Squadron History
2452 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (Aux) Quebec City, PQ
By F/O Dick Over
16 Nov 56
The RCAF ensign flies proudly over the main street within the old walls of the City of Quebec.....a far cry from the days of Wolfe and Montcalm. This flag marks the location of a modern sentinel force, dressed in the Air Force blue and operating along with scores of other Auxiliary units across Canada.
It is the headquarters of 2452 AC&W Squadron. Here the members train twice a week as a front line force to augment our regular Canadian radar stations in case of a national emergency.
It was in 1950 that Wing Commander KR Patrick, OBE, then commanding officer of No. 1 Radio and Communications Unit in Montreal, went to Quebec and after lengthy conferences with the Quebec Recruiting CO and numerous interviews with ex-RCAF wartime aircrew, selected Squadron Leader Guy Plamondon, DFC and bar, as 2452's first commanding officer.
In April of that year, with Flight Lieutenant Taschereau, DFC, as second in command and F/L Claude Gourdeau as adjutant, the unit held its first evening of operations in one small room.
The squadron started working with an AMES-11 ...a Radar Mobile Gap Filler Unit, which was even taken to the first summer camp near Sherbrooke. 2452 now spend their weekend and summer training periods at one of the two nearby Regular radar stations.
Within six short years the squadron has grown in strength from a handful of officers and men to a present-day force of 42 fully-qualified controller officers and 76 other ranks.
The first break for the unit came in 1953, when it obtained the old premises of the Bell Telephone on St. Jean Street, from which operations are still being carried out. On its strength are both French and English-speaking Canadians, several ex-RCAF members and even an ex-Polish fighter pilot.
In June of 1953, S/L Taschereau succeeded S/L Plamondon as CO of 2452, after the latter had been appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General. The unit was also honoured in having S/L Taschereau appointed recently as ADC to the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec.Following the pattern of most auxiliary units, 2452 Squadron has had its turnover of personnel, due to civilian jobs necessitating moves from one city to another. However, the large majority of the members involved in such moves have still remained active. F/L Neill Graham, the unit's second adjutant, is now CO of the City of Drummondville Air Cadet squadron, another officer joined the flying control branch of the Regular Force, and a Nursing Sister, who obtained her commission through the ranks, has joined the Regular RCAF.
From the ranks, men have also transferred to the Regular Force or to the Officer Cadet Squadron of Laval University. Some have entered the College Militaire Royal at St. Jean, Que. In 1955, Pilot Officer Paul Lesage was granted his commission from the ranks, and today works along side the other controllers.
For the third consecutive year, training is now being carried out for Reserve Technical Training Plan courses, which climax with daytime training during July and August.
The backbone (and usually unsung heroes) of this and other Auxiliary are the Regular Support Officers, who have served with the unit to date....workers like F/L Paul Hyatt, F/L RW (Bob) Hill and the current peacemaker, F/O Bob Furneaux.