Commonwealth Air

Training Plan Museum

Volume 35 No. 3

Summer 2017

Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum

McGill Field, Brandon Airport, Brandon Manitoba

Box 3 Group 520 RR 5 Brandon, Manitoba R7A 5Y5

airmuseum@inetlink.ca

President - John McNarry

Vice President - John Robinson

Past President - Jeff Harwood

Treasurer - Judith Grierson

Secretary - Barb Henderson

Executive Director - Stephen Hayter

Administrative Assistant - Kathy Sheppard

Directors

David Jenkins, Jack Lee, Archie Londry,

Angus Sneesby, Ken Dzogan, Greg Sigurdson

Committee Managers

Bricks and Mortar - Jack Lee, Gerry Kemp

Flying Committee - Peter Moodie

Adjutant - Judith Grierson

Fairey Battle - David Jenkins

Ladies’ Auxiliary - Lois Carkener

Archives - Greg Sigurdson

CONTACT Editor - Greg Sigurdson

Front Desk - Ken Dzogan

Museum Shop - Jan McNarry

Darkroom - Lyle Gawletz

Motor Transport - John McNarry, Grant Shaw

Security - John Robinson

Foundation

Archie Londry, Judith Grierson, Jeff Harwood,

Dave Shuttleworth, Clarence Davis,

Elaine Chisholm

CONTACT Volume 35

Number 3 - Cover Art

Waist Gunner - Wellington Bomber

By Paul Goranson

Paul Alexander Goranson was born in

Ottawa on April 27 1911. He received

training as an artist in Vancouver. When

World War II broke out, he joined the

Royal Canadian Air Force as an NCO war

artist. Goranson produced many works

of art while visiting BCATP stations and

many locations in Europe and North

Africa. His works are noted for the great

attention paid to details in the subjects,

which included civilians and

surroundings which he was artistically

documenting. Many of the harrowing

war situations depicted in his works

came to him as first hand experiences –

waiting for rescue in lifeboat in the

North Atlantic Ocean, being dive-

bombed at a Dutch airfield and seeking

enemy snipers with an army unit in

Northern France. His theatre of

operations included Canada and all of

Europe and North Africa. When World

War II ended, he stayed on with the

RCAF converting his war sketches to

paint on canvas. He then moved to New

York where he managed a company

which created window displays for

department stores. In 1966 he became a

set decorator for the Metropolitan

Opera. Paul Goranson finished his final work, a painting showing fleeing refugees in France

during the war, months before he died in 2002,

The Daily Mail

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news /obituaries/1407006/Paul-Goranson.html

Thanks to the generosity of Westjet, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Ladies Auxiliary received two return tickets to anywhere the airline flies, including Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico. The auxiliary has started a raffle to award the tickets to a lucky winner. The price of tickets is $5.00 each and they are available at the front desk of the museum and from any member of the Ladies Auxiliary. Westjet requires travelers to return to

the airport from which they left and the tickets

will cover all air travel fees, taxes and

surcharges as well as the flight. The tickets

must be used between October 17, 2017 (draw

date) and October 17, 2018.

We are amazed with the surprisingly great

amount of money the Ladies Auxiliary has

raised over the years. They have spent it well –

outfitting the Canteen kitchen with appliances

and dishes, participated in renovation projects

and purchased a lot of computer equipment for

volunteers doing various projects at the

museum.

Please buy a ticket and help us continue

working to make the CATP Museum a great

institution.

CATPM Coming Events 2017

July 12 & 13 – Shoal Lake (Manitoba) Air Show

July 22 – Brandon Doors Open at the museum

August 8-13 – Vimy Flight

- stopover at the museum

August 9 – Dauphin (Manitoba) Air Show

August 10 – CATPM air event at the museum

August 11 – Camp Hughes (Manitoba) and

August 12 – Canadian Forces Base Shilo

Aug 28 – possible Commemorative

Air Force B-25 visit to the museum

Oct 13 - 402 Squadron 85th

Anniversary at the museum

November 11 – CATPM Remembrance

Day Open House

Museum volunteers have initiated a Canada 150

project in celebration of Canada’s 150 birthday.

