#BCATP

[nocternalrandomness]

BCATP Honor Flight - London Airshow

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Lieutenant Omer Lévesque, DFC (U.S.), Air Medal (U.S.): Canadian Pilot Who Flew during World War II and the Korean War

Subscriber Content Add content here that will only be visible to your subscribers. Payment Image: Sergeant Pilot Omer Levesque is assisted into his parachute prior to flying a mission while assigned to No. 401 Squadron, RCAF, on July 7, 1941, during World War II. Omer “Trottle” Lévesque served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War. He flew many…

[vanwartime]

BCATP in March 1941 Air Force Review

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Construction connected to military training had its most profound economic impact in the Prairies, where the greatest number of BCATP [British Commonwealth Air Training Plan] bases were concentrated. Large numbers of army recruits could be trained at places such as Camp Borden and Camp Valcartier in Ontario and Quebec, which had been built during the Great War, although they required upgrading and new construction. But for air training, two-thirds of wartime facilities had to be built from scratch, as Canada possessed relatively few — and generally small — airfields before the conflict.

…

With riches in the offing, allegations were sometimes heard that the federal Liberals chose locations for the bases to reward areas loyal to the party. However, no such correlation was proven; it was simply a matter of mathematics that most bases were located in Liberal ridings since, after the March 1940 federal election, the party held nearly three-quarters of the parliamentary seats. Indeed, realizing the crucial importance of establishing bases and graduating air force personnel quickly — and the likelihood of political catastrophe if it were concluded that patronage compromised these goals or the lives of trainees — the Liberals made a point of separating the process of base selection from the political level. This task was handed over to technical experts, primarily at the Ministry of Transport. They sought out locales with topography best suited for good-quality airfields and with large expanses of surrounding space free from potentially dangerous obstacles.

Before the war, military construction had been the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Engineers, but to rapidly meet the huge requirements of the BCATP, Ottawa created a new directorate under R.R. Collard, vice-president and general manager of the Carter-Hall-Aldinger Construction Company of Winnipeg, who was well experienced with large contracting projects. Collard, assigned the rank of air marshal, recruited engineers and draftsmen from civilian construction firms to prepare designs for hangars, drill halls, and barrack blocks, and many of these companies were awarded building contracts by Munitions and Supply. For speed and efficiency, standardization was implemented, parts often arrived pre-cut, and buildings were put up in as little as a day.

Contractors and labourers were imported into less populated areas, thus precipitating boom conditions. To build the $800,000 aerodrome in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, companies and crew came from Winnipeg and Saskatoon. The BCATP also provided civilian employment beyond construction needs. With initial shortages of skilled air force pilots in Canada, and wartime demands that prevented the release of British personnel, civilian air clubs were hired until the plan could produce its own instructors. Bases frequently offered employment for civilian mechanics, janitors, cooks, and stenographers." Also of tremendous significance was the business generated by airmen on leave. Advertisements in BCATP base newspapers give a taste of local desire to capitalize on this new resource. In the Slipstream, printed for the No.7 Service Flying Training School in Fort Macleod, Alberta, the Macleod Photo Studio publicized its “special RCAF frames”; the Java Shop billed itself as the most “swinging joint” in town; and Al’s Billiard Hall, with its new air conditioning system, said it was the “coolest.”

Although discontent was felt in northern Alberta over the distribution of BCATP bases, it soon dissipated. By the end of 1940, three separate delegations of local politicians and businessmen from Edmonton had visited Ottawa, and arrangements were made to transform the city’s exhibition grounds into an air force manning depot. An air observer school, an elementary flying school, and an initial training school soon followed in Edmonton.

Of far greater significance, both to Edmonton and areas further north, was the creation of the Northwest Staging Route, which in late 1941 started supplying the Soviet Union with military hardware, including aircraft. Edmonton served as its base of operations, and for a short period in early 1942, with additional activity relating to the construction of the Alaska Highway, the city’s airport, Blatchford Field, was the busiest in North America. The Americans, who directed both the staging route and the highway, provided Blatchford with $3.5 million for buildings and $6 million to upgrade and increase the number of runways, thus ensuring its status as Edmonton’s main airport for years after the war. The next year, to ease pressure on Blatchford, the Americans spent another $7 million to construct the Namao airfield, with two 7,000-foot runways, eight miles north of Edmonton’s then-current city limits.

