No. 428 Squadron RCAF
On 7 Nov 1942, he assumed command of No 428 (RCAF) Squadron, standing up the squadron in No. 4 Group. As the OC, it was noted that "Wing Commander Earle was a grand chap, one who can genuinely be called, 'One of Nature's Gentlemen'. He was well liked by the Canadians and sadly missed when he left on promotion to group captain in February 1943. He flew two operations from Dalton, occupying the astro-dome. He had previously been flying Fairey Gordons in the Middle East (Iraq), and found the Wellington difficult, partly due to his eyesight not liking the English skies, and partly as he was not a tall man." After only three months, he left 428 Bomber Squadron (RCAF) as an acting group captain on 7 Feb 1943, when he was assigned as the station commander of RAF Ridgewell and then RAF West Wickham, late in 1943, then as a temporary group captain. He ended the war as Air Officer Commanding No. 300 Group RAF (RAF Transport Command) in Australia.
No. 428 Squadron RCAF
By late 1944, the RCAF Overseas leadership became committed to provisional planning of a (very) long-range heavy bomber force being considered for a post-Europe deployment, to the Far East. Code-named 'Tiger Force' it was to operate from the Okinawa Islands, and in its final design assemble two groups, each of eight RAF and RCAF squadrons, to include No. 428 Squadron. Formation orders issued, the designated Canadian squadrons were to re-equip with newer Avro Lancaster Mk. Xs, of the RAF owned FM and KB series. When released from No.6 Group, 428 Squadron journeyed via Lagens, on Terceira Island, The Azores, to Gander, Newfoundland and onto Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, making a singular mark on the way. Of 165 Tiger Force Lancasters dispatched, 164 made the crossing, whereas on June 4, 1945, Lancaster KB764 No. 428 Squadron approaching Lagens, having previously lost its port outer engine and then its port inner engine, power completely asymmetric, crashed out to sea. "No trouble was experienced in leaving the aircraft", wrote Flight Lieutenant Elihu Paul Acree.