400 (RCAF) Sqn operating as OTU

[SteveB]

I would be grateful if any board members can help with this issue.

In the 1970 Ducimus book "Camouflage and Markings" in the section on the Mustang (page 34) there are two puzzling photos. One is clearly AG367 (stbd side) and has codes applied "Xo63" and it is captioned “AG367 at 400 Sqn RCAF OTU." This photo appeared again in Air Enthusiast Qly 1976 with the caption "Mustang I AG367 serving with 400 (RCAF) Sqn in 1942, when the unit was serving as an OTU.” Below AG367 in the Ducimus book there is another photo (stbd side) which is captioned "AG484 of 400 Sqn coded 42 in yellow." but in this photo the codes are not visible. In a series of articles on the Allison Mustang by Chris Shores that appeared in Air Classics in the 1970s there is another photo (port side) captioned “Mustang I AG484 serving with 400Sqn RCAF when the unit was being used as an OTU during 1942." and this photo clearly shows a code 42 in front of the roundel but the serial is not visible.

On Form 78 there is no record that either of these aircraft were on charge to 400Sqn.


I cannot find any other confirmation/corroboration that 400 (RCAF) Sqn operated as an OTU for any part of its time on Mustangs. There is nothing that confirms this in the 400 Sqn ORB and nothing in the ACC HQ ORB. There is a history of 400 Sqn published in Canada "On watch to strike" but there is no mention/confirmation in there. I have not yet researched in Wing or Group ORBs.

Does anybody know of any additional information that might help confirm or explain this?

Steve