The project involves the creation of 150

vignettes (little stories) about

the `Plan,’ the Royal

Canadian Air Force and

World War II in general.

These vignettes are being

posted on the museum’s

Facebook page - BCATP AIR

MUSEUM - on the website www.bcatp.org and

on the museum’s website www.airmuseum.ca .

This is an early advisory, but Regular and Family

members of the museum are reminded that

membership renewal comes up in December.

Dues for Regular Memberships are $30.00 and

$50.00 for Family Memberships. Included in

your membership is four issues of our CONTACT

newsletter every year and admission to our

museum and any of the other Signature

Museums in Manitoba.

We are always looking for volunteers at the

museum. There are many possible ``jobs’‘

available for volunteers and at this time, we are

especially looking for people to work the front

desk greeting and helping visitors. It is actually a

`fun job’ - many visitors are eager to discuss the

museum, the British Commonwealth Air

Training Plan, the RCAF, World War II and a

multitude of other subjects - it can be a real

learning experience for both the visitor and the

front desk host. A favorite of front desk staff are

the stories of those who experienced World

War II firsthand or as the children or relatives of

those who were there. If you want to discuss

the possibly of volunteering at the museum,

please give our Executive Director Stephen

Hayter a call at 204-727-2444,

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum has an extensive collection of Oral Histories of those who experienced World War II first hand. They are wonderful snapshots about World War II life in the Royal Canadian Air Force, life on the Homefront as a wife or child of someone serving or a single-person working in the

industries of Canada at war. Many defy the definition Oral as they

were received as written on paper but the purpose of the work is intact with our goals - get those stories recorded for all of us to enjoy. Some of the histories were recorded on videotape and have been converted to DVD recordings in the museum archives.

We have news about the video recordings – we are making them available for viewing on YouTube. With well over 100 video submissions, we are off to a small start with an offering of two – Alex Matheson and Winnie Field.

Alex was wonderful member and volunteer at the museum. He completed training in full in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan graduating as a pilot late in the war. Unfortunately for Alex, there was no room for him use his training in the RCAF so he transferred to the army where he saw active service. With warmth and humor, Alex takes the viewer through all steps of training with some touching and humorous sidelights.

Winnie Field was born and raised in London England. She joined the British army as a young woman during World War II. She met her husband who was posted to England with the Canadian Army. After the war, she emmigrated to Canada as one of those famous war brides. Her story too is touching and humorous.

Both of these videos are hosted with great skill by the museum’s Kathy Sheppard who at the time the videos were recorded was a new employee hired to undertake this project. These videos can be seen on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGM9fDZuWg&t=135s

for Alex and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrSJLwmuzBo&t=138s

for Winnie.

Future Commonwealth Air Training Plan

Museum Video Oral Histories will be posted on

YouTube. Look for these videos on

www.bcatp.ort and www.airmuseum.ca .

The Quebec Conference of 194 4 was the second meeting in Quebec City between British and American allies to discuss military matters related to World War II. The major players at these conferences were Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. Respective staff members took part in the discussions. The Quebec Conference took place between September 12 and 16 1944. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King hosted the event and attended a number of social functions but did not take part in the conference’s scheduled discussions. Agreements were reached on the following topics:

- Allied occupation zones in a

defeated Germany

- the Morgenthau Plan to

demilitarize Germany

- U.S Lend-Lease to Britain

issues

- the role of the Royal Navy in

the war against Japan

The wives of Churchill and Roosevelt,

Clementine and Eleanor also attended

the conference. A donation to the

Commonwealth Air Training Plan

Museum yielded the attached

photographs taken at the conference.

