Canada as the Base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
Since Britain was a small, crowded island with an uncertain climate, the British proposed that an air training program be carried out, safe from bombing, in Canada. Thus, at a meeting in Ottawa on 17 December 1939, attended by government representatives from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Canada became host to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
In 1943, at the peak of the BCATP's operation, 97 schools and 184 ancillary units provided flight training in Canada. To support the program, training centres were established across Canada. New airfields were built, especially in the Prairies, which became an important region for flight training. By March 1945, 131,553 aircrew had been trained here, over half of whom were Canadians.
Canadian communities near the BCATP training centres experienced the social and economic effects of a sudden influx of money, jobs and single men. After the war, the Canadian aircraft and communications industries benefitted from the large reservoir of trained men created by the BCATP.
This painting by Paul Goranson is an aerial view of Mountain View, No. 6 Bombing and Gunnery School, near Trenton, Ontario. The airfield was one of those built specifically for the BCATP. The aircraft is a Fairey Battle, large numbers of which were sent early in the war to Canada for training purposes when they proved inferior to German aircraft in combat.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (S83-11)
