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What’s in a name?
Alouettes fans at Percival Molson Stadium on Thanksgiving Monday will find out first-hand when four CF-18s from the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 425 ‘Alouette’ Squadron perform a flyover prior to kickoff.
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The original Birds of Prey, 425 Squadron was formed on June 25, 1942 in Yorkshire, England around the axioms of courage, dedication and professionalism, becoming the RCAF’s first-ever French Canadian squadron, and remains to this day the only Francophone squadron in the Americas.
Sound familiar? The links between the two Alouettes squads’ etymological origins go even deeper.
Original Montreal Alouettes Football Club co-founder, former head coach, and Canadian Football Hall of Famer Lew Hayman was an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, founding the on-field Alouettes shortly after 425 Squadron’s return from the Second World War. Hayman’s RCAF experience, the formation of 425 ‘Alouette’ Squadron, and the popular French-Canadian children’s song ‘Alouette’ all combined to inspire him to name Montreal’s burgeoning football club the Alouettes.
Likewise, 425 Squadron’s motto was itself inspired by the avian anthem’s lyrics, the refrain ‘Je te plumerai’ (‘I shall pluck you’) appearing, appropriately, on the fleet’s emblem.
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| 425 ‘Alouette’ Squadron | 1946 Montreal Alouettes |
The lark on its badge is shown in a hovering position indicative of a bomber over a target about to strike an enemy, and like the gridiron Alouettes, 425 Squadron is no stranger to the merits of a balanced attack.
Case in point, while not quite striking the balance between the pass and the run, the RCAF Alouettes nevertheless maintain their skills in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, participating in numerous deployments in support of NATO or contingency operations in addition to routine training.
Like many other squadrons, 425 was decommissioned at the end of the Second World War before being reactivated in 1954 in St-Hubert. Since July 1962, the Bagotville aerial base, located in the Saguenay region, has served as home to 425 Squadron, members both former and present of which will be honoured pre-game on Monday.
