Photographed on 28 July 2003
The Great Canadian Air Battle
It is easy to forget certain things about the war. When we consider
Canada's participation in the Second World War, we understandably
think about the ordeals of Hong Kong and Dieppe, the difficult battles
in Italy, the spectacular landing on 6 June 1944, and the long campaign
to reclaim Europe that followed. The contributions of Canadian pilots to
the Battle of Britain, and of the Royal Canadian Navy to the victory in the
Atlantic, are also remembered. However, all too often, we forget that the
war was also taking place on Canadian soil. In fact, during the early years
of the conflict, it was mostly in Canada that the war found its victims:
over 1,000 airmen had already lost their lives on Canadian bases
before the raid on Dieppe was launched in August 1942. From the
beginning of 1942 to the end of 1944, 831 fatal air accidents took
place in Canada – an average of 23 per month, or five every week.
Each week, at least a dozen airmen died in Canada, an enormous number...
During the first years of the war, Canada was
the most dangerous place a pilot could be...
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
and RCAF Fatalities During the Second World War
by Dr. Jean Martin
Canadian Military Journal, Spring 2002
http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/engraph/Vol3/no1/pdf/65-69_e.pdf
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This BCATP memorial is located in the churchyard at Old Holy Trinity Church, Middleton, Nova Scotia, on Highway One, about 1.7 km west from the Middleton Post Office. |
GPS location: 44°56'04"N 65°05'10"W
Photographed on 28 July 2003
Photographed on 4 October 2002
Photographed at 6:11am on 13 June 2003
Photographed on 13 June 2003
Photographed on 13 June 2003
Located in the Aviation Museum at CFB Greenwood
Photographed on 2 June 2003
Photographed on 2 June 2003
Links to Relevant Websites
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The Wayback Machine has archived copies of:
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The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the BCATP, 1939-1945
by Fred J. Hatch
published 1983 by the Department of National Defence
full text of 242 pages in pdf from DND Department of History and Heritage
http://www.forces.ca/hr/dhh/downloads/Official_Histories/Aerodrome_e.PDF
Stanley Airfield
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Recreation/BSC/stanhist.html
Stanley airfield, 45°06'02"N 63°55'16"W, is near the village of
Stanley in Hants County, Nova Scotia. It was built by the RAF, and was
operated from March 17, 1941 until January 14, 1944 as part of the
Commonwealth Air Training Plan, as Elementary Flying Training School #17.
Pilots conducted their flight training in Fleet Finches and DeHaviland Tiger Moths.
Canada's Yanks by Hugh A. Halliday, Legion magazine Jul-Aug 2006
...As more BCATP schools opened, the RCAF found itself short of trained pilots.
It began looking for experienced Americans to perform non-combat duties.
This led to the formation of the semi-secret Clayton Knight Committee,
the brainchild of aviation artist Clayton Knight and the RCAF's Director of
Recruiting, Air Marshal Billy Bishop VC. The committee opened its first
office in New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the spring of 1940; other bureaus
were established in Spokane, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City,
Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis and San Antonio. Various devices were used to
create the fiction that the Clayton Knight Committee was a private advisory unit...
About 800 Americans were killed while serving with the RCAF, including 148 in
Canada itself...
http://www.legionmagazine.com/features/canadianmilitaryhistory/06-07.asp
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum History of the BCATP
http://www.warplane.com/pages/ourstories_bcapt.html
The BCATP by Veterans Affairs Canada
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondWar/bcatp
Fleet Air Arm & the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/RollofHonour/
TrainingCourses/BCATP_index.html
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum
http://www.airmuseum.ca/
Aircraft of the BCATP
http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/aircraftbcatp.html
The BCATP (author not known)
http://www.ualberta.ca/EDMONTON/CONTRIB/airmuseum/aambcatp.html
Garden of Memories BCATP video
On June 6, 1999, the "Garden of Memories" memorial was unveiled in Winnipeg
as a permanent tribute to all those, both civilian and military alike, who trained, and
contributed to the success of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
http://www.airforce.gc.ca/grfx/hist_e/Gardenposter.jpg
Shearwater Aviation Museum
http://www.shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca/
Commonwealth Air Training Plan memorial, 1940-1945 Kingston
Veterans Lane military memorial Kingston
North Mountain airplane crash memorial Brow of Mountain
Wolfville war memorial Wolfville
Canning war memorial Canning
New Ross war memorial New Ross
Springfield war memorial Springfield
New Germany war memorial New Germany
Bridgetown war memorial Bridgetown
Bear River war memorial Bear River
Smiths Cove war memorial Smiths Cove
Clementsport war memorial Clementsport
Clementsvale war memorial Clementsvale
Kentville Legion war memorial Kentville
Kentville Park war memorial Kentville
Fort Anne bronze cannon Annapolis Royal
Port Royal Habitation 1605-1613 Port Royal
Scotch Fort 1629-1632 monument Port Royal
1849 Nova Scotia Pony Express Monument Victoria Beach
Berwick war memorial Berwick
Alfred Fuller memorial Somerset
Rawding Captains monument Clementsport
Annapolis Iron Mining Company monument Clementsport
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