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
With the Cold War had come a perceived threat, to Canada, in the Soviet Air Force (VVS) piston- engine bomber, the Tupolev Tu-4 Bull, and its unrefuelled range of 5,400 km. Introduced in 1947, eight hundred and forty-seven Tu-4s being built, they were withdrawn from operational service in the 1960s. In Canada to counter this danger, the Avro CF-100 Canuck was designed (1946–50), built and delivered (1953–1957) to nine regular fighter squadrons, and as the Soviet VVS threat changed the Canadian requirement would change. By the late 1950s, the RCAF leadership was anxious to see re-equipping of its Canadian CF-100 squadrons (operating 162 aircraft) with the new Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow. This was to deal with new threats in the Tupolev Tu-16 Badger A (1954) a jet bomber and the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (1956) a turboprop bomber, it with an operating range of 15,000 km.