NO. 1 SERVICE FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL CAMP BORDEN: Course 32

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Course 32

Murray F. Pettit standing with his wife and mother after wings parade September 13, 1941.

Norman Marshall, Oakville, Ontario receiving his wings from Group Captain Roy S. Grandy, O.C., No. 1 SFTS Camp Borden. Other graduates included William Frederick Edwin Cane, + Lawrence Aloysius Doherty (J.7468), + Lawrence Theodore Izzard (J.7462), + Lawrence Henry Jordan, Thomas Kelly, + Andrew Albert McNaughton (J.7465), Donald Earl Naismith, George Johnston Hays, Henry Hanan Turick, James Ell Walsh, + Victor Howard Miller, Arthur Lippa, Elliott Allan McCready, Warren G. Straley

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Instructors

Royal Air Force: +F/L Cosme Lockwood Gomm, DSO, DFC, F/L W.M. Penman, F/L. H.L. Dawson, F/L S.H. Cruise, +F/O John Bernard Flowerdew, F/O P. Campbell, F/O J. Gillan, F/O M. Coupland, S/L Derek Frank Syder, F/L J.S. Eley, F/L J.W. Lamb, (37298) Richard Evenor Dupont, (340092) Richard Henry Waterhouse, (37018) F/L Kenneth James Mellor, F/S W.M. Abercrombie, "Pluto" F/L Waterhouse's black labrador born into the RAF.

Waterhouse stated to a reporter in November 1939:

"I like your pilots and I like your flying weather. Back home we have plenty of fog and we're quite crowded. There's plenty of space over here, and we're not so far from England. The new training plan will release our fields for service squadrons and allow us to carry on under much steadier weather conditions."

(J/4419) Ian Edward MacTavish (DFC), S/L G.V. Priestly, (C/166) W/C Douglas Alexander Ransome Bradshaw, chief instructor, London, Ont.; S/L W.E. Kennedy Chief Flying Instructor

Flying Instructors

(J/11057) D.H. Shipley (Co. 45 2 SF); (J/10273) James Roderick Wright, (C/1036) Squadron Leader Edward Gerard Gilmore - DFC 408 Sqn.; F/O E.T. Gardner, Windsor; F/O J.T. Van Hurpe, WO William Baldwin, WO Murray Rice, Essex, +(J/15148) Charles Wilbert 'Pat' DeShane - 137 Sqn.; +(J/13484) Charles Sidney Aistrop - AFC, KIA 440 Sqn.; F/O W.C. Button - H Flight; +(J/3485) Hedley William Fitch - 37 Sqn.; (Aus.413935) Laurence John 'Ren' Henderson, Herbert Hugh Hinton, Lorne Pringle; Morley Gain; +(C1167) Campbell William James 'Butch' Fernie - 41/111 Sqns., Vancouver; Nickerson; Hunt; (J/10278) Richard Ewen Henderson - E Flight (Co. 41 9 SF); (C/805) George Abner Hiltz; (R/132257 - J/14539) William Sawers - DFC 414 Sqn.; (J/11969 - R/108736) Stuart Newton May - 418 Sqn., Weston, Ont.; +(J/10254) Russell (Reginald) Bouskill – DFC 401 Sqn.; Gordon Bouskill; +(C/1218) Douglas Gordon Mackenzie Joy; (J/10269) Courtney Shippy Spurr Gilliatt - DFC 107 Sqn.; +(J/5707) John David Armstrong; +(J/36577) Alister Keith Price - 416 Sqn., Toronto; (C/1175) Harry Morison Lay - AFC 8 Sqn.; (C/769) Harry R. McBurney; +(J/13484 - R/72351) Charles (Sydney) Aistrop - AFC, KIA 440 Sqn., Sudbury; +(J/3749 - R/69537) Arthur Climie MacDonald - (KIFA Dec. 12, 41), Toronto; (J/3752) William Alfred Hasenpflug - AFC, Barrie; (J/3751) Walter William Gilmour - AFC, Toronto; +(J/9860) Douglas Cameron Sutherland; (R/52811) D.H. Kenny; (J/12311) Wilfred John Banks - DFC & Bar 412 Sqn. (8 SF Co. 50); (J/21884) T.R. Paterson; (J/14527) John Neff Byergo (13 SF); (J/13035) J.E. Kelly; +(J/14007) Lorne William Brand (A Flt.) - 420 Sqn.; +(J/14006) Stanley Malcolm McLarty - 132/14 Sqns. DFC 442 Sqn.; (R/75808) Gordon Edward Stephenson (A Flt.) - 421 Sqn., Brantford; (J/21156) Marfleet; +(10191 - J/20008) Harry Morden Sharpe - 613 Sqn., Toronto; (J/8370) John Clifford Bruner, Leamington; +(R/75664 - J/22349) John Stewart Hill (Co. 28) - 418 Sqn., Guelph; (J/21123) James M. Spencer (Co. 61 2 SF); (J/21007) J.L. Lawrie; (J/10271) W. Stronach - (Co. 41 1 SF); (J/13715) W.J. Nixon - (Co. 55 2 SF), Toronto; (C20393) R.W. Paterson; (J/9466) E.J. Smith (13 SF); +(J/3259) Edward Blake (Eddie) Thompson - (Co. 5), Toronto; (J/10308) L. Sykes - (Co. 42 16 SF), Kitchener; (J/14062) Arthur Frederick Badland - (Co. 29 2 SF), Roche's Point; (J/10091) Julian Cyril Vanhuyse, Windsor; Leslie Elsworth Seeley - Nav. (Co. 60 16 SF), Flesherton; +(J/9859) James Temple Blackwood Martin; +(J/9468 R/101277) William Fleming Borrett - (Co. 39 12 SF) 415 Sqn., Winnipeg; +(J/24139) Jacques David Munn, Dresden, Ont.; (J/8906) Donald Robert Ross

(C/805) George Abner Hiltz

Commended for Valuable Services in the Air - This officer first served at this unit and then at an Elementary Flying Training School as a Flying Instructor, and again at this unit as Chief Flying Instructor. His contribution to flying training under the C.T.E. has been marked by his ability to create efficiency with a consequent increase in the output of trained pilots. The total flying time for Wing Commander Hiltz is 1,400 hours of which 1,100 hours have been instructional completed over a period of three years.

Misc. Pilot Trainees

Frank Samuel Sico, Kenneth Tyley, William Aloysius Tyrrell; (J/21620) Robert Brooke Utterback; (J/26126) Walter George Kanach; Paul Emile Roland Vachon, Franklin Van Wart, William Howard Rhodes, Franklin Anderson Riffle (9EF); Henry Hubert Rinehart, Charles Ferdinand Schwickrath, (J/42942) Vernon Willis Mullen (9EF) - PoW 416 Sqn.; Charles Edward Shannon, (J/15302) Lawrence J. Somers - POW 403 Sqn. (12 EFTS); (R/51817) W.N. Douglas, Haileybury - Oct. 40; Harry Leslie Kay; (C/2980) Lewis Bransby Burnand - DFC & Bar 405 Sqn.; +(J/38349) Robert John Reilly - 440 Sqn., Toronto (20 EFTS); (C/1585) Stanley Yendle Broadbent; Harvey H. Nice, Mt. Hope, Ont.; (C/1181) Lecomte

February 28, 1940

Intermediate Flying Training Dec. 12, 1939 - Feb. 27, 1940 Advanced Flying Training Feb. 26 - April 20, 1940 Wings February 28, 1940 First class to start pilot training after the outbreak of the war. They graduated after training for 28 weeks at Camp Borden. Members of the course formed three sides of a square on the field above the control tower.

Wing Commander Frank McGill, officer commanding, then briefly addressed the graduates before pinning the cloth pilot's flying badges on the tunics of the 35 RCAF pilots.

"It is with pride that I present you with your wings. May you always be worthy to wear them."

Commissions Sept. 9, 1939 +(C/1043) Michael Desmond MacBrien - KIFA 1 ANS, Toronto; +(C/1050) Gordon Robert 'Toots' Day - KIFA 1 SF, Ottawa; (C/1052) John Cornelius Mulvihill (AFC), (C/1059) Garrett Munro Cook (DFC, AFC), +(C1061) Brian Anthony Casey MiD - 5 BR Sqn., Sandwich West, Ont. (C1062) Charles Ronald Knowles (AFC), +(C/1064) Raymond Edward Shaw, +(C/1069) Martin Edward Tomsett, Regina; +(C/1071) Peter Charles Everett Lay, Regina; (C/1072) Dennis Graland 'Bud' Malloy - 402 Sqn. Dieppe; +(C/1074) Ivan Lloyd George Gillis - KIFA 11 BR Sqn., (C/1075) George Urquhart Hill, - 403 Sqn. Dieppe DFC & 2 Bars - 111 Sqn., PoW; +(C/1078) Alan Swaine Pilcher, (C/1083) J. H. Roberts (AFC), (C/1084) Kenneth John Hutt, (C/1086) Russell W. Bannock (DSO, DFC & Bar), +(C/1087) James Constabaris, +(C/1088) Herbert Gordon Portman, +(C/1091) Herbert John Southwood - 403 Sqn., (FI 11 SF); +(C1099) William Andrew Anderson (DFC), +(C/1106) Malcolm George MacLeod - 249 Sqn. Malta, Pictou, N.S.; (C1081) Harry Peter Mackenzie Furniss - PoW 401 Sqn.; A. J. Boyce, Toronto; D. J. England, Quebec; Sidney Arnold Bushell, Hazel Hill, N.S.; J.P. Gobeil, La Patrie, Quebec; Robert Charles Benton, Innisfail, Alta.; Norman T. Renwick, Vancouver

Peter Lay and Mark Tomsett grew up together in Regina, worked in Yellowknife in the mines, enlisted in the RCAF, completed their EFTS training together in Regina and graduated together at Camp Borden. Flying Officer Lay was killed in a flying accident near Sydney, N.S., August 16, 1940. Flight Lieutenant Tomsett was killed July 26, 1941.

Pilot Officer Gordon Robert 'Toots' Day was killed April 29, 1940, when his aircraft crashed one mile southwest of the Camp Borden airfield during a solo night flight. Day was the star cenre of the Camp Borden hockey team and was one of the most popular men in Camp Borden.

Posted in from

Halifax Flying Club: Malloy, Hill

Montreal Light Aeroplane Club: Furniss

Course 4: February 1 - May 23, 1940

Wing Commander Frank McGill presented wings to 27 graduates.

Air Marshal William Avery 'Billy' Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C., Croix de Guerre, addressed the graduates and guests.

"The enemy has been able to strike with savage and brutal force that has brought results momentarily favorable to him. But there is no reason to be in any way dismayed.

"In 1918 over the same ground the same enemy smashed with all his might, and was turned back. Then came the glorious 100 days when, with Canada always in the air, we drove him to his knees in surrender.

"I can remember those black days, how we used to worry about the outcome, and our leaders then bade us stand firm and give two blows for one. 'Keep your tails up,' we were told.

"The message is the same to you today. The Allies will win this war and win it in the air. But only after a desperate struggle which will call for a marshalling of all that is true and steadfast within us.

"Every one of you, from the commanding officer to the cook, has a job to do. We are all serving the same cause, no matter what our rank.

