Members of 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron will march along Beacon Avenue in Sidney “with drums beating, colours flying and bayonets fixed” on Thursday as they mark the squadron’s 80th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The military parade will be followed by a flypast by one of the squadron’s CH-148 helicopters.
The Freedom of the Town is a tradition where a municipality allows a military unit to march through town as an affirmation of the trust the citizenry places in the regiment.
Based near Victoria International Airport, the 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron operates three CH-148 Cyclone helicopters under the command of Maritime Forces Pacific, according to the Department of National Defence.
As a ship-borne squadron, it supports the operations of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet in local waters and deploys on Canadian warships on overseas missions, DND says.
The helicopters, which can do surface and sub-surface surveillance, primarily serve in an anti-submarine role, the federal department says — their speed and range allows them to detect, pursue and attack enemy submarines before they can get close enough to pose a threat to surface vessels with their weapons.
The 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron traces its roots to No. 127 Fighter Squadron RCAF, which was formed in the early months of 1942 and initially operated out of Gander, Newfoundland and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The squadron was transferred to the United Kingdom and was re-designated as 443 Squadron RCAF in February 1944. It flew Spitfires and conducted operations in support of Allied efforts in the liberation of Europe during the Second World War.
It was disbanded in 1946, but reformed in 1951 as an RCAF Auxiliary Squadron, based on Sea Island in Richmond. It was again disbanded in 1964.
In 1974, the Royal Canadian Navy’s only ship-borne helicopter squadron, HS 50, was split into HS 423 and HS 443, both operating Sea King helicopters.
HS 443 was transferred to facilities near Victoria International Airport in 1989. Early in 1995, HS 443 was re-designated as 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. Thursday from the Mary Winspear Centre at 2243 Beacon Ave. and run along Beacon Avenue to Second Street to the Town of Sidney Municipal Hall at 2440 Sidney Ave.
There will be a short ceremony, including a proclamation and speeches, followed by a flypast conducted by one of the squadron’s CH-148 helicopters.
A rolling road closure will follow the parade. Sidney Avenue between Second and Fifth streets and the circle route to Mount Baker Avenue and through to the Army Navy and Air Force Veterans Unit on Fourth Street will be temporarily closed to traffic for the ceremony.