Wikipedia – Second Quebec Conference -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Qu

ebec_Conference

CATPM Canada 150 Vignette 24 of 150

The Home Front

The 1944 Quebec Conference

Franklin Roosevelt,,Clementine Churchill, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Lyon Mackenzie King

Don Rollins and his wife Molly were

founding members of the Commonwealth

Air Training Plan Museum. He put his skills

as an RCAF trained Aero Engine Mechanic

to good use working as a volunteer in the

museum’s shop restoring aircraft. Projects

he worked on included restoration of the

Fairchild Cornell to flying status, static

restoration of two Bristol (Fairchild)

Bolingbrokes and preliminary work on the

museum’s North American Yale project,

which currently is in hiatus pending

allocation of resources to complete the

project. Don also enjoyed helping with

maintenance of the museum’s buildings and

grounds. Don passed away in 2004 at the

age of 84 years and Molly passed away in

2011 at the age of 85 years.

I was born May 29 1920 in Regina

Saskatchewan during the `Dirty 30s.’ Our

home was just 18 miles east of Regina near

the little Hamlet of Jameson. We were a

family of six – three boys and three girls.

There were times during the 30s when we

had no telephone, radio or car. We travelled

by horse and a rubber tired cart. That took

us to school, to church and to town to get

the mail and groceries.

When I finished Grade 8, I being second

oldest, was left at home to look after the

farm and family while Dad and my oldest

brother did hard work for the municipality,

so we could buy groceries.

In the fall of 1940, I left to go to YTS (Youth

Training School) for a period of six months.

There we had lectures and shop training to

prepare us for Aero Engine Mechanics.

After we graduated from this, we were sent

off to the Brandon Manitoba (Manning

Depot) Pool where I signed up to join the

RCAF. There we received our uniforms,

medical shots, dental work plus lots of drill

work and long marches.

After eight months of that, we were sent off

to St. Thomas Ontario to start our training

as Aero Engine Mechanics. After four

months of that we were posted to a number

of airports across the country. My posting

was to No. 12 Service Flying Training

School in Brandon. At the end of

September, after posting in Brandon for four

months, I was posted down to Souris

Manitoba which was just opening with

seven big hangars. The first few days there

with a few helpers who were busy setting up

bunk beds for the new student pilots which

happened to be a group of Australians who

had been waiting for their posting to

Canada. The day that I was sent down to

greet them at the train, it was minus 23

Don Rollins with Avro Anson

Canada 150 Vignette – 018 of 150 -- British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

A World War II Memory – Don Rollins

degrees and a real good wind blowing, but

they were a happy-go-lucky lot.

Some of the mishaps that happened while I

was in Souris were when one of our aircraft

(Mark II Anson) had to do a forced landing

due to frozen carburetors. It did a belly

landing down between Pelican Lake and

Rock Lake. It happened in late January or

February. Both wooden propellers were

broke and when it finally came to a stop, it

was only about 30 feet nosed up to a big

hay stack. Myself and another fellow by the

name of Davies were told to guard the

aircraft until the next day. I went to work to

get a new pair of propellers.

We had what was called a guard house to

spend the night. The Guard House was five

by eight feet with windows on all sides and

a little round tin stove. The night was really

clear and cold so we got a good fire going

and climbed into our sleeping bags to spend

the night. At about 2:00 o’clock in the

morning we woke up and the place was full

of smoke. Some of the hot coals had fallen

out of the stove and started a fire in the

bottom end of our sleeping bags.

A work crew arrived next morning. They

jacked up the landing gear and locked it in

place. New props were installed and we

gave the aircraft a run-up. All was okay.

One of the flying instructors made a couple

of passes up and down the open field and

with a Wing and a Prayer took off safely.

I spent a lot of time working in the service

hangers which were just across the way

from the control tower. This hanger also

housed the Fire & Emergency truck so

when a call came from the control tower that

there

was

an

emergency, I was always the one that got

`Joe’d’ to get into the asbestos fire suit

mostly because I was the only one small

enough to get into it. One spring morning it

was a bright clear day. Just about 9:30

when an aircraft was coming in to change

students and refuel. A heavy fog rolled in.

