No. 3 (Bomber) Squadron was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadron active during the late 1930s.
Formed in 1935 with bomber and fighter flights, the squadron took two years to receive its bomber aircraft, after which the fighter flight was expanded into a separate squadron. After the outbreak of World War II it moved to Halifax to provide anti-ship capability, but was redesignated as a fighter squadron while in transit. The squadron never actually became the latter and was disbanded within days of its move to Halifax, with its aircraft and personnel being transferred to a new bomber squadron.
The lineage of the squadron originates with No. 3 (Operations) Squadron, which flew forestry patrols over Ontario and Quebec to support civil government between 1925 and 1927. It was transferred to civilian control at the end of that period and its designation lapsed. The squadron was successively reformed on paper as No. 3 (Service) Squadron and No. 3 (Advanced Training) Squadron during the late 1920s, but never became active under these designations.
History
The squadron traced its lineage back to No. 3 (Operations) Squadron RCAF.
Civil government support squadron
No. 3 (Operations) Squadron was formed at Rockcliffe, Ontario on 1 April 1925 under the control of RCAF headquarters, one of four squadrons authorized to carry out missions in support of government agencies. It soon moved to Shirleys Bay a month after its formation. Commanded by Squadron Leader A.B. Shearer, it flew forestry patrols over Ontario and Quebec to support civil government, in addition to "operating a test and development centre for new aircraft and photographic equipment." Flight Lieutenant R.S. Grandy replaced Shearer on 12 January 1926, and would lead the squadron for the rest of its military career. The squadron was equipped with the Curtiss HS-2L, Vickers Viking, Canadian Vickers Varuna, and Canadian Vickers Vedette flying boats, as well as the Avro 552A floatplane. Due to opposition to the RCAF performing civil operations, the squadron was transferred to the nominally civilian Directorate of Civil Government Air Operations on 1 July 1927 and its designation lapsed. It was retroactively redesignated as No. 3 (Service) Squadron on 1 April with A Flight nominally consisting of Armstrong Whitworth Siskin fighters, B Flight consisting of Armstrong Whitworth Atlas army cooperation aircraft, and C Flight consisting of Fairchild 71 and Bellanca Pacemaker. The squadron was reformed a year later as No. 3 (Advanced Training) Squadron, but due to a lack of aircraft, funding, and personnel it only existed on paper.
Bomber squadron
No. 3 (Bomber) Squadron was formed on 1 September 1935 at the RCAF main training base in Trenton, Ontario, under the control of RCAF headquarters. Along with Nos. 2 and 6 Squadrons, It was authorized to be formed with two flights for purely military purposes during Fiscal Year 1936/1937. The squadron was to include a Fighter Flight with the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mark IIIA and a Bomber Flight with the Westland Wapiti. Only the former was formed on 1 September from the pre-existing Fighter Flight formed in 1930 as the Wapitis had yet to arrive from England. Due to a shortage of aircraft and personnel, the squadron included only one flight on 15 April 1936. It expanded to two flights under the command of Squadron Leader A.H. Hull on 13 July; the Bomber Flight was to include the nucleus of No. 6 Squadron. On 10 August it was combined into a four-flight composite squadron under the command of Hull with No. 2 Squadron due to the shortages, with C Flight from the Bomber Flight with the No. 6 Squadron nucleus and D Flight from the Fighter Flight; A and B Flights were from No. 2. After No. 6 Squadron was activated on 1 December 1936, No. 3 Squadron again became a separate unit under the temporary command of Flight Lieutenant B.G. Carr-Harris on 7 April 1937.