The staging route, which ended in Fairbanks, Alaska, consisted of a line of thirteen small airports, built at the cost of $58.5 million, eleven of which were on Canadian soil. Between 1941 and 1944 the route accommodated some 9,000 flights by fighter and bomber aircraft. Usually to mixed responses, the airfields opened up small, often isolated, communities, some with a high percentage of Aboriginal peoples. There was plenty of work to help construct, maintain, and supply the airfields and accompanying facilities, especially in the “principal staging points” of Grand Prairie, Alberta, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and Watson Lake and Whitehorse in the Yukon. Each of these airports was equipped with a 4,000-foot runway with lighting for night landings. Also, because atmospheric conditions often interfered with radio signals, the Americans installed 2,400 miles of landlines, which tremendously upgraded communication facilities in Canada’s northwest and far north."

- Jeffrey A. Keshen, Saints, Sinners, and Soldiers: Canada’s Second World War (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004), 48-50

[deliciouslyimpossiblerebel]

Duke of Kent's Wartime Visit to Canada

The Duke of Kent's 1941 six-week tour of Canada's air and naval bases.

In late July 1941, Prince George, the Duke of Kent and youngest brother of King George VI commenced a six-week visit to Canada primarily, but not exclusively, to visit airfields which formed part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). The scheme which drew personnel from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand-and expanded following the fall of France in June 1940-would…

[aritany]

bright blue skies that roll into nowhere, burnished canola fields, the swoop of a hawk, wind whispering through birch leaves, the simple sway of sun-spilt wheat at dusk

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Ronnie Bell Following

RCAF Training with a Lysander behind them at RCAF Station Jarvis Ontario 1943 with Abe Levine kneeling front right.

Royal Canadian Air Force Station Jarvis was a Second World War British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) station located near Jarvis, Ontario. The station was home to No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School and is usually known by that name. Bombing and Gunnery schools trained Air Gunners, Wireless Air Gunners, Air Observers, Air Bombers, and Navigator-Bomb Aimers. These airmen served as aircrew on bombers and maritime patrol aircraft.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a temporary wartime measure that ended on 29 March 1945. No. 1 B&GS opened 19 August 1940 and closed on 17 February 1945. During this time 6,500 airmen were trained at Jarvis.

Via Flickr

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Boutique Lace Plunge Maxi Bridesmaid Dress by boohoo https://shopstyle.it/l/bCatP

[andrewgeorgephotography]

2016 RCAF CF-18 Demo Jet highlights the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), a program that ran from 1939 to 1945 and generated 131,553 aircrew for the Allies during the Second World War. The BCATP was also responsible for the formation of the RCAF’s 400 series squadrons that make up the Air Force today.

[airmanisr]

Avro 652A Anson Mk.II 8215 by Batman_60 Via Flickr: (license built by National Steel Car, Malton, Ont) No.16 Service Flying Training School, RCAF Station Hagersville, Ont, May 1943 BCATP. PL-16961 Embedded text: "#16 S.F.T.S. Hagersville On., Wings Parade 28 May 1943 #16 S.F.T.S. Hagersville On., Commonwealth airmen study a map before taking off in their Avro Anson on atraining flight from RCAP Stn Hagersville in May I943. Hagersville was the home of No.16 Service Flying Training School, one of many stations across the country operated under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Airmen, shortly to graduate, are left to right: LAC W.J. Brown, Orillia, Ont; LAC H.A.T. Clark, Toronto; LAC R.M. Fenn, Toronto; LAC Sam Huston, Toronto; LAC W.E. Kidd, Toronto; and LAC J.H. McQuiston, toronto."

