Growth in the Queen City (1910 - 1950)

Regina entered the "air age" immediately following World War I.  In 1920, a 
returning veteran, Ronald J. Groome, became the first commercial pilot in 
Canada.  Groome and his partner Ed Clark also opened an aerodrome in 
Regina, the first licensed aerodrome in the country.  By 1924, Regina was 
Canada's largest distribution centre for farm equipment and supplies.  

In 1930, the Depression hit, and more than 3,700 men were without jobs.  In 
1935, a group of unemployed men in British Columbia began a train trip 
to Ottawa to demand that the federal government do something to help 
them.  This journey was known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek.  The government 
issued arrest warrants for seven of the trek leaders.  When the group reached 
Regina, the police tried to make the arrests and violence broke out.  One 
policeman died and several officers and trekkers were injured in the fight.  
The trek ended in what is now known as the "Regina Riot." 

Conditions improved by the late 1930s, but the Second World War dampened 
Regina's hopes for a full recovery.  Regina became home to three air training 
schools for soldiers.  The General Motors car assembly plant, which had been 
closed, was reopened to make equipment for the war.