419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force . The squadron was originally formed during the Second World War and is currently based at CFB Cold Lake . It is responsible for advanced tactical fighter training for pilots of the RCAF and as part of the NATO Flying Training in Canada ( NFTC ) program using nine CT - 155 Hawk trainers . History . Second World War . No . 419 Bomber Squadron formed at RAF Mildenhall , England in 1941 as part of No . 3 Group , Bomber Command . The squadron moved to RAF Middleton St . George when it became a constituent of 6 Group , Bomber Command , and remained in England until 1945 . The squadron operated Vickers Wellington , then Handley Page Halifax and finally Avro Lancaster bombers during this period . It was the third RCAF bomber unit to be formed in England . It started operations in January 1942 , converting almost immediately to Wellington Mk IIIs and moving north to Leeming as part of the new 6 Group in August 1942 . Here in November it was re - equipped with Halifax Mk IIs , which it flew for the next 18 months on the night offensive against Germany . After three quick moves it settled at Middleton St . George in November and stayed there for the rest of its service in Bomber Command . In April 1944 the squadron began to convert to Avro Lancasters , using the Mk X which was produced in Canada and flown across the Atlantic . The squadron remained continuously on the offensive until 25 April 1945 , when it flew its last sortie . Squadron personnel flew a total of 4 , 325 operational sorties during the war from Mannheim to Nuremberg , Milan to Berlin and Munich to Hanover , inflicting heavy damage on the enemy . As a result of its wartime record , 419 Squadron became one of the most decorated units under the RCAF during the war . Over a span of roughly three - and - a - quarter years it logged 400 operational missions ( 342 bombing missions , 53 mining excursions , 3 leaflet raids and 1 " spoof " ) involving 4 , 325 sorties . One hundred and twenty nine aircraft were lost on these operations . Between January 1943 to March 1944 , 419 Squadron was involved in over 200 sorties involving 2400 crewing operations losing 59 aircraft , a rate of one in every 40 . 415 men were either killed or taken POW during those 15 months , averaging 4 crews a month . The average crew survival rate was between 2 and 3 months when about 20 missions would be flown . In general mining operations were relatively safer missions . In particular the attacks on German cities intensified from early October when more than 100 crews were regularly dispatched to bomb Frankfurt , Mannheim , Berlin , Magdeburg , Leipzig and Nuremberg . During March 1944 there was much mining as described earlier , but this was the precursor to 6 Group ' s 118 - crew attack on Nuremberg at the end of the month when it was to suffer its worst lost of thirteen aircraft in a single sortie . It has not been possible to trace all of 419 ' s downed aircraft ( for example Sergeant Robert Whitfield ' s Halifax Mk . II JD - 258 coded VR - K borrowed from 419 Squadron for an operation to Wuppertal on 24 / 25 June 1943 was intercepted by a night fighter and crashed near Eindhoven killing the crew which included two RCAF personnel ) so the statistics will be a little worse than described above . No . 419 Squadron was , like other squadrons in 6 Group , heavily involved in much activity during this month , probably the most active in the run up to the June landings . Rail - yards were successfully attacked at Trappes ( 6 / 7 ) , Le Mans ( 13 / 14 ) , Amiens ( 16 / 17 ) , Laon ( 23 / 24 ) , Aulnoye ( 25 / 26 ) , Courtrai ( 26 / 27 ) and Vaires - sur - Marne ( 29 / 30 ) as well as mining operations in the Gironde Estuary ( 3 / 4 ) , Brest ( 4 / 5 ) , Lorient , Brest , St Nazaire , Terchelling Islands ( 11 / 12 ) , Heligoland ( 18 / 19 and 30 / 31 ) and Kiel Bay ( 22 / 23 ) . An aircraft factory at Meulan Les Mureaux was bombed on 2 / 3 March . It flew back to Canada in June 1945 and was disbanded at Yarmouth , Nova Scotia , on 5 September 1945 . Postwar . 419 was reformed on 15 March 1955 as 419 All - Weather Fighter Squadron , and moved to the NATO Air Division base at Baden - Soellingen , Germany shortly thereafter . The squadron was equipped with the Avro CF - 100 Canuck . 419 was disbanded 31 December 1962 . The unit was reformed at CFB Cold Lake on 2 May 1975 as 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron . It was disbanded in 1995 when the CF - 5 aircraft were retired . The squadron was reformed again at 4 Wing Cold Lake on 23 July 2000 to conduct advanced " lead in " fighter training for Canadian and NATO pilots using 9 CT - 155 Hawk Notable members . The name " Moose " , which is used in the squadron ' s emblem and motto , is derived from the nickname of the first commanding officer of the squadron , Wing Commander " Moose " Fulton . The tradition of squadron commanders bearing the nickname " Moose " was instituted after Fulton ' s death during operations . Squadron personnel are affectionately known as " moosemen " . This tradition continues to this day . Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski of 419 Squadron was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 12 / 13 June 1944 during a bombing mission over Europe . A restored Lancaster operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton , Ontario is painted in the markings of aircraft VR - A of 419 Squadron in his honour . This is one of only two Lancasters still in flying condition ; the other is part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight . As well as Mynarski ' s Victoria Cross members of the squadron have been awarded , 4 DSO s , 150 DFCs , 3 bars to DFCs , 35 DFMs and 1 MC . In the current 419 Squadron , Captain Riel " Guns " Erickson who starred in TV series while a CF - 18 Hornet student in 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron is now a 419 Squadron instructor .