Hawker Hurricane Mark XII

Photo Source: Canadian Air Force site

The personnel of the Squadron remained relatively unchanged from the time of the move to Debert until September 1942 when nine new pilots were added to its strength. In November there was a further addition of eight, followed by eight more early in December, nine on 4 January 1943 and nine more on the 15th of that month. All these pilots were recent graduates from Service Flying Training Schools who were to be trained as Army Co-Operation pilots. The Squadron was in fact a school, training personnel for both the Army and the R.C.A.F.

While new members streamed in, some of the old-timers got their cherished wish, an overseas posting.  The first departures were at the end of November 1942 when F/Os I. Gould, W.W. Hays, R.G. McKessock and S.A. Prentice left for the "Y" Depot (Halifax NS).  The first three had been with the Squadron since it was first formed (as the School of Army Co-operation) in October 1941; Prentice had joined a month later.  With them went two of the more recent arrivals, P/Os F. May and Lewis. On 25 January 1943 W/C Ross also departed for overseas to study the latest army co-operation tactics and S/L L.C. Ranking succeeded him in command. Rankin had first joined the unit in October 1941 as a flight lieutenant, and had remained with it until September 1942; he left then for some weeks to take a staff course at Kingston, Ontario, at the end of which he was struck off strength to Eastern Air Command Headquarters.  Nine days later he was posted back to No. 123 as C.O., and remained in command until the unit went overseas

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One of the major problems confronting the new C.O. when he took charge in January 1943 was overcrowding. With two new courses of 18 A/C pilots to be trained, plus an equal number of Army officers taking Air Liaison and Army staff courses, the officers' mess had to accommodate 71, taxing the kitchen staff and waiters to the limit.  The airmen' s quarters was so crowded that no beds were available for 14 airmen. In all there were over 700 other ranks in the East Camp, the majority of whom (422) were from No. 31 O.T.U. (Operational Training Unit). But the next two months were to see even more bodies crammed into the Squadron's limited accommodation.