![]() From there, the group travelled to Denmark Bay on Victoria Island, then south to to Grande Prairie and then by rail to Edmonton. The main expedition, led by Patrick Douglas Baird, travelled 3,100 miles (5,000 km), starting from Churchill, Manitoba, first to Baker Lake, Northwest Territories where the number of vehicles was reduced to ten. The RCAF provided airdrops of supplies, the largest aerial resupply effort ever attempted in Canada up to that point. They were joined by three American observers in a smaller American-made snowmobile called a "Weasel" as well as an observer from the Royal Canadian Navy and a number of scientists. It involved the 48 members of the Army driving 11 4½-ton Canadian-designed snowmobiles ("Penguins"). Operation Musk Ox was an 81-day military exercise organized by the Canadian Army between 15 Feb and. They were also used to pick up mail and to retrieve parachutes from the moving force. Spare engines were flown in by Norseman supply aircraft. The Norseman was a major asset, evacuating casualties on three occasions during the exercise. 371), refueling from a Penguin snowtrack during Operation Musk Ox, 17 March 1946. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. Larry Milberry, Sixty Years:the RCAF and CF Air Command 1924-1984. The fighter squadrons were disbanded by May 1946. 126 (RCAF) Wing based at Utersen, Germany, flying Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Four RCAF fighter squadrons were assigned to the British Air Forces of Occupation (Germany). 437 (Transport) Squadron at Odiham, Hampshire, with a detachment at Evere, Belgium. 436 (Transport) Squadron at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, with detachments at Croydon in Surrey and Biggin Hill in Kent, and No. Three RCAF transport squadrons flew Douglas Dakotas in England, including No. 429 (Bomber) Squadron at Leeming, Yorkshire, as part of No. Two bomber squadrons continued to serve, with No. They flew non-operational missions the squadron was disbanded on. 644 (Air Observation POst) Squadron based at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, flying Auster AOP Mk. RCAF strength stood at just over 58,000 and there were just ten squadrons overseas and six in Canada. With the end of the war, the proposed RCAF peacetime establishment was set at 16,000 all ranks, with a two-year interim period dedicated to the demobilization of roughly 90% of the wartime force. By, the strength of the RCAF had been reduced to 164,846 all ranks. There were 78 squadrons in service, with 35 overseas and 43 at home (six of which were ordered overseas). Of these, there were 104,000 in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), 64,928 with the Home War Establishment (HWE) and 46,272 serving overseas. The RCAF reached its peak wartime strength of 215,000 all ranks, including 15,153 in the RCAF Women's Division (RCAF WD).
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