The Way We Were ::: 1942 ::: CANADA

The De Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada Ltd advertisement acknowledging the Canadian-built MOSQUITO contribution…to the Allied war effort that originated from Downsview, in Toronto.


De Havilland CANADA Mosquito

"Before the end of the Second World War, de Havilland Canada built 1,134 Mosquitos, of which 444 were on strength with the RCAF in models Bomber Mk VII through Trainer Mk 29 from 1 June 1943 to 28 September 1951.

Production of the Mosquito, nicknamed the "Mossie," was the company's greatest contribution to the war effort. To reduce wartime metal use, the airframe was constructed almost entirely out of plywood.

The design intent of the Mosquito was speed instead of defensive armament, and as a result it was one of the fastest planes in the war, reaching 425 mph at 30,000 feet. The original design was intended as a light bomber, but soon proved itself in high-level photography and every phase of intruder operations." (Wikipedia)

Winter Returns…but will the RCAF?

Nope.

44 great and glorious years!

Then in 1968 comes the Canadian Armed Forces…and out goes the Canadian Navy, and the Canadian Army too. Trudeaupean flower-power initiatives based on European military models and recklessly Canadian tradition is replaced with Trudeau's vision… which, by the way, proved to be garbage.

However, if my political party were in power you know there'd be sweeping changes.

For starters AND overnight, the return of the RCAF, the RCN and the Canadian Army.

These divisions of our national defense would become heavily fortified. Did someone say…shopping spree?

Peacekeeping is useless…policing works best.

We need 9 new aircraft carriers, 1,200 Arrow Mark 7s (including the Mark 8 which is carrier-based) and 30, 000 UAVs. I don't know a damn thing about nuclear submarines, but three for every province and 5 for every Territory would be a healthy start.

And our new Coast Guard ships would look more like small battleships than the current anemic tugboat design.

YYZ perimeter lands would be immediately seized by MY Canadian government and a newer, more expansive Avro Canada would be re-established on the former site. Where do you think our new Arrows, UAVs, aircraft carriers and subs are going to come from?

Did someone say Northwest Passage? International waters?

I say, Canada's Internal Waters.

Did someone say bankruptcy…and bye, bye, GM Canada? Chrysler of Canada? Ford of Canada?

I say hello, Bombardier, Avro and hello, McLaughlin Automotive.

Anyways, its all contained in my political brief, "Outlines". So politically explosive…so fearlessly Canadian…it's not available to the general public at this time.

••• RCAF Remembered …

"THREE THOUSAND MILES across a hunted ocean they came, wearing on the shoulder of their tunics the treasured name, "CANADA," telling the world their origin.

Young men and women they were, some still in their teens, fashioned by their Maker to love, not to kill, but proud and earnest in their mission to stand, and if it had to be, to die, for their country and for freedom.

One day, when the history of the twentieth century is finally written, it will be recorded that when human society stood at the crossroads and civilization itself was under siege, the Royal Canadian Air Force was there to fill the breach and help give humanity the victory.

And all those who had a part in it will have left to posterity a legacy of honour, of courage, and of valour that time can never despoil."


Father J.P. Lardie, Chaplain of 419/428 Squadron
(Engraved on the last panel are these words from his speech at the dedication of the RCAF Memorial at Middleton St. George, Great Britain 15/6/85.)

No Dam TOO FAR!

THEY'LL never understand…

THEY say they do.

But YOU KNOW they don’t.

They just haven’t had the LANC EXPERIENCE yet.

So, let’s break it down for them.

The aircraft pictured above is an AVRO LANCASTER that was built, nearby, in Toronto at Victory Aircraft.

Of the 7, 366 Lancasters (all types) built back in the day, this is the only one that still flies in North America.

That’s right…of the THOUSANDS built in Canada and Great Britain during World War II…THIS is it.

There are a few “Lancs” on static display, somewhere…but this IS the only FLYING EXAMPLE, again, over here in the Americas!

Seeing a “Lanc” start up, roll forward, head out to a runway, and then fly overhead constitutes participating in the “Lanc Experience”.

