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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1212.PDF
officers and 1,829 airmen ot the permanent establish- ment, and 87 officers with 820 airmen of the non-per- manent, or part-tims, second line, organised on militia lines. When this war broke out there were 11 Perman- ent Squadrons and 12 Non-permanent Squadrons. In its infancy the R.C.A.F. was run by the Depart- ment of National Defence, being thus under the direct control of the Militia. During this period they had to carry out a great deal of non-military service. In close co-operation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police they patrolled the coasts, on the watch for smugglers. They have played a major part in establishing Canada as the most active aerial mapping country in the world. They have carried out extensive exploration of vast tracts in the far north of the Dominion. Ever since their first forest patrols were started, from Morley in the Canadian Rockies, with Avros and D.H.4S, the military airmen have rendered most valuable national service in detecting forest fires, thus facilitating the work of ground parties in controlling them. They have also been used to "dust" crops infested with destructive insects, by flying low over them and releasing poisonous powders. And most important, they have carried out a great deal of survey of mineral-bearing areas. This activity was often at the expense of what the Force considered to be its more important task, to pre- pare itself for warfare. Curiously, this came about through shortage of funds caused by the depression. Then provincial governments and commercial operators took over most of the non- military work, and so freed the Air Force to develop almost wholly upon Service lines. A most important and progressive step in its emancipation occurred late in 1936, when the Force was withdrawn from the direct control of the General Staff and placed under its own Air Council, with a Chief of Air Staff in Ottawa. Three Commands Soon after that the R.C.A.F. was divided into three commands. The Western Air Command, with head- quarters at Vancouver, has bases in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Its task is, ob- viously, to protect the Pacific Coast, for which purpose, by reason of the temperate climate and the difficulty of obtaining landing grounds, patrols are carried out with flying boats and floatplanes. The shore batteries have artillery co-operation squadrons attached to them. In addition, fighter squadrons are based in B.C., in case of aerial attack. The Eastern Air Command has its headquarters at Halifax, and units in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Its principal job is to protect the Atlantic seaboard by seeing that enemy surface craft or submarines are de- tected and attacked, and by convoying ships to and from Europe within the range of its bases. As the great-circle steamship route passes within a few h FLIGHT April 25, 1940 A SPLENDID TRADITION (CONTINUED) Off on a formation train-ing flight. A Harvard about to start with in-structor and pupil at Trenfon, Ontario. hundred miles of Nova Scotia, it has become the duty of the R.C.A.F. to provide, in co-operation with the R.C.N. and the R.N., the maximum protection for freights and crews. Both landplanes and seaplanes are usad for these patrols. And, as on the west coast of ths Dominion, a close liaison is maintained with the Royal Canadian Artillery who man the forts at vital spots along the shores. Conditions on the eastern seaboard are, however, very different. The milder climate by the Pacific does not call for pilots to face snow, ice and fog. Accordingly, a large proportion of the aircraft used above the Atlan- tic have to be convertible from wheels to skis: even to floats if the need arises. For the patrols are long and arduous above the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including its two entrances, Belle Isle Strait and Cabot Strait. Training The Third Command, with headquarters at Toronto, is the Training Command, organised on a functional (not an administrative) basis. Under its jurisdiction come the stations at Trenton, between Toronto and Kingston, and at Camp Borden, near Barrie, Toronto. Army Co- operation Squadrons are concentrated and trained at the R.C.A.F. Station in Ottawa. Those Canadians who planned some twelve years ago for the development of a Trans-Canada airway have had their foresight more than justified. Looking ahead to the day when aircraft, personnel and equipment might have to be moved very quickly from one side of the country to the other, they set out to create ground facilities from Atlantic to Pacific. The economic bliz- zard which swept Canada in 1:932 caused men in unem- ployment relief camps to be put to aerodrome building, From coast to coast, carved in some cases out of virgin forest, laid in others on the site of an extensive marsh, these aerodromes formed the foundation of the air service now in operation between Vancouver and Moncton, far away in New Brunswick. In any review of aviation activity in Canada one can- not omit some reference to the huge Empire Training Scheme, a vastly extended reproduction of the Royal Flying Corps, Canada, of the last war. In the last war pilots were turned out at the rate of 200 a month : now the aim is just about tenfold, being in the region of at least 25,000 pilots, gunners and observers. Aircraft production last time developed into about 1,600 a year—this time, how many? The pcpu- lation of the Dominion has increased from eight to eleven millions, the manufacturing industries in 1937-8 had r.n output valued at $785,500,000, and many resources then hardly explored have been developed. A new aluminium factory in Ontario is so increasing national output that it almost equals that of Germany. The weight of civil aviation, too, is behind the en- largement of the R.C.A.F. and the Empire Scheme. Since the twenty-two Light Aeroplane Clubs of Canada were started in 1928 they have contributed materially to the output of civil and military aviators.
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