Page 5 - John Musgrove

In 1939, the Canadian Government, in an effort to play an important role in the imminent war with
Germany, conceived a plan to train pilots, navigators, air gunners, air bombers and flight
engineers for the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Air Force, and other Commonwealth air
forces. Although the original intent of this plan was to keep as many Canadian servicemen close to
home as possible to avoid the great loss of life experienced in World War I, what became of this
plan was nothing short of remarkable.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan saw more than 130,000 personnel from Great Britain,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand graduate from 107 training schools across Canada – a
remarkable feat by any standards; one that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called the
“Aerodrome of Democracy”.

Canada was an ideal location to train aircrew as it was far enough away from the fighting, with
plenty of land away from towns and cities to build training schools. Dozens of airfields were
constructed in specific locations across the country, seemingly random, but with an eye to the
post-war years when the airfields would be turned over to the local communities. Many municipal
airports were originally RCAF aerodromes.

©Bruce Forsyth