"Although it is twenty-five years since my own wings were pinned over my left breast, I still know of nothing to make a man more justly proud than the earning of them. I know you will be proud of yours, and I wish you all the luck in the world as you help us through this dreadful struggle."

(C896) R.R. Livermore, Calgary; (C913) P. Victor Maurice Terry - AFC, Calgary

(C1013) Gordon Arthur Folkins - AFC, Calgary; +(C1015) Laurence Hughes Wilkinson - 418 Sqn., Calgary; +(C1039) Hugh Maclean Rowlings - FI 3 SFTS Calgary, Halifax

+(C1167) Campbell William James 'Butch' Fernie - 41/111 Sqns., Vancouver; (C1172) John Brian McColl - 607/615/401/403 Sqns. (B of B), Waterdown, Ont.

+(C1201) Alfred Eugene Spurr - 103 Sqn., Nova Scotia; (C1205) Clyde Charles Wilton Marshall - 433 Sqn., Kingston; (C1221) Andrew Leslie McNaughton, England and Ottawa;(C1256) Allan Chester Hull - DFC 428 Sqn., Vancouver;

(C/1319) Blair Dalzell Russell - DSO, DFC & Bar; +(C/1322) Victor Yelverton Hanines - 429 Sqn.; +(C/1323) George Fellows McAvity - 3 Sqn.; (C1325) Orville Bates Pulsifer, Halifax; (C/1327) Arthur Deane Nesbitt - DFC OBE No. 1/401 Sqn. (B of B), Montreal; (C1328) Arthur McLeod Yuile - No. 1 Sqn (B of B) 118/126 RCAF Sqns.; +(C1329) Bruce Alexander Hanbury - No. 1 Sqn. (B of B), Vancouver; (C1330) Ralph Colter Weston - 411 Sqn., Saint John; (C/1344) Gordon Scowcroft Beall - 420 Sqn.; (C/1349) George James Elliott - 615/607 Sqns., Winnipeg; (C1351) William Donovan Swanzey Ferris (DFC); (C/1352) Robert Carl Fumerton (DFC & Bar, AFC); (C1355) Charles Merevale Humphrys - 416 Sqn., Southampton, England; (C1359) Lloyd Emerson Logan (DFC /POW – 405 Sqn.); (C1362) Georges Albert Roy (DFC – 425 Sqn.); (C1365) Henry Arnold Sprague (POW – 401 Sqn.); (C1369) William Ronald David Turner - AFC, Winnipeg; +(C1371) Clarence Alfred (Blake) Wallace - 401 Sqn., (B of B - 3 Sqn.) Vancouver; +(C1372) Frederick Stanley Watson - 409 Sqn., Ft. William; +(C1376) Richard James Bennell - 418 Sqn.

P.S. Walker of Nova Scotia; A.G. (Alexander Gus?) Hobbs of Calgary; C. Kenneth Card, Melville, Saskatchewan; D.L.G. Jones of Dalhousie, N.B.

Hamilton Flying Club: Allan Chester Hull, D.L.G. Jones, Georges Roy

Ft. William Flying Club: Fumerton

Marshall was commissioned as a provisional pilot officer on graduation from the Royal Military College in October 1939.

Intermediate Flying Training Course 4A

Front row L to R: M.D. McLean, Montreal; (C/1495) James Murray Stroud - DFC 159 Sqn., Hamilton; H.J. Martin. Toronto; (C/1346) M.E. Grant, Ottawa; +(C/1462) Desmond William Farrell - 407 Sqn., Montreal; (C/1160) Joseph Jean Marie Viau DFC - No. 5 (BR) Sqn. FI 11 SF; Douglas Barnett Wurtele - 412 Sqn.; Joseph Albert Hector Gilles de Niverville, Ottawa; J.H. Cochrane, Toronto; +(C1361) Hugh MacKay Rae, West Branch, N.S.; (C1350) Reginald Bruce Fraser - DFC 114 Sqn., Shawinigan Falls, Que.; +(C/1492) Bryan Noble George Sparks - DSO 356 Sqn., Windsor, Ont.

Middle row L to R: +(C1370) James Russell Courtney Tyre - 401 Sqn., Westmount; (C/1491) Clive Baldwin Sinton - DFC 432 Sqn.; Arthur R. Booth, Fordhouse, England; N.C. Brown, St. John, N.B.; +(C1457) Ernest Edward 'Ernie' Creed, Riverside, Ont.; Athol McLean (Mac) Carr-Harris, London; J.N. Spencer, Moncton; +(C/1482) Ian George Armour McNaughton - 61 Sqn.; T.S. Bartlett, Toronto; C.F.B. Stevens, Westmount; C.E. Gray, Toronto; Max L. Stephen, Moncton; J.K. Sully, Westmount, Que.; Gordon Johnson Kinley, Halifax

Back row L to R: (R/67973) Edwin Hugh Alcorn, K.E. Brown, Halifax; (C/1473) David Ritter Jacox (AFC); N.S. Edgar, Regina; D.J. Cleland - 433 Sqn., Troy, Ont.; R.M. Donaldson, Ottawa; +(C/1344) Gordon Scowcroft Beall - 420 Sqn., Montreal; (C/1467) Ralph Alan Gordon - DSO, DFC 436 Sqn.; Richard H.C. Jeffrey, London; Jack T. Arnold, St. Thomas; William D.P. Jarvis, Toronto; +(C/1668) Donald Bissell Gardiner, Lyn, Ont.; +(C/1322) Victor Yelverton Haines - 429 Sqn., Halifax; (C/972) Wilson Marshall Iverson - 430 Sqn.

Missing: (C1159) William Charles 'Bud' Connell - 32/1/126/249/135/133/401 Sqns., Nipawin, Sask.

Posted in from:

Ottawa Flying Club. Commenced elementary flying training at Uplands Airport, January 18, 1940 as provisional pilot officers (P.P.O.). Included in the group was (C/1530) Michael McPharlin, the first American to be appointed P.P.O. McPharlin washed out at Camp Borden and joined the RAF - No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron.

London Flying Club: Jack Arnold, Richard Jeffrey, Ralph Gordon, Bryan Sparks and McLean Carr-Harris

Kitchener Flying Club: Jack Connell, Jim Martin, William Jarvis, Arthur Booth and Harry Sims

Brantford Flying Club: Murray Stroud, Don and Jerry Phelan, Malcolm Turner (RMC), Harry Harrison (RMC)

Windsor Flying Club: Desmond Farrell, Ernie Creed, James Kennedy, Thomas Willis, Archie James

Hamilton Flying Club: Max Stephen, John McColl, (C/1036) Edward Gerard Gilmore - DFC 408 Sqn.; Hull, Jones, George Roy, Albert Rowland, Max Stephen, E.G. Gilmore

St. Thomas Flying Club: C.E. Gray and A.S. McNeil, RCMP aviation division

Kingston: V.C. Stuart, C.J. Fallis, Bill Hees, John McFarland, K.L. Morham

Vancouver Aero Club: Connell

Flight Lieutenant Donald Bissell Gardiner was later killed in a flying accident, February 20, 1942, while serving at Camp Borden. He was piloting Harvard 3173 when it crashed near R1 Edenvale.

April 19 - June 24, 1940

The wings were presented by Wing Commander Frank McGill who, after the wings presentation, turned over command of the school to Group Captain Arthur T.N. Cowley. McGill proceeded to Ottawa to organize No. 2 Service Flying Training School.

Cowley addressed the graduates: "Our job is simple. We must turn out an ever increasing number of pilots at top speed. But that quality which made Canadians aces in the last war must not, and will not, suffer."

Wing Commander McGill, his voice trembling with emotion bade the men farewell after the presentation.

"Go forward and carry on the traditions created by Canadians in the last war, by men like Barker, Ball and Bishop. I know you will not only live up to those traditions, but will reach, some of you, even greater heights. Your wings represent a high standard of flying, and a high standard of attainment. Respect them always. "

Provisional pilot officers completed 50 hours flying training at Windsor, Ontario before being posted to Trenton for intermediate training. Another six weeks of flying training and two weeks of bombing and gunnery school are necessary before their course of instruction is complete. They will then have 150 hours of day and night flying.

Co. 5 Intermediate Training: May 20 - July 13. Advanced Training July 15 - Sept. 7, 1940

Qualified to wear Pilot's Flying Badge effective July 13, 1940.

Wings parade August 6, 1940

Group Captain A.T.N. Cowley, officer commanding the station presented wings to thirty-five graduates. The ceremony took place just south of the control tower.

+(C/1448) Charles Arthur (Brun) Brennan - 544 Sqn. Malta, Summerside, P.E.I.; (C/1449) Calvin David Bricker (DFC); +(C/1450) Ian McDonnell Sutherland Brown - KIFA 3 SFTS Calgary, Victoria, B.C.; (C/1451) Douglas Jack Brooker - AFC, (C/1456) Jack M. Connell - PoW 418 Sqn., Toronto; (C/1459) Robert William Rouviere Day - 81/402/412/416/421 Sqns., DFC 67 Sqn., Vancouver, B.C.; (C/1463) J.R. Farquharson, Vancouver; +(C/1468) MacLeod (William) Hees, Toronto (Co. 5); (C/1469) Rosario Jean Claude Hebert - DFC 425 Sqn., Magog, Quebec; (C/1476) James Lawrence Kennedy - Ev 24 OTU, Ft. William; (C1483) Joseph Ulric Achille Michaud - AFC, Montreal; +(C/1485) Donegan Frederick Phelan - KIFA 2 SFTS, Toronto; (C/1490) Owen Anthony Haig 'Harry' Sims - AFC, Toronto; (C/1496) Kenneth Gordon Southam - AFC, Toronto; +(C/1499) Errol Hilliard Treleaven, Haywood, Manitoba

(C/1559) Clarence Archibald 'Archie' James - AFC 14 SFTS, London, Ont.

(C/1605) Robert Boutilier (Joe) Edwards - 137 Sqn. Burma, Glace Bay, N.S.; (C/1619) Hubert Hamish Gilchrist, Toronto/Glasgow, Scotland; +(C/1623 - comm. Jan. 29, 40) Flying Officer Frank Edward 'Bitsy' Grant - 401/416/403 Sqns., Brockville; +(C/1624) James Dickie Hall - 402/421/443 Sqns., Toronto; (C/1625) Eric Colquhoun Hamber (DFC), +(C/1629) David Sinclair Jacobs - DFC 420/408 Sqns., Toronto; +(C/1635) Alexander Campbell Mair (FI 5 SF) - DFC, (C/1639) Campbell Haliburton Mussells - DSO, DFC

Walter Southard Quint, Kent Larue Morham - 400 Sqn., St. Lambert; R.D. Forbes-Robertson, Regina; B.W.C. Pearson, Brockville; J.E. Morgan, Calgary; R.E. Reynolds, Ottawa; John L. McFarland, Toronto; V.C. Stuart, Ottawa; W.N. MacKinnon, Moncton; Jean E. Bisson, Hull; John Morrow Godfrey - 412/414 Sqns., Pt. Credit

Posted in from

EFTS at Uplands operated by the Ottawa Flying Club: Hall

Kitchener Flying Club: Jack Connell, Harry Sims

Windsor Flying Club: James Kennedy, Archie James

Winnipeg Flying Club: Jacobs

Kingston Flying Club: V.C. Stuart, William Hees, John McFarland, Kent Morham

Hamilton Aero Club (Jan. 29-Apr. 21, 40): Grant, Gilchrist

Ceased training: (C1530) Michael G.H. McPharlin

Wings August 19 - Graduated September 6, 1940

Last graduating class of officers in the RCAF

Course 6 Intermediate Training: June 17 - August 13, 1940

Course 6 Advanced Training: August 12 - October 5, 1940 40 graduates

The parade was called to attention and a short silence was observed when the name of (C1367) Pilot Officer Maxwell Lloyd Stephen of Moncton, N.B., was called. This member of the class died in an airplane crash September 2, 1940 after having qualified to receive his wings. The wings ceremony took place in a hollow square formed by comrade units of airmen on three sides, and more than 2,000 relatives and friends on the other. The event was held on the tarmac in front of the control tower.