[esprit-de-corps-magazine]

Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum B-25 "Maid in the Shade"

By Richard LawrenceOnce again the Commemorative Air Force is visiting the Ottawa area as the Arizona Airbase’s North American B-25J Mitchell bomber, “Maid in the Shade”, set down at the Gatineau Executive Airport and taxied over to the Vintage Wings of Canada ramp as part of the “Flying Legends Of Victory Air Show Tour”. This specific aircraft flew fifteen actual combat missions (13 x Italy, 2 x Yugoslavia) from Seraggia Airport on the island of Corsica in November and December 1944 as Battle 18 with the distinctive blue tail and blue ring cowls she now displays. She also participated in America’s first large-scale bombing offensive in the Philippines where “the Maid” is credited with eight ships sunk and five planes shot down. After she retired from the military in 1959 she was used as an aerial pest spray aircraft until 1980 when she arrived at the Arizona Airbase of the CAF (AZCAF) and was in restoration for almost 29 years until her first flight in May 2009.

The B-25 bomber, built by North American Aviation and named after Major General William “Billy” Mitchell, was one of the best known and versatile bombers of the second war. It was a heavily armed medium bomber which served in every theatre of war in roles from bombing, anti-shipping, to tactical ground support. It was an exceptionally sturdy aircraft that could withstand tremendous punishment. One B-25C (nicknamed "Patches “) of the 321st Bomb Group, had the aircraft's holes patched with the bright yellow zinc chromate primer. At the end of over 300 missions Patches had been belly-landed six times and had over 400 patched holes. The airframe was so distorted from damage that straight-and-level flight required 8° of left aileron trim and 6° of right rudder, causing the aircraft to "crab" sideways across the sky.

Of the nearly 10,000 B-25s produced, there were many variants with this “J” version having over 4,300 siblings. The “C” version (known as the Mitchell Mk II in the RCAF/RAF) would have been most familiar to Canadians, the “G” version had the nose plexiglass replaced with skin and two additional .50 calibre machines added PLUS a 75mm (3 inch) cannon, and the “J” version as a Strafer variant was outfitted with most of its 14 to 18 machine guns facing forward for strafing runs (8 machine guns in the nose position, 2 fixed on either side of the fuselage below the cockpit, and 2 in the dorsal turret). In short, there was no shortage of variations of this aircraft or job it couldn’t be thrown against.

One of the techniques for which the B-25 was known was “skip bombing”. This entailed the bomber to fly between 200-250 feet above ground at 200-250 mph and then drop a stick of two 1,000 pound or four 500 pound bombs that would then skip off the water (like skipping a stone) before hitting a ship and exploding (4-5 second delay fuses) or sinking below the ship and exploding next to her. Mast-height bombing was similar where the B-25 would come in at a slightly higher altitude and faster speed and then drop down to 10-15 feet about 600 yards back of the target. At about 300 yards, the bombs were released into the side of the ship.

The B-25 is most notably known as the bomber selected to make the first air raid against the Japanese home islands in April, 1942. For that raid 16 B-25B Mitchell bombers were stripped down of all unnecessary equipment, including most of the defensive machine guns and ammunition, and launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (for which they weren’t designed) without a fighter escort. LCol. James Doolittle led the 80 man raid for the six hour, 800 mile flight after which they were to go to China to land, another 7 hours. However, one aircraft had issues in flight and diverted to Russia where they were interned and eventually escaped to get home. The 15 other aircraft successfully carried out the raid creating minor damage but a huge success as far as damaging the morale of the Japanese civilian population and boosting the morale of American Troops.

All 15 bombers made it to China where they had to crash land, bailout or ditch and all but two crews (10 airmen) made their way home. Not all crew members made it back with three KIA and eight taken as POWs (3 executed, 1 died). There were also reprisals against the Chinese who assisted the downed airmen with one city, Nancheng, burned to the ground for rendering assistance.

There is a Canadian connection to the B-25 as Canadian aircrew served on them when they served in RAF units which flew the B-25. The RCAF did fly them during WWII but Canadian usage was mostly after the war. The first B-25s for the RCAF were originally destined for the RAF but were diverted to the RCAF and redesignated using the Mark system. These included 1 x B-25B (Mitchell Mk I), 42 x B-25C (Mitchell Mk IIs), and 19 x B-25J-NC (Mitchell Mk IIIs).