Some of the planes had enough fuel to

make it to another airfield. A couple of

aircraft managed to get below the fog and

get in okay. I was already in my fire suit

ready for an emergency. One aircraft just

missed the top of our hanger but one of his

wings struck a hydro pole near the main

gate which caused it to flip over on its back.

We crashed over a few fences and rail track

to get to the aircraft. Their fuel was just

about done so there was no fire.

Unfortunately, both student and instructor

were killed.

After my time in Souris, I was posted to

Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. For some

unknown reason to me, I was detailed to

work in the Central Registry. While at this

office, I witnessed two fatalities. The first

happened when an electrician climbed a

ladder to change a light bulb on a hydro

pole outside my window. As he reached out

to change the bulb, his ladder slid sideways

around the pole and he fell headfirst to the

ground. The second fatality was when a

young pilot, who

had two

overseas tours in a fighter aircraft, took out

a little Cornell trainer to get some more

flying time before his discharge came

through. Anyway, I saw this small plane

flying rather low down to the end of the

runway.

He could have landed into the wind but he

banked too sharp to make the runway and

crashed as he was used to fighter aircraft

with more power to hold him up. It was a

sad ending for a young pilot. I received my

discharge from Calgary Alberta… end of

story!

RCAF Aero Engine Mechanic Badge

In April 2017, the Commonwealth Air Training Museum in Brandon Manitoba received a request for assistance from the office of Tim Ryan, representative for Ohio in the United States Congress for a bill to recognize the legacies of 12000 Americans who joined the armed forces of Allied countries before the United States’s entry into the war. The bill is known as: “American Patriots of WWII through Service with the Canadian and British Armed Forces Gold Medal Act of 2017.” Asked and given, the CATPP Museum forwarded a letter in support of this bill to the Congressman. In addition to recognition for their service to the Commonwealth armed forces, the honorees will be eligible for a medal to be struck if the bill passes. We found a good story which addresses this topic

written by our friend Hugh Halliday who wrote this article for the Legion Magazine We present his story of Americans in the World War II RCAF. Canada declared war on Germany on Sept. 10, 1939. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) had been expanding in anticipation of this; now it fairly exploded, doubling in size within four months. Meanwhile, on Dec. 17, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand signed an agreement creating the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Canada was about to become a vast air force training centre, with schools from the Atlantic to the Pacific and students from around the globe. Many of those trained would be American citizens.

Initially, the RCAF did not seek out Americans; there were more than enough Canadians volunteering. Moreover, with the United States still neutral, there would be diplomatic problems if American citizens were enlisted, much less courted. However, U.S. nationals began to arrive, motivated by everything from love of adventure to political convictions.

As more BCATP schools opened, the RCAF found itself short of trained pilots. It began looking for experienced Americans to perform non-combat duties. This led to the formation of the semi-secret Clayton Knight Committee, the brainchild of aviation artist

Canada’s Yanks: Air Force, Part 16 July 1, 2006 by Hugh A. Halliday

The Legion Magazine

Clayton Knight and the RCAF’s Director of Recruiting, Air Marshal Billy Bishop VC.

The committee opened its first office in New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the spring of 1940; other bureaus were established in Spokane, Wash., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis and San Antonio. Various devices were used to create the fiction that the Clayton Knight Committee was a private advisory unit. In practice it was recruiting Americans on American soil in violation of the Neutrality Act. Moreover, although its goal was to direct trained pilots to Canada, increasingly the committee gave information to untrained Americans who wanted to join the RCAF. These raw recruits constituted 85 per cent of the Americans ultimately enrolled in the RCAF.

One problem was the Oath of Allegiance to King George VI. An American taking the oath could be deemed to have forfeited his U.S. citizenship. In June 1940, Canada waived its Oath of Allegiance for foreign nationals, who henceforth were asked only to take an Oath of Obedience. In other words, they were to follow the rules of military discipline for the duration of their RCAF service. Training centres began to resonate with

American accents; some courses were

comprised of 50 per cent of American

students. Many more claimed to be

Texans than was actually the case; girls

who would not have been attracted to

somebody from Rhode Island, might find

a man from Texas more interesting.