Group Captain Arthur Thomas Noel Cowley, addressing the graduates, reminded them they were the sixth and last class to come in as pilot officers for training. From now on, all pupil pilots will come into the service as aircraftmen under the joint air training plan, formerly known as the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

"We knew you would be the last class, and so you were hand picked," Captain Cowley said. "You are our choice, and anything you do will reflect to the credit or otherwise of the Royal Canadian Air Force."

Graduates included

(C1445) Eric Alexander Bland - 402 Sqn. Dieppe AFC; (C1453) Jackson Ross Bryan - PoW 434 Sqn., Toronto; (C/1461) J.P.C.R. Fallis, Toronto; (C1471) George Robinson Myers Hunt; (C1489) Charles Leonard Tregerthen Sawle (AFC)

+(C1611) Richard John Watts Askwith; +(C/1612) Alan Gordon Byers - 5 BR, Montreal; +(C1613) John Somerville Cardell; +(C/1614) Douglas Gordon Cameron Chown, Winnipeg; +(C1616) Edward William Ronald Fortt; (C1617) David Thomas French; (C/1618) Edward Bagley Gale - AFC, KIFA 1946, St. Cyr, Quebec; +(C1626) William Deveaux Woodruff Hilton - KIFA 54 OTU, St. Catharines; +(C/1627) William Gordon MacKenzie Hume - 403 Sqn.; (C/1628) Roy Hall Hyndman - AFC 5 SFTS, Ottawa; (C/1630) Harry Edward King - AFC, Weyburn, Sask.; +(C1631) Patrick Wilson Langford - 16 OTU PoW Stalag Luft III escaped/shot; (C/1633) Francis W. 'Fred' Macdonell, Halifax; (C1634) Donald Charles Stirling MacDonald - DFC 418 Sqn.; +(C1635) Alexander Campbell Mair; (C1637) Roy Aubrey McLernon - DFC 425 Sqn., Ev 434 Sqn.; +(C/1638) Herbert Elgin Mitchell - 89 Sqn.; (C1640) Eugene Lawrence 'Jeep' Neal; (C1646) John Thomas Reed - 422/512 Sqns., DFC 437 Sqn., Ottawa; (C1647) Richard Martin Stayner (DFC); (C1650) John Gordon 'Scruffy' Weir - PoW 401 Sqn.; +(C1651) Joseph William Weis - 408 Sqn.; (C/1653) William Blakeney Woods - DFC 400 Sqn., Toronto; +(C/1664) Joseph Logan Savard - DFC 425/429 Sqns., Quebec; (C1697) Hugh Charles 'Charlie' Trainor - DSO, DFC & Bar 402/411/401 Sqns. PoW, Charlottetown, P.E.I.; C. Chetwynd, Vancouver; N.C. Brown, Saint John; R.J. Richards, Montreal; C.W. Scully, Ottawa; J.V.S.L. Saint-Pierre, Montreal; Paul Jerome (Jerry) Phelan, Toronto; C. J. Fallis, Toronto; Donald A. Weir, Montreal; H.C. Stewart, Calgary; George? A. Tambling, London; E.D. Porter, Belleville; J.H. Ross, Edmonton; R.P. Quigley, Bartonville

William Fraser Napier - 412 Sqn., Fredericton

Brantford Flying Club: Don and Jerry Phelan

Kingston Flying Club: C.J. Fallis

Calgary Aero Club: French

Hamilton Aero Club: Mitchell, Neal, Chown

Montreal Flying Club: Gale

Halifax Flying Club: Fred Macdonell

Toronto Flying Club: Reed

Lakehead Flying Club Ft. William: Woods

Winnipeg Flying Club: Weir

September 7, 1940

Fliers with 150 hours flying experience, including recent flying, 'A1 B' medical rating, between 20 and 35 years of age and in special cases up to 40 years of age will be enlisted immediately and sent to Camp Borden to take temporary instructors' conversion courses so that they can be sent to elementary flying schools to train RCAF men to fly.

Successful applicants will be enlisted as aircraftsmen second class and will be appointed to temporary sergeants immediately. At the conclusion of their course they will be further promoted to the rank of pilot officer.

September 16, 1940

Eighteen experienced U.S. pilots, including (C5568) Harold Edward 'Whitey' Dahl of Spanish civil war fame, started courses as instructors with the RCAF, preliminary to taking posts as instructors at air training schools across Canada.

(C5550 - R/54441) Patrick Russell Wilson; (C5551) John Oliver Holder; (C5553) Dodge Harry Dean; (C5554 - R/74277) James Holmes Moore; (C5555 - R/74202) Francis Edward Dubisher; (C5557) Billie Mitchell Glover; (C5558) Walter Conrad Button; (C5560) Buddy Earl Brodsky; (C5561 - R/67736) Wallace John Hurley; (C5564) George C. Cooke; (C5565) Maurice Stanley Dillingham; (C5566) James Franklin Pierce; (C5567) Cleo Irvin Aspegren; (C5568 - R/544990) Harold Edward Dahl; (C5569) Gain; (C5570) Clayton Henry Hayes; +(C5571) Loriman Samuel Percival; (C5575 - R/66266) Robert Harrington Kanaga; (C5576 - R/67759) Robert Treece Mills

Course No. 1 A.T.P. - First BCATP Course July 22 - September 17, 1940

Col. the hon. J.L. Ralston, Minister of National Defense addressed the 45 graduates.

“The pinning of these wings means more than we realize at the moment to the history of Canada, the British Commonwealth and the world.

"This marks just the beginning of the output that is going to take place not only here but from the sixteen other service training schools across Canada.

"If money and materials come as fast and as enthusiastically as men have come, there is no doubt of the success of the Canadian war effort."

Air Commodore George Owen Johnson, member of the Air Council presented wings to the first pilot graduates under the Commonwealth air training program. Prior to the inauguration of the scheme those who were chosen to be pilots were given their commissions on entering the service.

“The pinning of wings on your breasts does not make you experienced pilots. You must resist the urge to show off. In a few minutes folly and care less you can wreck your future.

"Each of you represents some considerable expense to the people of Canada. The aircraft you handle are also valuable to the country, and you must do everything in your power to conserve Canada’s war effort.

"The law of gravity has taken its toll on some who have preceded you. The Air Council has found it necessary to indicate that lack of consideration for the public will bring drastic action.

"Low flying is not allowed and stunting for the sake of showing off publicly to your girl friends or anybody else what a fine pilot you are must not be indulged in.

"Alcohol and gasoline don't mix very well. The flying of modern aircraft needs every human capability and stimulants have a drastic effect.

"We want you to be courteous and considerate of the public every place you meet them. No matter how good a pilot you may be the public judges you by your conduct on the ground.

"Failure to comply with rules in these matters will bring drastic action and maybe imprisonment and certainly dismissal from the service in disgrace.

"Save your extra steam for Fritz later on when you go as representatives of this country with a personal message for Hitler - that it is not against England he is making war but the British Commonwealth of Nations. "

+(J/2928) Richard Fuller Patterson - top in class

+(J/2929) Robert Condie, +(J/2930) Alexander David Angus - KIFA 6 SFTS Dunnville; (J/2931) T. Burke, Regina; (J/2932) John Edward Ross Martin - DFC 10 (BR) Sqn.; +(J/2933) Walter Norman Douglas - 416 Sqn., Haileybury, Ont.; +(J/2934) Lloyd Martin Linnell - FI 3 SFTS Calgary, KIA, 434 Sqn.; (J/2935) William Gerald McElrea - AFC 168 Sqn.; +(J/2936) John Terence Joseph Davis - DFC 119 Sqn.; (J/2937) Frederick Charles Colborne - DFC 5 (BR) Sqn., Calgary; (J/2938) Alphonse Leopold De La Haye (DFC), (J/2939) Thomas Cameron Mears - DFC, Port Arthur; +(J/2968 - R50993) Cyril Hudson Carscadden; (J/2969) Donald Hadley Armstrong (AFC)

(J/12087) J.R.C. Bishop, Fort Garry, Manitoba; (J/12089) Clarence Arnold 'Glen' Rawson - AFC 10 SF, Brandon; (J/12090) John Huntington Simpson - AFC 3/15 SF, Kingston; (J/12091) Richard Harry Cousins - 162 Sqn., New Westminster, B.C.; (J/12094) Albert Alexander Proctor - AFC

+(R/56876) Gordon Fleming Ryan, Winnipeg; D.E.T. Wood, Ottawa; J.T. Reed, Ottawa; A.L. Pendergast, Norwood, Manitoba; Eldon Clifford Williams - PoW 403 Sqn., Bermuda; (R/60001) Norman Newton Lougheed, Calgary; Robert J. Mullin, +(R/56882) Alfred Emile Regimbal - KIFA 3 SFTS Calgary; Almond (Bruce) Whiteford FI 3 SF - 411 Sqn., Midnapore, Alberta; +(R56849 - J/22448) Harold Freeman - 198 Sqn., St. James, Manitoba; +(J/9862) James Handiside Thomson - 149 Sqn., Winnipeg; +(R/56908) James White McIntosh - KIFA 7 SFTS, Winnipeg; (J/10391) James Douglas Orr - DFC 403 Sqn.; J.K. Dawson, Chicoutimi, Que.; (R/53754) Norman Robert Farnham, Aroostook, New Brunswick; (R63909 - J/10953) John Edward Jarrott Hutchinson - FI 6 SF 430/421 Sqns., Toronto; +(R/50990) Thomas Archibald Barr, Edmonton; (R/61939) Daniel Francis Raymes - AFC 10 (BR) Sqn., Saskatoon; (R/52643) Kenneth A. Jones; +(R50988 - C.13458) Jack Rife Beirnes - DFC & Bar 438 Sqn., Tolfield, Alberta

Tom Barr was killed in a flying accident at Camp Borden on his 22nd birthday, October 6, 1940.

Condie and McIntosh were killed in a flying accident at No. 7 SFTS, Fort Mcleod, Alberta, April 2, 1941. Condie's wife gave birth to a son the day of the funeral.