No 13 (P) Squadron was formed at Rockliffe in May of 1944 where they operated Mitchell Mk IIs on high altitude aerial photography sorties and became No 413 (P) Squadron in April 1947, flying the Mitchell until October, 1948. In January, 1947, No 418 (Auxiliary) Squadron received its first Mitchell Mk IIs, operating a mix of Mk IIs and Mk IIIs until March, 1958. No 406 (Auxiliary) Squadron flew Mitchell Mk IIIs from April 1947 to June 1958 with No 12 Squadron of Air Transport Command flying Mitchell Mk IIIs from September 1956 to November 1960. No. 5 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Boundary Bay, British Columbia and Abbotsford, British Columbia, operated the B-25D Mitchell in the training role together with B-24 Liberators for Heavy Conversion as part of the BCATP.

In 1951, the United States Air Force provided the RCAF with an additional 75 x Mitchell Mk IIIs (B-25J) so that second-line units could be equipped and to help alleviated shortages caused by attrition. In all, 164 B-25s served with seven RCAF squadrons in light bomber, navigation training, photo recon, and transport roles.

On a personal note, I had the good fortune to be selected to go for a ride in the “Maid” as part of a media flight and because I’m a veteran. My position was as the left hand waist gunner. From the pictures you can see that there were four of us in this space which normally accommodated two. As well, we had seats which the gunners would not have had, having instead to sit on their parachutes for the entire journey. After a flight briefing by AZCAF’s Ted Lloyd we got into the aircraft’s waist via a ladder just aft of the bomb bay and then wrestled into seats and seatbelts and waited … and sweated … and waited and sweated. It was a hot day with high humidity and there is no air movement in the waist until the engines start and the B-25 starts to taxi. As the engines turned over, we all put on ear protectors as the B-25 is noisy, so much so that just ear plugs are not deemed sufficient. The first smell is that of exhaust as we are seated just behind the engines but that clears soon enough as you start moving and you start to get some airflow into the cabin. The taxi out to take-off position is not much different than any other aircraft, other than it is 74 years old.

Once the take-off roll started, I was surprised by how much I was pushed into the back of my seat as I expected something gentler. After passing V1 and Vr speeds she jumped up in to the air and started a gentle climb for a couple of seconds and then did what felt like a 60 degree turn. Again, more abrupt than I would have expected. What I gathered from this little bit of experience is that this aircraft handles very nimbly and that the pilots have no compunction about throwing it around the sky.

A couple minutes into the flight, Ted gave us the OK to unbuckle and I was allowed to crawl from the waist position to the rear gunner position in the tail. And that’s the only way you can get there is on your belly. It’s a small little seat about 12-16 inches off the floor with the machine guns at knee level. Your head sticks up into a blister so you can see targets but your field of view is limited, especially if

you’re shorter than six feet. The others moved about standing at the waist gun positions tracking whatever they could see with the guns. A few minutes of this and all of a sudden, we’re bidden back to our seats by Ted as we’re starting to setup for landing. It’s surprising how fast a 25 minutes flight goes by.

I must say that the experience is not a lot different than flying in any other airplane EXCEPT that when you think of it in a historical perspective. You see how these young men, 18, 19, 20 years old with no worldly or life experiences yet, were crammed in together and sent up into the air to bomb another country – to execute government sanctioned killing. Imagine being airborne for hours, knowing that fighters were going to come at you for hours and that you only carried a limited supply of ammunition. Knowing that they could weave all over the sky at double your speed and that you were essentially a sitting target travelling straight and level. Knowing that anti-aircraft fire could bring you down in seconds. Put that together with an uncomfortable working environment, whether it be heat on the ground or cold in the air, and machine gun cartridges bouncing all over the aircraft’s inside as you blazed away hoping to hit a moving target and not even having enough room to fully traverse your gun without hitting your buddy on the opposite side. Take a look at the structure of the aircraft from inside and realize what a flimsy vehicle this is to do the job that it has been assigned. I can only commend the courage of any man who would go up and do this a second time. Most went up dozens of times without a second thought. Many didn’t return.

As a last historical note, I noticed that the bomb bay doors had a lot of graffiti on it and upon closer examination saw that it was inscriptions from men who had actually flown B-25s. It was pointed out to me that two of the signatures were of aircrew of the Doolittle mission, Ed Sayler (crew #15) and David Thatcher (crew #7). It’s worthwhile just to sit there a read the names for a minute or two.