As of Dec. 8, 1941, approximately 6,129 Americans were members of the RCAF. Just over half– 3,883 –were still undergoing training, but 667 were on

operations overseas while others were engaged in flying duties in Canada itself, instructing, flying anti-submarine patrols, etc. With America’s entry into the war, RCAF recruiting there ceased and American volunteers began heading for USAAF (United States Army Air Force) offices instead. Americans residing in Canada were still being enrolled, however. Ultimately, the RCAF calculated that more than 8,860 U.S. nationals joined that force. Within a month of Pearl Harbor, talks were underway for the transfer of Americans from the RCAF to U.S. flying services. In May and June 1942, a board of Canadian and American officers travelled across Canada by special train, affecting the release of 1,759 Americans from the RCAF and enrolling them simultaneously in American forces. Transfers continued throughout the war. The RCAF calculated that 3,797 Americans switched back to their own national forces. That left 5,263 Americans who elected to stay with the RCAF throughout their service careers. Many of the Americans had very distinguished battle records, but there is no question as to who gained the greatest fame. Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., who was born in China of missionary parents, wrote the moving poem High Flight while training with the RCAF. He was killed Dec. 11, 1941, when his Spitfire collided with an Oxford aircraft in England. The original manuscript of High Flight is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. An estimated 234 American members were decorated. The earliest of RCAF Americans to be honoured was

CATPM Canada 150 Vignette 24 of 150

The Home Front

The 1944 Quebec Conference

Sergeant George E. Mitchell of Diamond Springs, Calif. He graduated as an air gunner in March 1941, and was promptly sent overseas where he joined 7 Sqdn., flying Stirlings. In June 1941, while serving as rear gunner, he shot down a Me.110 as it attacked his aircraft. Mitchell was awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal in November 1941; unhappily, he was killed in action on April 6, 1942. Some of the RCAF’s most highly decorated aircrew were American nationals. These included Squadron Leader David C. Fairbanks of Ithaca, N.Y., who earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses while flying Spitfires and Tempests, shooting down 16 enemy aircraft in the process. Following the war, he threw in his lot with Canada, joined the Toronto branch of de Havilland and became an executive with that company. Also much decorated was Russell E. Curtis from Albion, Pa. He enlisted at Niagara Falls, Ont., in October 1940, earned his wings the following July, and wound up flying Wellington bombers with 104 Sqdn. in North Africa. In December 1942, he was awarded the DFM in recognition of great skill and knowledge. The citation noted that on two occasions he brought aircraft safely back to base in spite of flak damage in one instance and engine failure coupled with bad weather in another.

Following his tour with 104 Sqdn., Curtis was commissioned and sent back to England. In July 1944, now a flight lieutenant, he began a second tour, this time with 428 Sqdn., flying Lancasters. In August 1944, he and his crew were detailed to attack Dortmund, Germany.

During the bombing run the aircraft came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was hit. Curtis sustained a compound skull fracture. Despite the severity of his injury, he bravely remained at the controls and pressed home his attack. Not until the task was accomplished did he ask for assistance. He afterwards collapsed and was placed in the rest position. Other members of the crew took over the task of flying the Lancaster home; eventually it was landed by the bomb aimer. Six members of the crew were decorated for their roles in the incident; Curtis received a Distinguished Service Order.