Posted in from:

Calgary Aero Club: McElrea, Colbourne

Edmonton Flying Club (Co. 1) May 27 - July 22, 1940: Carscadden, Beirnes

Regina Flying Club: Whiteford

Vancouver Aero Club (Co. 1): Patterson

Winnipeg Flying Club (Co. 1) May 25 - July 19, 1940: Ryan, Freeman

No. 2 EFTS: Proctor

No. 8 EFTS: Cousins

July 22 - September 17, 1940

Advanced Training: Sept. 16 - November 2, 1940 37 graduates

Course 3 (A.T.P.): August 17 - October 30, 1940

Air Commodore G.E. Brookes presented pilot's flying badges to graduates and gave a short address.

"You are getting training superior to any air force in the world. We've got a big job to do and you probably want to get at it as quickly as I. It won't be done by too much talking.

When you get overseas, because of your training here you'll feel as good as the other fellow who's fighting you. Yes, I can promise you you'll be better than the other fellow."

Early in May 1940, Ken Molyneux decided to travel to Canada to enlist in the RCAF. He quit his job in Jamaica and without any money, managed to obtain a ride in a small sailboat from Jamaica to Florida. During the two-week trip, Molyneux and his fellow crew mates subsisted on shark and turtle meat.

He then travelled by land to Ottawa, Canada enlisting May 27, 1940. Two days later, his brother was killed while serving with the East Surrey Regiment at Dunkirk. Shortly after receiving his wings, Molyneux stated he would avenge his brother’s death and revenge for “what they did to my parents’ home in England.” Molyneux spent the war as a flying instructor and examining officer in Canada.

(J/3097) Mathew Willard Burris (FI 2 SF); (J/3098) Louis Billings Elwin - AFC Pt. Arthur; (J/3099) Archibald Harold Frederick McNeil - AFC, Toronto; (J/3100) Richard Carlton Stovel FI 2 SF- AFC, Winnipeg; (J/3101) George Wilson Wanless, Smiths Falls; (J/3102) Kenneth Seifferth Molyneux, (J/3103) Donald Aikins MacFadyen - DSO, DFC & Bar 418 Sqn., Toronto; (J/3104) Robert Douglas Watt, Vancouver; (J/3105) John Francis Leeper - DFC 160 Sqn.; (J/3106) George Riley Youngs - AFC FI 12 SFTS, (J/3107) Howard Everett Smith AFC 9 SF, Winnipeg; (J/3108) John Gavin Showler - AFC FI 9 SF; +(J/3109) Charles Gillard - KIFA No. 8 SFTS Moncton, Vancouver

Jack Bertram Gould of Swansea, whose twin brother, George, also is in the Air Training Plan and hoping to get wings later on.

Toronto boys in the group are +(J/10954) Allan Blake Fyfe - (FI 5 SF) 405 Sqn.; +(J/10828) Paul Treneman Sargent - 422 Sqn.; +(R63999 - J10826) Clifford Donald Cross - 415/407/411 Sqns. (PTSD); (R/65643 - J/9849) Howard Alvar Lewis Simpson - 19/402 Sqns., DFC 613 Sqn.; +(R/63995) George Delos Pomeroy - KIFA 6 SFTS; and W. K. Cairns, Weston.

Among the Saskatchewan boys were (J/24433) Norman Fenton Brown - DFC 428 Sqn., Qu'Appelle ; Evans Ferrell Ashdown, Lucky Lake; J. Wilson, Rutherford : North Battleford ; (R/62019) Harold Ernest Whidden - AFM FI 7 SFTS, Beechy; Matthew Willard Burns, Broadview ; Alex James Fraser - 416 Sqn., Assiniboia and Henry Edward (Harry) Duggleby - 422 Sqn., Saskatoon.

British Columbia was represented by Gerald R. J. Stoney, Victoria ; +(R57835 - J10951) Alexander Gray Orr - (FI 10 SF E Flt.) 684 Sqn., Vancouver ; Robert D. Watt, Vancouver; +(J/3109) Charles Gillard - KIFA No. 8 SFTS Moncton, Vancouver; +(J/9876) Peter Wilson - 438 Sqn., Vancouver, and (R/57851) Chester Franklin Rideout - DFC 272 Sqn., Chilliwack.

Among Ontario men were William Arthur Taylor, Sudbury ; John Richard Slater, Hamilton ; (J/10364) Donald George Laidler, Hamilton

Winnipeg had five representatives: Albert Alexander Proctor - AFC; +(R/58826) Arthur John Morris - AFM 402 Sqn., Douglas E. Trott - 442 Sqn.

Posted in from:

No. 1 EFTS Malton (Co. 2): Brown, Cross, Orr

No. 2 EFTS Ft. William: Simpson, Proctor

Course 5: September 15 - November 21, 1940

Group Captain R.S. Grandy presented wings and addressed the 42 graduates.

+(J/3253) Reg White - 418 Sqn., Noranda; +(J/3254) Douglas Byrd Van Buskirk - 7 Sqn.; (J/3255 - R/62017) E.J. Magwood, Imperial, Sask.; +(J/3257) Vernon Foster Patterson - 412 Sqn. Dieppe - KIA 411 Sqn., Moose Jaw; (J/3258) Ian Anderson March - DFC 410 Sqn.; +(J/3259) Edward Blake (Eddie) Thompson, Toronto; +(J/3260) James Harold Baird, Winnipeg; (J/3261) A.L. Hutchinson, Regina; (J/3262) E.L. McCarthy, Moncton

(J/10430) Gerald Pringle Johnson - 111/132 Sqns., Moncton; (J/10431 - R/53945) Gerald (Ged) Marmaduke Winter; (J/10433 - R/62087) G.C. Ennis, Biggar, Sask.; Robert Kitchener Hayward (DSO, DFC), Newfoundland; R.P. Opie, Victoria; E.C. Cox, Montreal; Gordon Wonnacott, (R/53744) L.W. Humphrey, Sarnia; +(R/60714) William James Philip Gosling, Edmonton; (R52896 - J12686) Donald Vicars Wright - 11/132/440 Sqns., Trenton; R.D. Miller, Regina; +(R/53927) Theodore Scribner (Ted) Bates, Guelph; Jake Robert Woolgar, Edmonton; Drummond Chapman, Vancouver; Alex Wilson, London; Ronald Sydney Cox, Winnipeg; (R/61452) R.L. Christison, Regina; James Preston - 403 Sqn., St. Catharines; Stanley P. Coolican, Regina; R. Young, Peterborough; (J/11761 - R/59104) Arthur Burtis McKiel - AFC, Winnipeg; B. Vaughan Player, Ottawa; J. McDiarmid, Winnipeg; Andrew Wesley Lockhart (AFC, DFC), Moncton; (J/11462) Thomas Charles Cooke - DFC 162 Sqn. U-boat attack, AFC, Dauphin, MB; H.R. Morris, Regina

Posted in from:

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 2): March, Cooke

No. 9 EFTS St. Catharines: Winter

Moose Jaw Flying Club (Co. 3): Van Buskirk

December 12, 1940

During the afternoon, prior to the scheduled evening wings parade, (R/57934) Leading Aircraftman Clayton Peder Hopton, of Cabri, Saskatchewan failed to return from a formation flight exercise after encountering bad weather. Nomad 3505 crashed into Lake Muskoka.

Two Camp Borden planes sent out to search for Hopton failed to return resulting in the deaths of +(R/53927) LAC Theodore Scribner Bates, Guelph, (39219) F/L Peter Campbell in Nomad 3521. (580278) Sergeant Leonard Francis, Glamorgan, Wales and (R/60714) LAC William James Phillip Gosling, Edmonton in Nomad 3512.

Course 5: November 4 - December 31, 1940

Intermediate Training: 16 September - 14 November 1940 Advanced Training 4 November - December 31, 1940

Previously wings ceremony was held in the morning, but under new regulations no training time was to be lost, and future presentations were made in the evening.

Group Captain Roy S. Grandy presented wings and addressed the graduates. He described Clayton Hopton as a "steady young man and a good pilot."

(J/3251) L.O. Warner; +(J/3252 - R/64275) Walter Bruce Beat; +(J/3253) Reg White - 418 Sqn., Noranda; +(J/3254 - R/54975) Douglas Byrd Van Buskirk; (J/3255) E.J. Magwood; +(J/3257) Vernon Foster Patterson - 412 Sqn., Moose Jaw;(J/3258) Ian Anderson March - DFC 410 Sqn., St. John's, Newfoundland; +(J/3259 - R/65789) Edward Blake Thompson, Toronto; +(J/3260) James Harold Baird, Winnipeg; (J/3261) A.L. Hutchinson, Regina; (J/3262) E.L. McCarthy, Moncton; (J/3263) R.D. Miller, Regina

+(J/3512) Herbert Peter Peters - 414 Sqn. Dieppe DFC, KIA 1943, Edmonton; (J/3515) John Arthur Amos - 414 Sqn. Dieppe; +(J/3519) Joseph Jean Paul Sabourin - DFC 145 Sqn., St. Isidore de Prescott, Ontario

(J/10432) Maurice John Belanger - DFC 113 Sqn, Bar 425 Sqn., Vancouver (4 SF?); E.J. Elward, Toronto, +William Gordon Walker, Toronto; (R/65720 - J/11465) Edward Lawrence Archer - POW 216/14 Sqns., Toronto; Gordon Wonnacott - 414 Sqn., Edmonton; R.P. Opie, Victoria; E.C. Cox, Montreal; L.W. Humphrey, Sarnia; +William James Philip Gosling, Edmonton; D.V. Wright, Trenton; +Theodore Scribner Bates, Guelph; Jake Robert Woolgar, Edmonton; +(R/57927) Drummond Edward Chapman - 23 Sqn., Vancouver; Alex Wilson, London; Ronald Sydney Cox, Winnipeg; R. Christison, Regina; James Preston - 403 Sqn., St. Catharines; (J/26967) Stanley P. Coolican, Regina; Robert Young, Peterborough; E.J. Magwood, Aurthur Burtis McKiel - AFC, Winnipeg; B.Vaughan Player, Ottawa; J. McDiarmid, Winnipeg; G.F. Johnson, Moncton; Andrew Wesley Lockhart (AFC, DFC), Moncton; G.C. Ennis, Biggar, Sask.; Thomas Charles Cooke - DFC 162 Sqn. U-boat attack, AFC), Dauphin, MB; H.R. Morris, Regina

Newfoundland: Ian Anderson March, (J/10431) Gerald (Ged) Marmaduke Winter and Robert Kitchener Hayward - DSO, DFC

RAF: Michael Lloyd O'Grady Warner, London, Eng.

Posted in from:

No. 1 EFTS Malton: Sabourin

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co.2): March, Cooke

No. 5 EFTS

No. 8 EFTS: Belanger

Brant-Norfolk Aero Club Brantford (Co.2) 22 July - 16 September 1940: Chapman, Bates, Archer, Young, White.

Opie and Cox were navigation officers prior to taking a refresher course at Camp Borden. Opie became Chief Supervisor Officer at No. 2 A.O.S., Edmonton. Cox became chief navigation officer at No. 6 SFTS Dunnville

Course 7 A.T.P

Intermediate Training: October 7 - November 29, 1940

Advanced Training: Nov. 29, 1940 - January 16, 1941

The graduating class was drawn up across the floor of the drill hall for the ceremony and the men and officers of three squadrons of ground men formed the other three sides of a square. They were called to attention by Brigadier-General G. Eric McCuaig, C.M.G., D.S.O., accompanied by Group Captain Grandy, officer commanding, and Flying Officer William Sutherland, station adjutant.