That means you have participated in History and connected “mystically” with all those others who went before us, and who “lived” that experience, and made our history, whether friend, or foe, during the war.

NOW, IF YOU WANT, you can travel to England in grand fashion, and for about $2,700 CDN per person (all expenses paid) you can “get” the “Lanc Experience” over there, and see the ONLY OTHER flying Lancaster in the world.

Or, for a couple of tablespoons of gas, and $10 per person you can travel on over to Hamilton, Mount Hope specifically, to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on this June 16th or the 17th, and get your “experience” there!

So when veterans recount war tales, or WW II is discussed, in books, newspapers and “on-line”, or you see movies like the “Dambusters” due out in 2008, you’ll have experienced personally, first hand, the sounds, sights, and smell of World War II and Bomber Command.

YOU’LL NO LONGER have “yellow canaries” flying about your head when World War II enters the discussion and you haven’t got a clue what everyone else is talking about!

You’ll know…because you’ve been there…

Mystically ~

ONE MORE thing you need to know to get the FULL “Lanc Experience”.

The Lancaster JUST ISN’T any ole’ plane out there…denuding our fragile environment and cluttering up our skies like the "horrendous" Cessna 152 does.

No.

The “Lanc” became the MOST FAMOUS and successful NIGHT BOMBER of World War II, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties (bombing missions)." The Lancaster was also used, at times, for daylight precision bombing.

The Lancaster garnered worldwide attention in 1943 during “Operation Chastise” when she took out Germany’s most important dams. Factories as far away as forty miles were immediately flooded, and a serious shortage of water occurred. This severely crippled the German “war machine” at the time.

Other Facts YOU NEED to know:

• B X version of the Lancaster: The B X (pictured above) was a Canadian-built B III, differing in having Canadian/US made instrumentation and electrics. Also on later batches, the Martin 250CE was substituted for the Nash & Thomson FN-50 mid-upper turret. The greater weight of this turret necessitated moving the turret forward for C-of-G balance reasons. Canada was a long-term operator of the Lancaster, utilizing modified aircraft in postwar maritime patrol, search and rescue and photo-reconnaissance roles until 1963.

• The test pilot Alex Henshaw is the only known pilot to have barrel rolled a Lancaster bomber, a feat considered almost impossible because of the slow speed of the aircraft.

• During the war, Lancasters carried out a total of 156,000 missions and dropped 608,612 tons of bombs. This was double what the Handley Page Halifax, the other major bomber used by the Royal Air Force achieved. In the four years of combat service 3,249 Lancasters were lost in action and another 487 were destroyed or damaged while on the ground. Only 24 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful missions.

• While only 7, 366 Avro Lancasters were made during the war…more than 30 MILLION die-cast and model Lancasters have since been purchased by an adoring public.

SOURCES: Wikipedia, Canadian Warplane Heritage, AVSIM.com, and Special Projects In Research

The Way We Were ::: 1939 - 1945 ::: CANADA

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) came into effect on December 17, 1939 when Canadian PM MacKenzie King, The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand agreed that Canada would host the greatest air training scheme ever ushered into existence.

“THE PLAN” trained aircrews from all over the Commonwealth to give Britain the aircrews she needed, at her most desperate hour.

So successful was the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan that eventually 131,553 air force personnel successfully graduated…in 8 different categories, providing trained aircrews for the RAF first, and then the Air Forces of Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The 360 schools that were established at 231 sites all across Canada so transformed the country that U.S. President Roosevelt called Canada, "The Aerodrome Of Democracy".

The LANCASTER bomber, shown flying above, was one of the aircraft these trainees learned to fly and bomb targets with.

But why Canada…for so great an undertaking?

1. Proximately to Britain (by air)
2. Suitable climate (no fog or rain interference)
3. She had the manpower
4. Safe distance from every theatre of WW II
5. Inexhaustible natural resources

MANY AMERICANS also trained at these BCATP schools. One school had so many Californians that the RCAF was nicknamed the “Royal Californian Air Force” by the locals!

And that was a country, called Canada…during WW II.