426 Transport Training Squadron 426 Transport Training Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force , located at CFB Trenton in Trenton , Ontario . It originated as a squadron in the Royal Canadian Air Force ( RCAF ) that fought during the Second World War as a bomber squadron . The motto of the squadron is " On Wings of Fire " and the squadron ' s badge contains a Thunderbird . The badge refers to the squadron ' s " Thunderbird " designation . < ref name = " airforce . forces . gc . ca / 426sqn " > < / ref > History . Second World War . No . 426 Squadron RCAF was created during the Second World War as a result of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan to supply aircrew for the war in Europe . < ref name = " raf . mod . uk / h426 " > < / ref > < ref name = " rcaf . com / 426squadron " > < / ref > It first formed at RAF Dishforth , England on October 15 , 1942 with Vickers Wellington Mk IIIs and Mk Xs . The squadron was used as bomber unit in No . 4 Group RAF , RAF Bomber Command . Its first operational mission occurred on the night of the 14th and 15 January 1943 , when seven Wellingtons bombed Lorient . The squadron used to fly by night , principally over Germany . Unlike the other RCAF Wellington squadrons it did not go to Tunisia in that year , but remained operating over Germany . That year the squadron transferred to No . 6 Group RCAF . In June of that year it moved to RAF Linton - on - Ouse , where it re - equipped with the Bristol Hercules - engined Avro Lancaster II . With this type it soon resumed the offensive , and continued with the night campaign from Linton for the next ten months . On April 1944 it began to re - equip with Handley Page Halifax IIIs and VIIs , and for the next year continued to operate with these types as part of No . 6 Group . During the war it flew 261 operational missions ( 242 bombing missions and 19 mining excursions ) involving 3 , 213 sorties , and in doing so lost 88 aircraft . Its last operation took place on April 25 , 1945 when 20 Halifaxes bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge . On May 25 , 1945 , the squadron was renamed to 426 Transport Squadron . Possibly , the most heroic act realized by a member of the squadron during the war took place on October 20 , 1943 when Flight Sergeant Stuart ( the pilot ) and his crew were sent to bomb Leipzig . During the mission he was engaged by enemy fighters , Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Junkers Ju 88 , initially managing to shake them off but not before having his aircraft rendered almost unfit to fly , leaving it with shattered cockpits and gun turrets ; holes in the fuel tanks , damaged hydraulics and no navigation instruments . Against all odds Stuart decided to continue the mission and successfully bombed his target before guiding his crippled aircraft home . He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal . Peacetime . The squadron was disbanded on January 1 , 1946 . < ref name = " airforce . forces . gc . ca / 8wing / 426sqn " > < / ref > It reformed at RCAF Station Dartmouth on August 1 , 1946 as a transport squadron . They moved to RCAF Station Lachine , Quebec , in March 1947 , where it began using the North Star . On March 8 , 1948 , a North Star of the squadron was used to make 426 Squadron ' s first flight to the Arctic with a flight from Dorval , Quebec to Lansdowne House by way of Rockliffe , Resolute , and Trout Lake . Later , in January 1949 , a 426 Squadron North Star made Canada ' s first coast - to - coast non - stop flight . Korean War . During the Korean War , between 1950 and 1952 , the squadron transported supplies and troops to Japan in support of United Nations operations . On July 1950 , a few days after the start of the war , 426 Squadron was detached to McChord Air Force Base in Washington where it came under the operational control of the Military Air Transport Service of the United States . A typical Korean Air Lift route for 426 Squadron aeroplanes was a physically and mentally demanding fifty hour round trip flight from McChord to Japan and back with stops at Elmendorf Air Force Base ( Alaska ) , Shemya ( Aleutian Islands ) , Handed and Misawa Air Base ( Japan ) . Post - Korean War to present day . On September 1 , 1959 the squadron was moved to Trenton , Ontario . It was moved to Saint - Hubert on January 1962 . It was disbanded at Saint - Hubert on 1 September of that year . It reformed again as 426 Transport Training Squadron on May 3 , 1971 at Uplands . The squadron moved to Trenton in August 1971 where it remains today , conducting training on the CC - 130 Hercules . The squadron has carried out many tasks since the end of Korean War , including casualty evacuations , Royal tours and other VIP transport , and United Nations air lift operations . Thunderbird has worked in many places : the Arctic , the Middle East and Europe , the Congo and Japan . Battle honours . The squadron has been awarded a number of battle honour s during its operational history : Activities related to the squadron . During one attack in Belgium during the Second World War , one Halifax ( serial LW682 ) crashed near Geraardsbergen . The entire crew perished . The remains of only five airmen , four Canadians and one British were recovered by the German authorities ; the corpses of three other crewmen could not be retrieved because it had crashed in the boggy ground near the Dender river . In the late 1990s a group of Canadian and Belgian volunteers recovered the remains of the three Canadian airmen and brought them to Canada . They were later interred with their crewmates in Geraardsbergen Communal Cemetery . A great deal of the recovered Halifax was smelted into ingots and have since been used for memorials , including the ceiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in London , UK . Former members of the 426 Squadron have held biennial Thunderbird veteran reunions since the end of the Second World War . In recognition of his bravery , a new building of RAF Linton - on - Ouse was named after Flight Sergeant Frederick Stuart . The place was visited by relatives of the soldier , amongst them , his daughter , whom he wasn ' t ever able to meet because he was shot down and killed in December 1943 , one month before his child ' s birth .