Brigadier General McCuaig addressed the 43 graduates.

“I esteem it a great honor to be asked to take part in this
ceremony. I represent the army and while you have not had much contact with the army so far, in your future work you will be in contact with them often.

"You young men are fortunate in being members of a service which has gained such great prestige during this war. During your training here you have done exceptionally well despite the handicaps encountered, and I ask you, carry on the principles instilled into you here.

"I ask you to bear in mind what you have been taught here. If you do, you will be a credit to the service and the insignia which I will soon pin upon each one of you. Never give any cause to make your branch of the service ashamed of you – make it proud of you.”

Then each graduates name was called, he stepped forward to
the table, over which the RCAF flag was draped, saluted smartly and had his wings pinned on.

Then following a handshake from Brigadier-General McCuaig, and exchange of salutes and the proud wearer of the wing stepped back into line and his place was taken by the next man.

Following the ceremony the graduating class adjourned to the mess hall for a dinner at which they were accompanied by
a number of officers and friends.

(J/3506 - R/64227) John Hutton Stevenson, Calgary; (J/3507) Charles Oberlin Fidler, Reading, England; +(J/3508) Phillip Leslie Irving Archer - 416 Sqn. Dieppe DFC, Barbados; +(J/3509) John Joseph McCloskey; (J/3510) Frederick Edsall 'Knobby' Clarke - 400 Sqn. Dieppe 414 Sqn., Calgary; +(J/3511) George Charles Henry Jackson - 400 Sqn.; +(J/3512) Herbert Peter Peters – DFC 414 Sqn.; +(J/3513) Thomas Henry Perley-Martin - KIFA No. 1 B&GS Jarvis, Vancouver; (J/3514) Theodore Ross Kipp, Winnipeg; (J/3515) Jack Arthur Amos - 414 Sqn., Prince Albert, Sask.; (J/3516) Gordon Williard Thompson; +(J/3517) John Felix McGrath - 400 Sqn., North Battleford; (J/3518) Patrick Maurice Michael Maloney, Gravelbourg, Sask.; +(J/3519) Joseph Jean Paul Sabourin - DFC 145 Sqn., 112 Sqn.; +(J/3520) Clifford Leonard Horncastle - 414 Sqn. Dieppe, KIFA Nov. 3, 42

+(R/60109) Robert McGarvey Taylor - 66 Sqn., Calgary; Gordon Wilgar Thompson, Vancouver; Robert Alfred Vincent, Montreal; +(R/61467) Alvin Wilbert Reimer - 138 Sqn., Fort Qu’Appele; John Davis Ballard Martin, Picton; Robert Harold Boettger, Saskatoon; Henry Alexander Taylor, Campbellton, N.B.; (J/15250) Wier Clayton Klassen - DFC & Bar 424 Sqn., Lilac, Sask.; (J/15088) Geoffrey Wilson Northcott - DSO, DFC & Bar 401/603/229/402/416 Sqns., Minnedosa, Man.; +(R/61465) Guy Alexander Chestnut - 609 Sqn., Moosomin, Sask.; +(R/52876) William Thomas Ross Stephenson – 104 Sqn., Omemee, Ont.; +(J/15785) Arthur Benson Summers, Yorkton; William Henry Doerr, Delormaine, Man.; Donald Cameron Keith, Waterville, N.S.; +(R/61455) Stanley Lewis Thompson - 401 Sqn., Davidson, Sask.; (R/61468) Kenneth Nixon Laing - POW 609 Sqn., Weyburn; +(J/17745) Harry Vern Boyle - 403 Sqn., Saskatoon; +Earl Wallace Mason, Bradley Smith; John Ross Robertson, Iroquois, Ont.; Leon Xisle Sabourin, (R/65084/J16106) Donald Joseph O'Driscoll - 10 Sqn., St. Johns, Newfoundland; +(R/59119) Thomas Edwards Parker - 142 Sqn., +(R/60669) Gordon Charles Waldern - 92 Sqn., Ponoka, Alberta m b. MN; (J/15527) Laurie Evan Philpotts - DFC 683 Sqn. - 69 Sqn. Malta, St. John, N.B.; (J/15064 - R/60717) Robert Douglas Bowen - DFC 616/403 Sqns., Edmonton and +(R/50721 - J/15339) Lloyd Woodrow Powell - DFC 412 Sqn. - shot down by 414 Sqn. Mustang, Edmonton; +(R/60669) Gordon Charles Waldern - 92 Sqn., Ponoka, Alberta; (R/60724) Bruce Franklin Whitson - POW 401 Sqn., Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.; and +(R/60117) Ronald Harold Gridley - 411 Sqn., Scollard, Alberta; +(J/15776) Alexander Macdonald Morrison - 135 Sqn. +(C/1641) Dallas William Owen - 145 Sqn., Union, Ont.;

Posted in from

No. 5 EFTS Edmonton (Co.3): Powell, Waldern

No. 6 EFTS: Archer, Mason, Philpotts, Boettger, Klassen, Fidler, Whitson, Parker, Vincent, Doerr, Boyle, McGrath, Summers, Sabourin, Chestnut

Course 11 A.T.P. : Nov. 15, 1940 - January 24, 1941

47 Graduates

Front row L to R: 1. (J/3709) Paul Adair Gilbertson, Simcoe,
Ont. 2. +(J/15776) Alexander Macdonald 'Sandy' Morrison - 135 Sqn. India, Montreal 3. +(R/69533) Eric (Keith) Tomlinson - 403/416 Sqns., KIA 260 Sqn. DAF Oct. 16, 1942, East York 4. +(R/64723) Maynard (Miller) Waite – KIFA 616 Sqn., Kensington, P.E.I. 5. Brossmer (CT) 6. D.P. Sanfacon 7. M.B. Stiebel 8. P.G. Rogers 9. (J/3707) Sid A. Graham, London, Ont. 10. Jean-Claude Bourbonnais – 402 Sqn. 11. O.L. Hamel 12. (R/54030) Paul Emile Morin - DFM 76 Sqn. 13. J. McLeod 14. V.E. Mitchell

Center row L to R: 1. J. Owen 2. +(J/3706) Wellington James Loney - 51 Sqn., Cornwall, Ont. 3. R.P. McLellan 4. +(J/3708) Thomas Keith Coupland - 401 Sqn., Yorkton, Sask. 5. (R/54068) Allan Wilson Morris (CT) - DFM 50 Sqn., Merrickville, Ont.

(J/3701) Hugh Constant Godefroy (DSO, DFC & Bar), (J/3702) Alvin Ernest Harley - 401/135 Sqns., London, Ont.; +(J/3703) William Wallace Murray - 416 Sqn., Woodstock, Ont.; (J/3704) John Graham Torney - 402 Sqn., +(J/3705) Peter Robert Ian Pine; +(J/3706) Wellington James Loney - 51 Sqn., Cornwall, Ont.; (J/3707) Amos Sydney 'Syd' Graham - 402 Sqn., London, Ont.; +(J/3708) Thomas Keith Coupland - 401 Sqn., Yorkton, Sask.; (J/3709) Paul Adair Gilbertson, Simcoe, Ont.; (J/3710) Donald Charles Dougall - DFC 92 Sqn

+(J/15145) Joseph Laurier DeHoux - DFC 137 Sqn., Toronto; (R/56148) William Corbett Van Exan - DFC 57 Sqn., Smiths Falls, Ont.; (R/54030) Paul Emile Morin - DFM 76 Sqn.; +(R/69533) Eric (Keith) Tomlinson - 403/416 Sqns., KIA 260 Sqn. DAF Oct. 16, 1942, East York; (J/15044) William Lawrence 'Red' Chisholm - DFC & Bar 92 Sqn. DAF, Kentville, N.S.; +(R/52883) Warrington Wade Tripp - 10 Sqn., Ottawa; George Evans, Montreal; (R/54068) Allan Wilson Morris (CT) - DFM 50 Sqn., Merrickville, Ont.; +(J/15776) Alexander Macdonald 'Sandy' Morrison - 135 Sqn. India, Montreal; Ross R. McLellan, Toronto; +(R/64323) Sydney Stephen Lang - KIFA 17 OTU

Posted in from

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 5): DeHoux, Tripp, Lang, Chisholm

No. 7 EFTS Windsor (Co. 4): Godefroy, Harley, Graham, Coupland, Gilbertson, Morris, Murray, Morrison, Morin; McLellan, Tomlinson

R.V. Brossmer, B.B. McFarland, W.A. Morris and O.L. Hamel failed to reach a satisfactory standard of flying ability.

Course 14 A.T.P.: November 26, 1940 - February 11, 1941

The presentation was made by Squadron Leader W. E. Kennedy, acting Officer Commanding of the station, in the presence of a large number of other men of the station, and friends.

"You have reached the culmination of all your months of work, and Canada and her sister Dominion, Australia, are proud of you. I don't have to advise you to carry on as you have in the past. You have that idea instilled into you already. You have set a great record already and I am sure that you will maintain and add further luster to it. Those of us who are left behind will be with you in spirit and we wish you the best of luck."

33 RAAF graduates

13 RCAF Graduates: +(J/4774) Thomas Lloyd Bennett, (J/4778) Leslie Allan Broad, Belleville; (J/4788) Peter Stratharn Leggat (DFC); +(J/4790 - R/66099) Orval Benjamin Hughes - 109 Sqn. ECM det. DAF, Niagara Falls, NY

(R/56249) Dexter Clarence Schnebly, +(R/56124) Robert Vincent Brossmer, +(R/62744) Donald Ward Bennett - 149 Sqn., Lennoxville, Que.; Donald Alexander Fraser - 172 Sqn., Toronto; +(R/68551) William James Archibald - 603 Sqn., Oakville; +(J/15032) William Howard Davidson - 114 Sqn., Preston; (J/15224 - R/59543) Henry Gordon Gosman - DFC 103/405 Sqns., Portage La Prairie; +(R/54174) Stanley John Kozlowski - 103/37 Sqns.; +(J/11481) David William Armstrong Harling DFC - 416 Sqn.; and T. R. Watt, Prince Albert, Sask, (R/59363) W.J. Haslam PoW – 77 Sqn. grad Nov. 18, 1940?

Posted in from

No. 6 EFTS Prince Albert, Sask. (Co. 7): Koslowski; Hughes

(3rd Draft) Embarked Sydney for Canada October 31, 1940. Upon graduation sailed on the Chrysalis to England.

