Nanton bomber museum celebrating 429 Squadron anniversary

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on August 27, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Acting Commander Victoria Chatzikirou and squadron Chief Warrant Officer Blair Spencer of the Trenton, Ont.-based 429 Bison Squadron display a plaque at the Lethbridge Military Museum reading "Bison Squadron."

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Special events at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton today will honour the 80th anniversary of the 429 Transport Squadron.

A flypast by a CC-177 Globemaster during a remembrance ceremony starting at 2:45 p.m. will be among the highlights along with the run-up of a Lancaster bomber engine.

The museum opens at 10 a.m. and events will include a Lancaster rear turret demonstration, a run-up of a Tiger Moth and a program in the hanger at 1 p.m. featuring Greg Kopchuk, author of the squadron history “Nothing to Chance.”

The squadron, formed in 1942 during the Second World War, was adopted by the City of Lethbridge in 1944. At the Lethbridge Military Museum on Stubb Ross Road near the airport, a small section of the museum features an exhibit focusing on the squadron.

On Friday, Acting Commander Victoria Chatzikirou and squadron Chief Warrant Officer Blair Spencer of the Trenton, Ont.-based squadron joined volunteer co-ordinator Glenn Miller and the Legion’s Wayne King at the museum to look at the exhibit and talk about the squadron. Trenton is home to Canada’s 8 Wing.

Lethbridge resident King was commander of the squadron from 1978-80 when it was based in Winnipeg. He recalls how the squadron’s Hercules aircraft played a role in evacuation efforts when a massive fire forced people to flee their homes from the northwestern Ontario community of Red Lake.

The Canadian military offered sponsorships in the Second World War not only of squadrons but also naval and army outfits, he said.

With a sponsorship, residents would send care packages to military members attached to the squadron consisting of items such as cigarettes and other desired goods.

Chatzikirou said five Globemasters are stationed at the Trenton base, the only one in Canada with the versatile and enormous plane.

The Globemaster, she said, can carry as many as 102 paratroopers or 169 passengers, three Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopters and aircraft of all sorts.

It’s “fast, capable and flexible,” the commander said of the Globemaster which can land on a runway as short at 3,500 feet long and 90 feet wide which makes it versatile for a wide range of uses.

The Globemaster can stay in the air for about 10.5 hours, she added.

The Globemaster has played roles in numerous operations including in Afghanistan where it was used to rescue embassy staff from different countries when the Kabul airfield was under fire. It also removed 335 people from the country.

A couple of weeks ago, one plane from 429 Squadron was flown to Val D’or, Que. to pick up specialized mining equipment only available in Canada, then flown to the Dominican Republic so that equipment could be used in the rescue and recovery of trapped miners.

Last March a Globemaster was flown to Tunisia to bring back a seriously ill military member who couldn’t be flown home via a commercial airline for treatment.

King said at one time in the Second World War, Lethbridge’s residents were outnumbered by people associated with Canadian military units stationed here.

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