 2009. This was in Spangdahlem until 2012 and has been based in Cologne-Bonn ever since . The Canadian Operational Support Hub (Europe) is the "subtenant" of the Air Force Support Units Command on the military part of the airport.
In addition, the RCAF provides crew members and ground staff of the E-3 early warning aircraft to the NATO AWACS association in Geilenkirchen .
List of RCAF airfields in Europe
In addition to the airfields , the Canadian Air Force maintained a few other facilities.
| No. | Surname | from | to | current use | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Soellingen | September 9, 1953 | July 31, 1993 | Karlsruhe / Baden-Baden airport | ||
| B.166 | Flensburg | May 29, 1945 | August 26, 1945 | Flensburg-Schäferhaus airfield | |
| Grostenquin | November 11, 1952 | July 31, 1964 | Base aérienne Grostenquin (no aviation use) | ||
| Lahr | April 1, 1967 | August 31, 1994 | Lahr airport | ||
| B.156 | Luneburg | May 7, 1945 | August 7, 1945 | Lueneburg airfield | |
| RAF Luffenham | November 1, 1951 | March 31, 1955 | St George's Barracks, British Army | ||
| Marville | April 1, 1955 | March 31, 1967 | Aérodrome de Montmédy-Marville | ||
| B.174 | Uetersen | July 5, 1945 | March 15, 1946 | Uetersen airfield | |
| Zweibrücken | April 7, 1953 | August 31, 1969 | Zweibrücken airfield |
The number in the first column refers to the code numbers of airfields on the occupied European continent assigned by the Western Allies after the invasion of Normandy. In the first peace weeks in 1945, the three Canadian squadrons of the 2nd TAF used other airfields in what is now Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, specifically B.110 / Achmer , B.152 / Faßberg , B.114 / Diepholz , B.100 / Goch , B.150 / Hustedt , B.154 / Reinsahlen , B.108 / Rheine and B.116 / Wunstorf . There were also B.77 / Gilze-Rijen and B.106 / Twente in the Netherlands.
Web links
- The history of the Canadian Air Forces in Europe on 916-starfighter.de (private website)