Nor was Curtis unique among Canada’s Yanks. Flight Lieutenant John H. Stickell of Gilson, Ill., and Flt. Lt. William J. Senger of St. John, N.D., both earned the DSO and DFC. Stickell was also mentioned in dispatches. Both were bomber pilots flying Stirlings. Stickell began with 214 Sqdn. in May 1942 but was posted to 7 Sqdn. in August that year. Senger arrived at 7 Sqdn. in October 1942; his first operational sortie was flown as Stickell’s co-pilot. Eventually, both transferred to the United States Army Air Force, Stickell in March 1943, Senger in October 1943. Sergeant Charles E. McDonald of Shreveport, La., was one of a kind. He enlisted in the RCAF in September 1940, earned his wings in April 1941, and was duly posted overseas, flying Spitfires with 403 Sqdn. On Aug. 21 he was shot down over France and taken prisoner. Yet his war was only beginning. On Aug. 11, 1942, with three other prisoners, McDonald escaped from Stalag Luft III. Aided by the Polish underground they assumed new identities that enabled them to cross Germany and occupied France, pass

over the Pyrenees Mountains to Spain, and eventually reach Gibraltar. From there, they returned to England. During his long journey he witnessed Allied bombing raids on Berlin. Donald was awarded the Military Medal, a decoration normally associated with army personnel but awarded infrequently to airmen who escaped captivity. He was the only member of the RCAF ever to receive this honour. Late in the war he transferred to the USAAF, saw action in the Pacific, and went on to fly Sabres in Korea. Unhappily, McDonald was killed in a flying accident in November 1953. Not all awards were for “gallantry in the face of the enemy.” On Jan. 28, 1943, Sgt. Clinton L. Pudney of Buffalo, N.Y., was air gunner in a Halifax bomber engaged in a training flight in Yorkshire, England. The aircraft hit high ground, crashed and burst into flames. Three crewmen were killed; all others, except Pudney, were too badly injured to extricate themselves. Pudney had sustained lacerations and lost blood, but he returned several times to the burning wreck until he had rescued four comrades. He then struggled two miles over rough moors to summon help. Pudney was awarded a George Medal. Tragically, he died after his aircraft was hit by lightning on June 16, 1943. Roughly 800 Americans were killed while serving with the RCAF, including 148 in Canada itself. Most of these–117–involved training accidents, but 31 were killed on operations such as transport, ferry work and anti-submarine patrols. The first of Canada’s Yanks to die–on March 31, 1940–was Leading Aircraftman Edward E. Hood of New

Bloomfield, Pa., killed in an automobile accident while on strength of RCAF Station Trenton, Ont. The second fatality (and first flying casualty) was LAC Chester M. Wood of New York City. He was under instruction at Trenton when his Fleet Finch went into a spin and crashed on June 16, 1940. Flt. Lt. James L. Mitchell of Venice, Calif., was the first to die on operations; his Hudson disappeared on a trans-Atlantic delivery flight on Jan. 9, 1941. At least two American members of the RCAF died in flying accidents in Britain before July 30, 1941, when Sgt. George R. Menish of Salina, Kansas, was killed in action flying a Blenheim light bomber with 139 Sqdn., the first of many combat casualties sustained by Americans in the RCAF. Of the Americans killed in Canada, whether in training or on operations, most bodies were returned to their hometowns for burial. A few, however, were interred in cemeteries close to the places where they died, chiefly because of the presence of family or close friends in Canada. Those killed overseas and whose bodies were recovered were buried in the countries where they fell–Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany–to name the most frequent nations. The men with no known graves are commemorated on the various memorials dedicated to those who vanished. Most of the American fatalities were in their early 20s, but some were “old men” by aircrew standards. Flying Officer David F. Langmack of Lebanon, Ore., was 39 when he died in a Lysander crash at Suffield, Alta., Sept. 22, 1941. Flt. Lt. Charles Lesesne of Sumter, S.C.,

