The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan:1939-1945

Abstract

In 1939, the Canadian government reached an agreement with Great Britain and other Commonwealth Dominions that created a monumental training regime within Canada's borders. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan has been recognized by historians, politicians and economists as a tremendous contribution to the war effort, as it trained nearly 137 000 aircrew for service in the Second World War. The memory of the training plan is dwindling along with the old airfields and this paper seeks to recall the contribution by providing a descriptive overview of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.