First Row: +(400141) Keith Kipling Cox - 452/72 Sqns.; (402255) Arthur James Sheerin; +(400145) Lloyd George Horsfall - 253 Sqn.; +(400150) John Milburn Mayall; (402150) Keith Bruce Chisholm - 452 Sqn. MC, DFM; +(402178) Norman Walter Ross Wood - 247 Sqn.; +(400146) Robert Arthur Knappett - 238 Sqn.; (400147) Howard Charles Lester - 605/185 Sqns. Malta; +(404189) John Leahy Tully - 1 PRU; (404103) Richard Tweedy 'Dick' Holt - 452/75 Sqns.; (402177) William Allan Wilson

Middle Row: (402152) John Charles Murray Curtis; E. G. Hughes; (402157) John Rodney Henry Elphick - 111/452/76 Sqns.; +(400163) Clive Newton Wawn - DFC, 11/92/452 Sqns. (2 e/a/ destr.); +(402191) John Worrall Roche - 254 Sqn.; (402175) Richard Selkirk Waddy; (402160) Robert Alexander Gray; +(400156) Claude Murray Ross; +(400157) John Robertson Ross - 457/452 Sqns.; +(402165) Bruce Johnston McLelland - 213 Sqn. DAF; +(400152) Kenric Newton Lathrop Murray - 249 Sqn. Malta; D. W. McCormick; +(400158) Percival Martin Sloan - 57 OTU; (408022) Justin Hilary O'Byrne PoW

Back row: +(402139) Raymond Shaw; +William Jeffrey Metherall; +Keith William ‘Bluey’ Truscott (DFC & Bar, MID); A. P. Stephenson; +(400135) Eric Henry Schrader ; +(402232) William Davies Eccleton; (400142) Edward Anzac Dupleix (DFC); +(400166) William Douglas Willis; +(400148) Donald Edwin Lewis; +(402256) Mark Ernest Sheldon; +(402151) James Archer Cormack; (402196?) W.L.F. Anderson; G. B. Chapman; +(407110) Colin Tolhurst Arthur

(400156) Leading Aircraftman Claude Murray Ross of Melbourne and (407110) Leading Aircraftman Colin Tolhurst Arthur of Mount Gampier, were killed in a flying accident February 4, 1941

Sergeant Keith Bruce Chisholm (M.C., D.F.M.) - Course 14

Photo: Camp Borden graduates 400213 Squadron Leader K. W. 'Bluey' Truscott DFC (left) and 402150 Sergeant Keith Bruce Chisholm (centre) of No. 452 (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF at an RAF station, with the Squadron Intelligence Officer. (AWM) Chisholm's D.F.M. Citation: “Sergeant Chisholm joined the squadron in May, 1941, after a period of training in Australia and Canada. He has participated in 29 operational sorties against the enemy and throughout he has shown a fine fighting spirit. Sergeant Chisholm has destroyed 6 Messerschmitt 109’s." Military Cross Citation: “This officer’s aircraft was shot down in October, 1941, and he was forced to abandon it by parachute when off the coast of France. He was picked up by a German rescue launch and removed to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. Almost immediately he began to make plans to escape and his first actual escape took place 7 months after his capture. Pilot Officer Chisholm, in company with two other prisoners of war, made their way to Brno in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Holland, Belgium and France. During the latter part of his travels he made contact with various underground movements and eventually joined the F.F.I. and fought with them against the Germans, in the streets of Paris until the arrival of the Allied Army. Throughout his experience Pilot Officer Chisholm showed the greatest ingenuity and outstanding courage and determination. His dogged persistence and careful planning were of the highest order.”

Course 14

February 1942 - Pilots of No. 452 (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF based at an RAF Station in Redhill, England. L to R: 402157 Pilot Officer (PO) John Rodney Henry Elphick; 403463 Flying Officer Robert Armstrong; 400213 Squadron Leader Keith William Truscott DFC (died 28 March 1943 in Western Australia); 402256 PO Mark Ernest Sheldon (died 11 August 1942 on operations over New Guinea); 402260 Flight Lieutenant Raymond Harold Charles Sly (died 9 May 1942 on operations in Malta); 404724 PO Davidson Freeman Evans.

Course 16: December 22, 1940 - March 17, 1941

48 graduates

Wings parade was held in the Drill Hall at 1800 hours. Group Captain Roy Stanley Grandy addressed the graduates after which Squadron Leader Douglas Alexander Ransome Bradshaw presented wings.

15 RCAF graduates

(J/4548) Wilmot O. Reeves, Brantford; +(J/4550 - R/71557) Ralph Edward Naylor - FI 2 SF, 418 Sqn., Bird's Hill, Manitoba; (J/4551) Donald James Mathew Blakeslee - DFC 411/401/133 Sqns.; +(J/4552 - R/68570) Clifford Arthur Walker 418 Sqn., Ft. William, Ont,; +(J/4553 - R/65217) Henry Ryerson Smith - 108 Sqn., Truro, N.S.; C. G. Russell of Toronto, Wilmot O. Reeves, Brantford

Sergeants: (R/59905) Howard Lee Nelson, Howard W. Russell - 430 Sqn.?, Toronto; (J/14309) H.K. Mann, Trenton; +(J/15606 - R/64870) Charles Benn Ramsay - 411/129/249 Sqn. Malta, Newcastle, N.B.; George Donald Williamson, St. John, N.B.; Creighton Ivan Nutbrown - 30 Sqn.; +(J/15075 - R/71543) John William Sills - 411 Sqn. March 24, 42, Toronto; +(J/13470 - R/71582) Donald Mackenzie Arnott - FI 11 SF, DFC 427 Sqn.; M.W. 'Dick' Rowley - FI 11 SF, London

29 RAAF Graduates

Pilot Officers: +(402260) Raymond Harold Charles Sly - 452/457/185 Sqn.,Malta; +(402269) Brian Albert Willis, (402390) John Noel Ollivier (DFC), H. J. Jones, Sydney and +(402362) William Joseph Kennedy, (406092) Hartley Vivian Shearn - 457/77 Sqns.; (400142) Edward Anzac Dupleix (DFC), M. G. Baker, Melbourne; +(400222) Joseph Wesley Greening

Sergeants: +(402429) Lindsay Ross Williams, (402267) Philip Herbert Watson - DFC 457 Sqn., Melbourne; +(402262) Roy Gordon Spencer, (402220) William Aubrey Brew, +(402292) George Frederick Inkster, (400220) Fraser 'Jum' Falkiner, +(402294) John Graham 'Jack' Merrett - 72 Sqn., Sydney; (402231) Jack Donald (PoW), +(400268) Edwin Ray Bassett, +(400227) Edgar Purton Jackson, (400219) Alan Lindsay Bull, +(404270) Peter Collin Voller; John Rutherford, N.S.W.; (404320) Wilfred Michael Blyth Burvill, Queensland; +(400264) Kenneth Victor Williams, (402218) Ronald Hereford Bevan, John E. L. Clarke, Rabaul, New Guinea; (402270) William Henry Wright - 457 Sqn., Samarai, Papua, New Guinea; (404272) William Jefferson 'Jeff' Wilkinson - DFC 452/75/79 Sqns., Murwillumbah, N.S.W.; J.R. Christensen

The RAAF draft departed Sydney November 29, 1940. Disembarked Vancouver December 23, 1940.

RAAF grad George Inkster, of Sydney, said going to Canada "was like going to see a step-sister" and coming to Britain was like "coming home to grandmother". Flight Sergeant Inkster was killed in New Guinea during air operations with No. 76 Squadron, August 11, 1942.

February 4, 1941: (400156) LAC Claude Murray Ross of Elwood, Victoria and (407110) LAC Colin Tolhurst Arthur of Mount Gambier, South Australia killed when their Harvard crashed into the Nottawasaga River.

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No. 14 EFTS Portage la Prairie (Co. 10) 32 graduates: Naylor, Blakeslee, Walker, Ramsay, Sills, Arnot, Smith

(Photo: Jack Donald receiving his "wings" from Group Captain Grandy at Camp Borden, March 17, 1941)

I cheered when war was declared because I was getting paid to fly instead of having to pay to fly. And in my mind then there was no question of patriotism or anything like that, it was just a matter of getting free flying.

I was keen to fly and that was a way to get there. And at that particular time I thought it would be a good idea to get in early and get the experience up, and all the rest of it but it didn't turn out that way.

We were out at Mascot at mid-summer in September - October - November, '40. On our way (to Canada - embarked at Sydney November 29, 1940 - No. 4 Empire Air Training Scheme RAAF Contingent) we went into Suva. We experienced what kava was.

I remember I was romantically inclined in those days and we went to Hawaii. America wasn't in the war then and some of us jumped in and swam ashore but we were promptly picked up by the MPs, the American MPs, and brought back on board boat. They brought the hula girls on board the ship, the old Oranje, and that was just a part of adventure.

We got in towards Canada and we were asked then to what we were suited to be - a fighter pilot or a single-engine fighter pilot, a twin-engine, so forth.

We went from mid-summer to mid-winter in Canada. I'd never seen snow before. In those days they wanted fighter pilots, and we went on to the middle of Canada where the single-engine trainees were in the service training units.

They did ask us what we would prefer. And I think they did take some notice of it because some fellows got off at Calgary, they did twin-engines, they went onto Ansons. We went on to (Camp Borden) Ontario (commenced training December 22, 1940), we went on to singles (Harvards).

But by the same token, later on, you will find that fellows did a single-engine course and they ended up on twins. It just depended upon what was needed and what stage the fellows were.

This Empire Air (Training) Scheme was only in its initial stage and they had to feel their way. But I think that because of the newness of the Empire Air Scheme I think they did very, very well. I mean to say, for the standard of flying and the standard of operations that we did carry out, they were really colossal efforts.

I remember we went into huts and they were all centrally heated and we had a bit of a do-in with the Canadians because we put the windows up to let a bit of fresh air in and they pulled them down because they were used to central heating, and we almost came to blows with it as far as that goes.

I got lost in Canada (while training at Camp Borden). You couldn't see what was ground or what was water or lakes or anything like that. I was lost.

There's nothing but snow underneath and I just put down into a field there which I knew - which I saw on the map. I was very embarrassed to have to catch a train up near Nottawasaga Bay.

I can remember getting on the train with my parachute and a bunny suit and helmet and goggles and all that sort of stuff and then meeting my instructor back at the base. He was just going on leave. It was a bit hard for some of us. Probably me in particular but I was just lost in the snow.

I left in March '41 and all that time I had one leave and that was New Year's Eve because of blizzards and because of weather we didn't get, we had to stop back at Camp Borden to get our hours up. And the only leave I had was really New Year's Eve
in Toronto.

(Copyright - Australian War Memorial for the purposes of research and study)

September 15, 1942: F/Lt. Jack Donald - No. 3 (RAAF) Squadron. Scramble. Hit in dogfight over El Alamein battle area. Aircraft hit in engine - port aileron unserviceable and wing damaged - began to burn - bailed out of Kittyhawk at 8,000 ft. Stunned on landing amongst Italian soldiers. Prisoner of War.

Course 16 RAAF Graduates - 452 Squadron November 1941 Redhill

Pilots of 452 Squadron RAAF in the dispersal hut at RAF Station Redhill. Identified, left to right, background: Pilot Officer (PO) R H C Sly; Sergeants Ronald Hereford Bevan, W. Jeff Wilkinson, J R Ross, J M Morrison. Foreground: Sergeants David F K Downes, K D Bassett; Flight Lieutenant Keith 'Bluey' W Truscott; PO F Evans; Flight Sergeant Baldwin RAF; PO R H Whillans RAAF. Jeff Wilkinson recalled the early days serving with the squadron in an article published in the Australian Gold Coast Branch of the Air Crew Association: " After gaining my wings in Canada I was posted to the UK for my operational training which took place in Hawarden, Cheshire before being posted to the newly formed No. 457 (RAAF) Squadron on the first of July 1941 to fly Spitfires. The squadron was initially based at Baginton, near Coventry, before moving to Jurby on the Isle of Man. On the twentysixth of September 1941 I was posted to No. 452 (RAAF) Squadron at Kenley and Red Hill, Surrey, again flying Spitfires and completing 25 operational sorties. Some senior pilots were sent home to Australia, among them the Commanding Officer ‘Bluey’ Truscott, Bardie Warne, Raife Cowan, Jack Elphick, Pat Tainton, Frank Coker and Dick Holt all of whom were graduates of Nos. 1 and 2 Aircrew Training Courses under the World War II Empire Air Training Scheme."