was 34 when he was killed in action with 425 Sqdn. on March 31, 1945. Although Canadian authorities strove to keep RCAF personnel together in Canadian formations, approximately 50 per cent of RCAF strength overseas was scattered through RAF units, and the American members of the RCAF were similarly dispersed. Most saw action in the North African and European theatres, but some ended up on secondary fronts. Two Americans serving in the RCAF were killed in Burma; Flt. Lt. Lloyd D. Thomas of Detroit earned a DFC flying Hurricanes with 5 Sqdn. before being killed by Japanese ground fire on April 18, 1944. Pilot Officer O.A. Keech of Alexandria, N.Y., was killed March 4, 1944, while dive-bombing in a Vultee Vengence aircraft of 84 Sqdn. Others died in even more remote places and in unusual ways. Warrant Officer Charles R. Dixon of Mount Vernon, N.Y., was serving in a meteorological flight in the Sudan. On March 10, 1943, while taxiing an obsolete Gladiator biplane, he blundered into a fuel dump and touched off the fire that killed him. Among those with unusual stories was John Harvey Curry of Dallas. He enlisted in the RCAF in August 1940, trained as a pilot, and wound up in North Africa with 601 Sqdn. In March 1943, as a flight lieutenant, he was awarded the DFC for having destroyed seven enemy aircraft; the citation described him as “a source of inspiration to his fellow pilots.” However, his greatest exploit was still to come. Curry was promoted to squadron leader and given command of 80 Sqdn. On March 2, 1944, while strafing enemy

vehicles in Italy, he was shot down by ground fire. He force-landed in snow-covered mountains, but was unhurt. With the help of friendly Italians, he avoided capture and linked out with other Allied evaders. Curry and one soldier decided to strike south through rough terrain to reach Allied lines. They began their trek on March 12, suffering from hunger and cold along the route, and contacted Indian Army troops about noon on the 18th. For this feat of endurance and courage, Curry was made an Officer, Order of the British Empire. Not all the Americans were aircrew nor were all the awards for flying duties. Flight Sergeant George F. Sullivan of Boston enlisted in Montreal in November 1940 as a mechanic. Late in 1941 he joined 409 Sqdn., an RCAF night-fighter unit in Britain. Sullivan remained with the unit throughout the war. In June 1945, he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his work in keeping the unit active by maintaining a minimum of six serviceable Mosquito aircraft even during the most intensive operations and under the most adverse conditions. There is a scene in the movie Captains of the Clouds when Billy Bishop is presenting pilot’s wings to a 1941 RCAF graduating class. One of the men is identified as Groves. As Bishop pins on the wings a short conversation ensues: Bishop: “And where are you from, son?” Groves: “Texas, sir.” Bishop: “One of our most loyal provinces.” Groves: “We think so, sir.” Bishop: “Well, I think so, too. And we thank you for coming up here and helping us.”

The scene is a poignant reminder of a time when thousands of Americans joined a foreign air force, determined to fight Hitler without waiting for the U.S. to become directly involved.

https://legionmagazine.com/en/2006/07/canadas-yanks/

How Canada Paid for World War II

The cost to Canada for its involvement

in World War II was $21.8 billion. One-

half of this cost was covered by the sale

of War Savings Certificates and Victory

War Bonds. The certificates were first

sold door-to-door by volunteers as well

as at banks, post offices and other

dealers. They matured after seven years

and yielded $5 for every $4 invested.

Buyers were restricted to owning no

more than $600 worth of certificates.

This program yielded $318 million in

funds (loans) to the government for the

war effort.

The sale of Victory Bonds

provided much more capital for the war

effort. With 11 Victory Bond drives,

$12.5 billion was raised. Maturity of the

bonds varied from six to 14 years with

interest rates set at 1.5% and 3%.

Victory bonds were available in

denominations between $50 and

$100,000. Sales equalled $550 per

Canadian citizen although businesses

actually purchased one half of the total.

The first two bond drives met their sales

targets within 48 hours of being issued.

A great deal of organization went

into running this program including

formalizing organization of the program

under direction of the Governor of the

Bank of Canada to development of a

marketing (propaganda) program to

recruiting volunteers. Posters in addition

to direct

mailings and

movie,

magazine and

newspaper ads

were used to

spread the

word.

Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum

Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and Shirley Temple at a 7th Victory Bond Rally in Ottawa, 1944.