On Watch to Strike: History of 400 (City of Toronto) Squadron

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University, is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century and the Dictionary of Canadi

No. 400 (City of Toronto ) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force and
the Canadian Forces has a long and proud history that dates back more
than 60 years. A reserve unit, No. 400 trained air and ground crew from
the depression era’s biplanes through to the fighter jets of the
immediate past and the helicopters of today. The lure of flight was
always powerful, but during World War II many of the squadron’s pilots
died in accidents and combat.

On Watch to Strike is a kind of regimental history, if such a name can
be applied to an air force work. Presented in a war-diary format, it
offers bare-bones accounts of who was there and what they did. Although
this will satisfy old squadron members and aircraft buffs, the volume is
also well illustrated with a treasure chest’s worth of photographs
that more than make up for the weakness of the text. All the fine young
eagles are there, proud and confident, all the AC2s and wing commanders,
all the aircraft types. This is a useful record, but unfortunately not a
book to be savored beyond its visual delights.