I’d like to express my thanks to Corey Paul and her staff for their excellent service and response times in providing information to me and for thinking to include me in the media flight as a veteran. I’d also like to thank Ted Lloyd for getting me to the tail gunner position in flight, something I’m sure he didn’t have to do, and also thanks to Paul Hlavaty for letting me up into the cockpit once she was on the ground, again something he didn’t have to do. The Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum (AZCAF), based in Mesa, Arizona, is one of 86 different airbases, wings, squadrons, and other unit types comprising the Commemorative Air Force organization that fly and house the largest collection of flying vintage aircraft in the world. The CAF is the nation's leading organization devoted to preserving American military aviation history through education, flying and exhibition.

For more photos: http://www.richardlawrencephotography.ca/rlpgalleries/2018/maid/index.html

[nocternalrandomness]

A restored 1944 Avro Anon Mk V in RCAF markings

The Anson Mk. V trained BCATP aircrew in bombing, aerial photography and radio operation, but its main role was in navigation training. After WW II, Ansons continued in military service for quite a time. They were retired from the RCAF in 1954, but continued flying with the RAF until 1968. When manufacture ceased in 1952, over 11,000 Ansons had been built - nearly 3,000 of them in Canada.

[aviationhistory]

First BCATP pupils report to No. 1 SFTS at Camp Borden for service flying training.

[aviationgeek71]

9 Mar 1942: Sqn Ldr Lloyd V. Chadburn 1st Cdn trained in BCATP to command a RCAF sqn (416 Sqn)

[esprit-de-corps-magazine]

THE "CANADIAN" FACTOR: The Importance Of Canadianizing Our Aerial Forces In WWII

(Volume 25-01)

By David MacLellan

The creation of Royal Canadian Air Force No. 6 Group in Bomber Command in 1942 was a very important “landmark” for the RCAF and it did play a major role in Bomber Command’s efforts for the remainder of the war. The adaptation from Larry Rose’s Ten Decisions: Canada’s Best, Worst and Most Far-Reaching Decisions of the Second World War (Volume 24 Issue 10, November 2017) doesn’t, however, properly deal with the real issue of “Canadianization” of the RCAF … there was a huge “elephant in the room” that was not addressed in the article at all.

Not one single aircraft on strength of the RCAF squadrons that formed the group in 1942 actually belonged to Canada, and the RCAF and that situation would continue for years. The aircraft were supplied by the RAF, bought and paid for by the British government. No wonder the British resisted Canadianization — they were just protecting their assets.

How did this situation come to be? You cannot really blame the British; failings in the Canadian government and specifically the policies, or lack thereof, of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King are at the core of this “problem.” King totally failed to insist that the clause in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) ensuring graduates “be identified with their respective Dominions” be followed. This failure would have consequences, not just for the issue of Canadianization. This was very much rooted in the underfunding of the RCAF in the 1930s, King’s initial vision of a “limited liability” war for Canada, and just a general failure of the King government to defend Canadian interests.

A little background. There were no Canadianization issues with the Royal Canadian Navy or the Canadian Army because previous Canadian governments had dealt with British pressure to create “imperial forces” and had owned up to the responsibilities of a sovereign Canadian nation. In 1911, instead of giving money to the British government to build warships for the RN as asked, the Wilfrid Laurier government created the Royal Canadian Navy and, in 1914, the Robert Borden government resisted British pressure to incorporate Canadian soldiers as replacements in British Army regiments, thus Canadians served in Canadian regiments in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and eventually a Canadian Corps was created under a Canadian general, Sir Arthur Currie. The RCAF in the Second World War would be the least Canadian branch of the armed forces because the King government allowed it to happen.