Course 18

Members of Course 18 received their wings on the evening of
April 1, at a ceremony in the drill hall. Group Captain Roy Stanley Grandy, officer commanding the station, extended a welcome to the guests. 47 in class.

Squadron Leader G. V. Priestly, officer commanding No. 1 Squadron, Camp Borden, officiated at the presentation of the badges of proficiency.

"You have done a good job; you have worked hard, but your work isn't by any means finished when you leave this station. You have the best instructors we can get; you have had the best equipment that can be bought.

"Those who go overseas have much harder work to do yet. I want you to remember that those who went before you have set
up a wonderful reputation for the R.C.A.F. You have something to look forward to. I am sure that you will carry out the best traditions of the R.C.A.F.

"Before you finish your training, I want you to remember everything told you. We cannot afford here, or in England, to have dangerous flying. We must keep accidents to a minimum. Dangerous flying causes definite sabotage of the cause in which you are all fighting.”

Group Captain Grandy congratulated the class. "You are now in a position to start your real flying career. Please don't take Squadron Leader Priestly's words too lightly regarding dangerous flying. If you are in the right kind of aircraft to do aerobatics, by all means do, but practice them at the proper height, because it is not only dangerous to yourself but also to the people on the ground."

(J/4901 - R/53925) Robert Gordon Calvert, London; (J/4902) J.R. Manser, Sault Ste. Marie; +(J/4903) Kenneth Edward Hobson - 419 Sqn., Winnipeg; (J/4904) Phillip Ralph Carrillo; +(J/4905) William Ord Wallace, Winnipeg; +(J/4906) George Robert Cushon, 57 OTU, Oxbow, Saskatchewan; (J/4907 - R/62440) Archie William Moffatt, Saskatoon; +(J/4908) John Melvin Milmine - KIFA 57 OTU with H.A. Womack, Kipling, Sask.; (J/4910) Michael J. Whelan, +(J/4912) Henry Wallace Mcleod - DSO, DFC & Bar, Regina; (J/4913) William Robertson McRae

(R/71239) Hayes Durmont Button, + (R/67637) Gerald Bickle Whitney – 401 Sqn.; (R/67665) John Somerville, (J/15188) Joseph Auguste Omer Levesque - PoW 401 Sqn., James G. Woodill - 232 Sqn., Halifax (Dieppe); W.F. Baepre, Quinton, Sask.;+(R/71124) Alexander Elliott Mokanyk – 130 Sqn., Winnipeg; +( J/15300) William Forsythe Munn – 403 Sqn., Regina; +Harold Byers - 440 Sqn., Souris; S.G. Thompson; +(R/54287 - J/15212) James Fielden Lambert – 130/403/421 Sqns. 185 Sqn. Malta, Winnipeg; Joseph Charles Raymond Gourdeau, Lloyd Alexander Rowat, + (R/71606) Marshall Robert Ross Vair – 402 Sqn.; + (R/62360) Donald Frederick Henderson, Saskatoon; (R/59669) William H. Beveridge, Isabella, Manitoba; Ronald K. Knewstub - 400 Sqn., Winnipeg; +(R/59682 - J/15470) Richard Wright Denison - 403 Sqn., H. R. Preece, Hudson Bay Junction, Sask.; (R/54292) Harry Marcus Compton - 213 Sqn., Woodroffe, Ontario; +(R/70761) William Henry McAdam - 132 Sqn., Bromhead, Saskatchewan; Francis Eugene Monette – 412 Sqn., +(J/15340) James Douglas Stevenson – 126 Sqn., Winnipeg; (J/13486) Thomas Cecil Callaghan – 77 Sqn.; William T.S. Grayson, Mawer, Sask.; Alexander Hamilton 'Hammy' McDonald, Fleming, Sask. (MP/Senator)

Newfoundlanders Royal Air Force: +David Brendan Lacey, Randell George White, Philip Gruchy, Robert Clayton Mercer

Royal Australian Air Force: Embarked Sydney for service overseas November 27, 1940. Disembarked Canada December 23, 1940.

R. E. Anderson, Sydney; +(404334) Bernard Macolm Geissmann, +(402236) Brian Joseph Halse - 457 Sqn.

(404236) Thomas Cleary - 456 Sqn., - August 3/4, 1942 tried by General Court Martial at 5 EFTS. Charged with flying aircraft at such a height as to be likely to cause damage to aircraft and bodily injury to persons piloting the aircraft. Also flying within 500 feet off the ground contrary to the provisions of A.F.O. 10/13/15 (2) - dismissed from His Majestys service with effect September 10, 1942.

(J/4909) Hubert Roy Studer - AFC hospitalized, graduated with Course 20

RNZAF:

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No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co ): Calvert

No. 6 EFTS Prince Albert: Cushon

No. 14 EFTS Portage la Prairie (Co. 14): Compton, Lambert

February 26, 1941: LAC Jim Woodill of Halifax, and LAC James Lambert of Winnipeg, escaped by parachute when their planes collided in midair. The planes were destroyed as they crashed to the ground. The pilots landed six miles east of this town near the Camp Borden air base. They had been practising formation flying and the ships bumped together while flying side by side. Neither pilot was injured.

Course 20: January 14 - April 28, 1941

The first outdoor wings parade held at Camp Borden since the past fall commenced just before sunset.

Squadron Leader Albert Carter addressed the graduates.

"This parade is practical proof of a good job well done. You have done fine work here, but you're not through yet. Your work here has only been a stepping stone. You have a bit more to learn. Soon you will be taking an active part in the fighting on the other side.

"You will need all your skill and endurance to beat the enemy when you meet him. The Empires air forces over Dunkirk, in the Battle of Britain, over Africa and the hills of Greece have shown endurance, courage and skill equal, if not better, to that of any air force in any sky.

"Godspeed, good luck, and when you get over there, good hunting!"

Group Captain Roy S. Grandy added: "Stand easy, but pay attention. I have been very proud to have been your commanding officer. I wish you every success."

(J/4909) Hubert Roy "Bert" Studer - AFC 2 SFTS; +(J/5044) Guy Andre Levy-Despas - 126 Sqn. (alias Carlet); (J/5045) Frank Butler; (J/5046) Samuel Roy Frankling - FI 15 SF - DFC 408/415 Sqns.; (J/5047) James Archibald McKelvie - 403 Sqn.; +(J/5048) John Gordon Broder FI 3 SF KIFA 1664 HCU, Winnipeg; (J/5049) Harry A. Pattinson - 118/403/67 Sqns., Hamilton; +(J/5050) Kenneth Alexander McKenzie - DFC 9 Sqn.; (J/5051) John William Comstock Langmuir - DFC 5 (BR) Sqn.; (J/5052) William Whitney Lloyd Beatty; (J/5053) Robert Joseph Crot - PoW 127 Sqn.; (J/5054) Arthur C. Ellis; +(J/5055) Cardell Kleckner; (J/5056) Frank George Grant - DSO, DFC 438 Sqn./143 Wing; +(J/5057) Robert Elmer Robinson - 122 Sqn.

Ernest Warner Spradley - 66/249 Sqns.; (R/67864) Karl Kenneth Kimbro; (R/54415) Winfield Louis Johnson - PoW 101 Sqn., + (R/71704 - J/17137) Thomas Henry Donnelly - DFM 57/405 Sqns., (J/14012) Hugh John Boydell Lambe; C.R. Buchanan, (R/68608 - J/15239) William Nicholas Tuele - 41 Sqn.; +(R/78215) John David Ritchie - 213 Sqn. DAF, Toronto; (R/72099 - J15321) Garth Edward Horricks - DFM 185/417 Sqns. Malta; +Frederick Sinclair Buck, W.F. Peck - 402 Sqn., S.A. Martin, E.A. Russell, H.F. Crawford, Toronto; H.R. Heyes, W.W.L. Beattie, F.S. Hastie, William M. Howes, Toronto; +(J/21670) Gordon William McKay Richter - 408 Sqn., Brantford; +(J/15049) Rodolfo Mendizabal - 5 Sqn., Sarnia; C.B. St. John, Gravenhurst; +(J/14870) Bennett Winthrop Clarke - 73 Sqn., Edmonton; (J/15101) William Arnold Prest - 122 Sqn. Dieppe 421/443 Sqns.; +(J/14006) Stanley Malcolm McLarty - 132/14 Sqns. DFC 442 Sqn.; +(R/50508 - J.15103) Jack Garfield Durkin - 122 Sqn.

RAAF: +(AUS.400230) Charles Frederick Richard Manning – 452 Sqn.

One Free Frenchman

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No. 1 EFTS Malton (Co. 15): Horricks, Grant, Frankling, Johnson, Ritchie, Pattinson, Durkin

No. 2 EFTS Ft. William (Co. 15): Kimbro, Spradley, Prest, McLarty

No. 3 EFTS: Langmuir

Course 22: February 24 - May 16, 1941

Wings presented to 50 graduates by Flight Lieutenant J.B. Flowerdew, RAF, at an outdoor sunset ceremony.

