Early in 1917 the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) opened a recruiting drive and established an extensive training network in Canada. Ground instruction was conducted at Hamilton and Toronto; flying training and additional ground instruction were given at Camps Borden (north of Toronto), Longbranch, Leaside (Toronto), Mohawk and Rathbun (Deseronto). A School of Special Flying to train instructors was organized at Armour Heights (Toronto), while gunnery and combat tactics were taught at the School of Aerial Fighting (Beamsville). Much training was also done at fields in Texas during the winter of 1917-1918. The machines used were JN-4 biplanes built in Toronto by Canadian Aeroplanes Limited, the first large aircraft manufacturing company in this country.
The scheme was inspired and financed primarily by the British, although most of the staff and instructors were Canadians. During the life of the programme, which effectively ended in November 1918, 16,663 cadets and mechanics were recruited. Graduates included 3,135 pilots (of whom 2,539 went overseas) and 137 observers (of whom 87 arrived overseas). The training programme did more than provide personnel for the British Flying Services. It revealed other potential uses of aircraft; the first air mail flight in Canada, for example, was carried out by a Canadian instructor, Captain Brian A. Peck, on 24 June, 1918. At the same time, a pool of aircraft, pilots, and mechanics was formed for the early days of Canadian barnstorming and bush flying. Finally, the programme stood as a precedent for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of 1939-1945.
Born in Toronto, Francis Hans Johnston (1888-1949) changed his name to Franz in 1926 because he believed the advice of a numerologist friend that he would not succeed with his original name. Johnston was one of four First World War artists, the others being A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, and F.H. Varley , who later founded the Group of Seven. In 1918 Johnston was employed by the Canadian War Memorials Fund to record air training in Canada. In this watercolour (69.7 x 54.8 cm) how has the artist suggested movement and height?
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (8294)