There was an anomaly in this as well. In Canada, the Canadian government / RCAF bought and owned all BCATP aircraft as well as all the aircraft flown and operated by the RCAF’s “home squadrons” — those numbered in the No. 1 to No. 170 block. These squadrons included fighter, army co-operation, bomber, flying boat, torpedo bomber, general purpose, bomber reconnaissance, communications, seaplane, coastal artillery co-operation, composite, ferry, transport, heavy transport, etc. — in other words, what you would expect to find on strength of a “balanced” air force component. The operational squadrons fought and engaged the enemy on both coasts, but primarily the Atlantic where a number of squadrons, No. 10 and No. 162 for example, had major success engaging German forces in battle. There was never a Canadianization issue with the BCATP or RCAF squadrons at home.

When RCAF No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron arrived in England in August 1940, its Hawker Hurricanes came from Canada, bought and paid for by Canada; this was the only truly “modern” war-ready squadron in the RCAF. But this would not be the standard pattern. The squadrons that followed — such as the No. 400 block of squadrons serving overseas — would have no aircraft to bring and the Canadian government would not buy or supply any. The renumbering of No. 1 as No. 401 and all subsequent squadrons formed made sense as a command and control issue. During the Battle of Britain, having RAF No. 1 and RCAF No. 1 in the air at the same did time did lead to some confusion in the heat of battle.

As the number of RCAF No. 400 block squadrons was increased, all were equipped with RAF-owned aircraft. The RAF was totally responsible for the initial supply of aircraft and for replacement/upgraded marks and types as required, not Canada or the RCAF.

The consequences of Canadian government policy meant that:

Thousands of RCAF personnel were assigned to RAF squadrons and not RCAF. (As pointed out and supported by my own research, many RCAF crew in this category didn’t mind at all flying with a mixed Commonwealth crew on RAF squadrons as it made for an all-the-more interesting experience, Empire and “all that” and, of course, they were still getting the job done.)

Often the No. 400 block of squadrons received older, used, less state-of-the-art RAF aircraft.  Highly decorated RCAF No. 406 Squadron commander W/C R.C. (Moose) Fumerton DFC and Bar got in a bit of trouble for complaining publicly about “being sick of receiving clapped-out RAF Beaufighters” while RAF night fighter squadrons seemed to always be first in line for better radar and, more importantly, DH Mosquitoes. No. 406 didn’t get Mosquitoes until 1944, even though there was Canadian production. Until the Canadian-produced Avro Lancaster B. Mk. Xs started to arrive, most RCAF bomber squadrons flew on with increasingly aged Halifax bombers with RAF units getting Lancasters much earlier.

There is some evidence that the RCAF’s use of older aircraft (see point 2 above) lead to higher aircraft losses and casualty rates on the No. 400 block of squadrons.

The RCAF overseas was not a balanced force (unlike the RCAF home squadrons) — too many bomber squadrons and higher casualties.

So, what we really have with the RCAF overseas is the King government’s total failure to articulate and support an RCAF policy that truly represented Canadian interests as a sovereign nation. King abdicated his responsibility and thus created an overseas air force that was not what it could have been, doing a disservice to Canada.

This, of course, is a political discussion and in no way diminishes the enormous contribution to victory made by all of those who served in the RCAF.

 Ten Decisions author Larry Rose responds: My article, according to Mr. MacLellan, does not deal with the “real issue” of why Canadianization was delayed in the RCAF. He notes that the Canadian aircraft in the UK were British-owned so the British were “just protecting their assets.” Throughout the war, planes, ships, tanks and artillery pieces were transferred wholesale back and forth between the British and Canadian forces. By 1945, thousands of British army trucks were Canadian-made but no Canadian officer went to British army supply depots to “protect their assets.” A much more important issue in the early years was that the British paid salaries for Canadian RCAF members posted to Britain.

Mr. MacLellan is right in pointing out that in 1939 Prime Minister Mackenzie King utterly failed to ensure Canadian control of RCAF air training graduates. This point is made in the book TEN DECISIONS although not in the much shorter Esprit de Corps article. However, subsequently King, Air Minister Charles “Chubby” Power and top officers such as Air Marshal Gus Edwards put enormous pressure on the RAF to Canadianize the RCAF. Ultimately they were successful.

Mr. MacLellan argues that “you cannot really blame the British” for delays in Canadianization. But, as Tim Cook has pointed out, the colonial mindset of many top RAF officers, including Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur “Bomber” Harris, delayed Canadianization for years.