The squadron traced its lineage back to No. 3 (Operations) Squadron RCAF.
Civil government support squadron , 1926 No. 3 (Operations) Squadron was formed at
Rockcliffe,
Ontario on 1 April 1925 under the control of RCAF headquarters, one of four squadrons authorized to carry out missions in support of government agencies. It soon moved to
Shirleys Bay a month after its formation. Commanded by
Squadron Leader A.B. Shearer, it flew forestry patrols over Ontario and Quebec to support civil government, in addition to "operating a test and development centre for new aircraft and photographic equipment."
Flight Lieutenant R.S. Grandy replaced Shearer on 12 January 1926, and would lead the squadron for the rest of its military career. The squadron was equipped with the
Curtiss HS-2L,
Vickers Viking,
Canadian Vickers Varuna, and
Canadian Vickers Vedette flying boats, as well as the
Avro 552A floatplane. Due to opposition to the RCAF performing civil operations, the squadron was transferred to the nominally civilian Directorate of Civil Government Air Operations on 1 July 1927 and its designation lapsed. It was retroactively redesignated as No. 3 (Service) Squadron on 1 April with A Flight nominally consisting of
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin fighters, B Flight consisting of
Armstrong Whitworth Atlas army cooperation aircraft, and C Flight consisting of
Fairchild 71 and
Bellanca Pacemaker. The squadron was reformed a year later as No. 3 (Advanced Training) Squadron, but due to a lack of aircraft, funding, and personnel it only existed on paper.
Bomber squadron No. 3 (Bomber) Squadron was formed on 1 September 1935 at the RCAF main training base in
Trenton, Ontario, under the control of RCAF headquarters. Along with
Nos. 2 and
6 Squadrons, It was authorized to be formed with two flights for purely military purposes during Fiscal Year 1936/1937. The squadron was to include a Fighter Flight with the
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mark IIIA and a Bomber Flight with the
Westland Wapiti. Only the former was formed on 1 September from the pre-existing Fighter Flight formed in 1930 as the Wapitis had yet to arrive from England. Due to a shortage of aircraft and personnel, the squadron included only one flight on 15 April 1936. It expanded to two flights under the command of Squadron Leader A.H. Hull on 13 July; the Bomber Flight was to include the nucleus of No. 6 Squadron. On 10 August it was combined into a four-flight composite squadron under the command of Hull with No. 2 Squadron due to the shortages, with C Flight from the Bomber Flight with the No. 6 Squadron nucleus and D Flight from the Fighter Flight; A and B Flights were from No. 2. After No. 6 Squadron was activated on 1 December 1936, No. 3 Squadron again became a separate unit under the temporary command of Flight Lieutenant B.G. Carr-Harris on 7 April 1937. Squadron Leader A.A Lewis, who had returned from exchange duty with the
Royal Air Force, became commander on 17 May; he would command the squadron for the rest of its existence. After the delivery of four Wapiti Mark IIAs on 1 June 1937, the squadron was reorganized with only bomber aircraft and the Fighter Flight expanded into
No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron. Relocating to Rockcliffe on 17 June, No. 3 Squadron initially included five pilots and five air gunners. Though the Wapiti proved unpopular with its pilots due to its poor performance, the Canadian government would not spend more money for superior aircraft. No. 3 Squadron completed initial air gunnery and bombing practice with the Wapitis that summer. Influenced by his RAF experience to believe that "the supreme test of a bombing squadron is its ability to reach its objective in any kind of weather", Lewis emphasized night flying and long-range navigation in squadron training. During 1938, the squadron received four more Wapitis to form an additional flight, though only four of its aircraft were equipped with wireless, logging 1,000 training hours. One of the original Wapitis received in 1937 was written off after a crash landing at
Sharbot Lake on 14 July. In addition to practicing bombing with
camera obscura during the year, the squadron flew simulated low-level bombing and gas attacks as part of the opposing force during
Canadian Army exercises at
Camp Borden in late August and early September. In October, it flew its Wapitis to relocate to
Calgary using the
Trans-Canada Air Lines route, joining
Western Air Command on 21 October after departing Rockcliffe on 18 October; this was the first RCAF long-distance relocation by air. The move originally scheduled for September but was delayed as a result of the
Munich Crisis. At the time, the squadron included four officers and 91 airmen, with six pilots included. On 4 July 1939 the number of squadron aircraft was reduced to seven when one of its Wapitis was destroyed in a crash in
Sarcee Camp while making a simulated reconnaissance of the militia training there; two militiamen were injured in the crash. Training continued, with squadron aircraft launching mock strafing and gas attacks against militia during their annual summer camp. During the month the squadron supervised the annual training school for
No. 120 (Bomber) Squadron of the reserve
Auxiliary Active Air Force. Shortly before
World War II began, on 26 August, the squadron was alerted for hostilities, immediately departing with seven obsolete Wapitis for the
civil aerodrome at
Halifax,
Nova Scotia, where it joined
Eastern Air Command on 1 September with half of its aircraft. It received three new Wapitis with crews on 30 August from Trenton while stopping at Rockcliffe, bringing total strength to two flights with five aircraft each. Flying in short spurts, the aircraft took the direct route to Halifax, overflying American territory. The three remaining aircraft were forced down in
Millinocket, Maine by engine trouble, risking
internment if war was declared. Two of these remained there for needed repairs with spare parts flown in from Ottawa, which were effected by 3 September, though they were grounded by bad weather until the next day, a day after the British declaration of the war. They arrived at Halifax on 6 September – eleven days after departure. At Halifax, the squadron formed the Air Striking Force of Eastern Air Command, intended to launch attacks, either independently or in cooperation with the
Royal Canadian Navy, against any German surface forces operating between
Port Mouton and
Cape Canso. The squadron was redesignated as No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron on 31 August while in transit, but was never actually converted to the latter. It was disbanded on 5 September, with its personnel and aircraft being transferred to
No. 10 (Bomber) Squadron RCAF. The squadron received no battle honours. A No. 3 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron planned to be equipped with
Consolidated Canso flying boats was ordered organized on 1 June 1943 due to a perceived need for additional anti-submarine units, but the order was swiftly cancelled after a reduction in the
U-boat threat. == Lineage ==