The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the BCATP, 1939-1945, 223 pages, by Fred J. Hatch, published 1983 by the Department of National Defence, ISBN 0660114437, states that 856 students were killed during their training in Canada by the BCATP. The expression "Aerodrome of Democracy" is from Lester B. Pearson. While he was posted to the Canadian embassy in Washington, he slipped it into a message that he had written for the President of the United States to sign. The phrase was later used by F.J. Hatch in the title of his book on the history of the BCATP. Source: http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol3/no1_e/history_e/history1_e.html |
Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, begun in late 1939, crews for the air forces of Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand were trained at airfields scattered across Canada. By its finish in 1945, the plan had trained 131,553 airmen, 55 per cent of them Canadian. Historians J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton in Canada and the Two World Wars, published in 2003, describe the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as "quite possibly Canada's major contribution" to World War Two. — The Globe & Mail, 17 March 2005 |
Links to Relevant WebsitesCanadian Warplane Heritage Museum History of the BCATPhttp://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 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/ |