History of Squadron

Chapter I 

No. 123 Squadron 

Army Co-Operation Training in Canada

 January 1942 - November 1943

 

Intentionally left blank

On l5 January 1942, No. 123 (Army Co-Operation Training) Squadron was formed at Rockcliffe, Ontario, under the command of S/L V.W.S Ross. The student of service genealogy may trace the new squadron's ancestry through three or four previous generations. Its earliest forebear was the School of Army Co-Operation, which was organized at Camp Borden, Ontario late in 1932. From existing records it has not been possible to determine the exact date of the School's creation, nor are there any particulars available about its life prior to 1 January 1936.  In March of that year the School moved from Camp Borden to Trenton, Ontario, the new station that was beginning to supplant Borden as the RCAF's (Royal Canadian Air Force) major training centre.  S/L (Squadron Leader –equivalent to an Army Major) T.A. Lawrence was in command of the School at this time and he remained as C.O. until 1 July 1938, except for the short period 27 November 1936 to 6 February 1937 when S/L G.V. Walsh was in charge

Through these years the School gave a variety of courses to train Army officers in air-ground co-operation; there was a series of Senior Army Officers, Air Liaison Officers, and photographic courses, attended by men many of whom in later years rose to high command in the Army. Armstong Whitworth Atlas aircraft were used at this time to demonstrate the technique of co-operation.

Armstrong Whitworth "Atlas"

Photo source: thisisme.ca

 

In July 1938 S/L Lawrence was transferred to Ottawa, Ontario, to take command of No. 2 (AC) Squadron, and S/L W.D. Van Vliet then because O.C. (Officer Commanding) of the School. At the end of that year the sketchy unit diary abruptly terminated and three months later the School as such ceased to exist. 

No. 2 (AC) Squadron, which had originally been formed at Trenton in 1935 and moved to Ottawa (Rockcliffe) in 1937, returned to its original home on 20 March 1939 and on 1 April it assumed the name and position of what had been the School of Army Co-Operation.

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