+(J/5329) Edwin Herbert Glazebrook - DFC 229 Sqn. Malta, +(J/5330) Charles Stewart White - 115 Sqn., St. Marys, Ont.; +(J/5331) Hilyard Lowell Myers - 57 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/5332) John Livingstone Hopkins Eliott - 9 Sqn.; (J/5333) Cyril Arthur King, +(J/5334) Richard Arthur Laing - 419 Sqn.; +(J/5335) Arthur Charles White - 70 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/5336) Garnet Graham Retallack - 104 Sqn., Ottawa; (J/5337) Lloyd Hubert Warriner - AFC Toronto; +(J/5338) Stuart William Jamieson - 258 Sqn., Toronto; (J/5339) Arthur Thomas Aycliffe Young - PoW 412 Sqn.; +(J/5340) Robert Francis Minnick - 58 OTU; (J/5341) H.A. Nicholson, +(J/5342) John Roy Freeland - 9 Sqn., Timiskaming, Ont.; (J/5343) Frederick John Sherlock - Malta DFC 421 Sqn., Calgary; +(J/5344) Clyffurde George Randall Saunders - 40 Sqn., Montreal

+(R/67685) William Henry Smith - KIFA 61 OTU, Evanston, IL; (R/77121) Kasimir Thomas Oborski, +(R/71702) Jack Lloyd Roach - 108 Sqn., Bowmanville, Ont.; (J/16113) Stafford Dean Marlatt - DFC 439 Sqn., Oakville; +(R/78239) Percy Thomas Walter Walker - 405 Sqn., Toronto; Homer S. ‘Hap’ Armstrong - 135 Sqn. Burma, Toronto; John Andrew Carl Kearns, Harry Deane MacDonald - DFC & Bar, Toronto; Jack Parker, Peter Myles; +(J/15541) Albert John ‘Jack’ Fawcett, St. Thomas, Ont.; Alfred Ray Moulden - 127 Sqn., London; +(R/56387) George Spence Robb - 158 Sqn.; +(R/54058) Allan Allister MacLeod, Ottawa; +(R/78237) John Albert Parker - 55 OTU, Toronto; +(R/78229) Douglas Roy Richardson - 57 Sqn., Norwood, Ont.; Seymour H. Frankel, Toronto; (J/15609) James Henry Foy - DFC 405 Sqn., Toronto; +(R/68499) James Livingston Lee - 35 Sqn., London, Ont.; Harley (Clifton) Elsey, Guelph; +(9823 - J/18073) Leonard Stanley Plunkett remustered clerk - 57 Sqn./428 Sqn. (8th op of 2nd tour), Smiths Falls; (R/62630) James (Perrin) Magwood 51 Sqn. PoW; +(R/74329) Joseph Louis Collins - 19 OTU, Billing's Bridge, Ont.; +(R/68649) Rupert Henry Davey - 126 Sqn. Malta, Atikokan; Norman Parsons; +(R/65358) Robert Emerson Drocourt Nickerson - 57 OTU, Nova Scotia

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No. 1 EFTS Malton: Myers

No. 2 EFTS Ft. William (Co. 15): Smith

No. 11 EFTS Cap de la Madeleine (Co. 17): Magwood, Sherlock, Plunkett

No. 12 EFTS, Goderich - White, Marlatt, Minnick, Warriner, Glazebrook, Foy

March 9, 1941: LAC W.H. Smith dove Harvard 2678 at speed of over 400 m.p.h. causing damage to the aircraft of $50.00. Given 14 days detention.

Course 24: March 20 - June 6, 1941

Squadron Leader Hession addressed the graduates.

"You are not only good pilots, but you are good Camp Borden pilots. I wish to remind you that pilots received their wings here twenty-five years ago for service in the first Great War. They were great pilots and left a wonderful tradition behind them. You are young pilots, ready to enter the second Great War. You are just as good and perhaps your task is more important than was theirs. There is no need to tell you what an important part the air force is playing in this war."

(J/5661 - R/60389) Stanley Melvin Knight - 400 Sqn. Dieppe, Calgary; (J/5662) Edmund Irvine Hall - 400 Sqn. Dieppe?, Columbus, OH; +(J/5663) Harold Fraser English

+(R/74201) Carter (Woodruff) Harp; (R/59006) Kenneth Skog McAndrews, William Murdock Jackson (+1948 RCAF); (R/66041) William Bilton Begy - 58/86 Sqns., Toronto; William J. Blakely, Toronto; +(R/71746) William Everett Lunan - 78 Sqn., Toronto; (J/15733) William Murdock Jackson - 610 Sqn., Winnipeg killed 1946; +(R/66181) Harvey William Lundy, St. Catharines; +(R/59718) William Ralph Gates - 76 Sqn., McGregor, MB; Arthur James Johnson - DFC, Souris, MB

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No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co.18): Harp, Lundy, Johnson, English, Jackson, Gates

RAAF: +(404548) John Livingstone Boyd - 185 Sqn., (400686) William John Adey, (400412) Donald Murdock Hannah - DFC 502 Sqn.; +(400708) Geoffrey Thomas Heard - 7 Sqn.; +(400719) Anthony Dominica Cyril La Gruta - 60 OTU; (400735) Leonard Stanley 'Len' Reid - 504/130/185/79/452 Sqns. DFC - 185 Sqn. Malta - postwar MLA; +(400488) Richard Harry Roe (DFC), +(400737) Ronald Norman Milton Scott, John P. Adams, (402632) Edwin Lawrence Anderson, (402731) Colin Albert Cornwell, (402644) Francis Norman Crouch, (402734) Stephen Penn Dennis; Shelley M. Stuart, (404614) Lloyd Wilson Bailey, John L. Boyd, +(404549) Archibald Cowen Honeyman - 215 Sqn.; +(404658) Charles Dermot Kelly - 105 Sqn. Bremen; +(400690) Jack Gordon Bond, Allan Cook, +(400728) Herbert Charles Nette, John S. Newton, Archibald M. Patron, (404605) Douglas Ralph Edwards, +(404655) Kenneth George Campbell McCallum, (404543) John William Newell, Mareeba, North Queesland; Herbert T. Thompson, (404553) Douglas Wilberforce Spooner, (402740) Gordon Lindsay Charles Gifford, Ian A. MacKenzie, (404567) Frederick Warren Madsen, Marshall E. Parberry, (404556) Alan Wharton - DSO, DFC & Bar - 148/458 Sqns.

RAAF personnel embarked at Sydney February 22, 1941. Disembarked at Vancouver March 16, 1941

+(402745) Rawdon Hume Middleton - 214/7/149 Sqns. posthumous Victoria Cross, wings pinned on the coat of his pyjamas in the station hospital.

+(402749) Edward Murray Oldham graduated with Course 30

(404662) Henry Beirne Douglas was killed in a flying accident April 30, 1941. The plane plunged five feet into the earth, making a hole 20 feet wide, said Eldred Ley, owner of the farm on which the plane fell.

"I was out in the field harrowing when I saw him rolling along from the north. He rolled over sideways, seemed to try and pull himself out, then plunged straight down into the ground.

"The crash shook the ground and buildings like an earthquake."

Course 26: April 21 - July 3, 1941

(8th draft). Disembarked Vancouver, Canada March 16, 1941. Reported to Camp Borden at 0730 hours, April 21, 1941.

Wings parade was held in front of the hangars. Squadron Leader H.J. Phillips, officer commanding the maintenance branch at the school, presented wings and then addressed the new pilot graduates.

"We are glad you have completed your work and that you are a credit to your instructors. On behalf of the ground crews and maintenance staff I wish to thank you. You have not given them much work in repairing damaged machines.

"I ask you to look after your machines, take care of your engines, and fly at a reasonable altitude for the job you have in hand. As yet designers have not developed a plane which will prune tree tops."

Following the wings presentation, Squadron Leader J.R. Gordon, M.C., R.A.A.F., also addressed the graduates. He was in command of the class members when they embarked at Sydney March 21, 1941.

“I wish to congratulate you chaps on attaining the first step in your careers in airmanship. It may seem like a long time to you since you joined the volunteers.

"Since you have passed through your initial training at home and then there was a long voyage to Canada, where you have taken your elementary and service flying training. Now that you have your wings you will soon start to learn to fly.

"I gave you some advice on the boat coming over, and I hope you have not forgotten it. Now I wish you to remember that your senior officers know more about the job that you will have to do, so pay close attention to their advice. Be dependable and learn to trust your fellow fliers.

"Above all, build the teamwork with those with whom you will work. No pilot can succeed on his own, so cultivate the other members of your crew. No individual ever won a battle.

"Happy landings all.”

Squadron Leader George Hector Reid Phillips, examining officer, added: “We are sure that you will add to the glorious history now being written by British Empire airmen.”

Squadron Leader Douglas Alexander Ransome Bradshaw, acting commanding officer of the station commented that graduating air crews on time at Camp Borden was becoming a habit. He expressed hope that the habit would continue.

He wished the graduates: “Godspeed and good hunting.”

Graduates included: +(402742) John Walter Keene - 460 Sqn.; +(402842) Francis Bruce Beale - 457 Sqn.; (402863) Richard William Hyem - 456 Sqn., Gunnedah, N.S.W.; +(402864) William Gengos - 108 Sqn.; +(402946) Douglas Clarke Gibson - 227 Sqn., Grafton, N.S.W.; (402957) Oswald John Hodgson, Sydney; +(404549) Archibald Cowen Honeyman - 215 Sqn; (404616) Colin Leagh-Murray – DFC 56/16 Sqns., New Guinea; +(404658) Charles Dermot Kelly - 105 Sqn.; +(404769) Thomas Kenneth Robinson - 222 Sqn., +(404787) Basil Howard - DFC Sqn., (8 e/a destr.), Geoff Jackson, +(400705)? J.A. Gillespie – 27 OTU, Brisbane, Queensland; G. Lindsay, Brisbane; N.V. Hobbs, Brisbane; +(403008) William Thomas McMillan – 60 OTU, Brisbane; S.F. Jackson, Brisbane; I.V.R. Beattie, Melbourne; (402899) Kevin James Wyllie – PoW 36 Sqn., Melbourne; (402886) John Malcolm Souter – 501 Sqn. PoW; (400732) Gordon Stanley Orchard - 458/70 Sqns., New Guinea; Mac Paton; (402854) Ross Edwin Dodson – 253/538/610 Sqns., Sydney; (403011) Clive Roy Briggs - 131/457 Sqns., Sydney; +(402878) Dennis De Montfort Partridge – 227 Sqn., Sydney; F.B. Beattie, Sydney; +(402825) William Ernest Pearce 64/261 Sqns., Sydney; E.J. Gowling, Sydney; (402939) Douglas St. John, Sydney; +(402882) John Ronald Savage – 7 Sqn., N.C. Todd, Sydney; (402816) David Alfred Hugh Spring - 456 Sqn., Sydney; (404691) Ian Sandford Loudon - 603/76 Sqns. DFC, Adelaide; T.A.H. Huddlestone, New Guinea; +(402936) John Nicholson Dean – 64/72/450 Sqn.; (403000) Patrick Vincent McDade – DFC 453 Sqn.; (402204) Roy David May - D.S.O. 66/79/9 Sqns., Condoblin, NSW; +(404677) Edwin Tytler Hiskens – 69/129/249 Sqns.; +(404709) Garth Elliott Caswell – 30 Sqn.; (404795) Donald George Andrews, Southport – DFC 615/245/175/453 Sqns.; +(400638) William George Sharpe – 148 Sqn., Adelaide; (404690) Clive Percival 'Bill' Lloyd - 452 Sqn., Roma, Queensland; (402862) Douglas David Hurditch – PoW 460 Sqn., Aden, NSW; (402937) Harold Leopold Hargreaves - 501 Sqn., PoW DAF Ipswitch, Queensland; (402786) Colin Cloudesley Betts – 123/258/261 Sqns. DFC, Blayney, NSW; +(402960) Edwin George Enright – 72 Sqn., Baradale, Vic.; +(402987) Stanley Oliver Simpson – 450 Sqn., Tweedshead, NSW; (402932) George William 'Bill' Andrews - 130/615/79 Sqns. Newcastle, NSW; (402992) Robert Kenneth Boyd - 457/77 Sqns., Singleton, NSW; (400697) Alexander Noel Cresswell – 457 Sqn., Ballarat, Vic.; +(404679) William Dennis Bohl – 148 Sqn., Geelong, Victoria; +(402948) Albert George Grand – 460 Sqn., Geelong; +(404771) Cyril Brennan – 66/130 Sqns., Casino, NSW; +(404692) Virgil Paul Brennan DFC DFM - 249/79 Sqns.

Ceased Training: +(404676) Alvan Rodney Wecker

RCAF: Ronald Henry Hedger - 410 Sqn., Hull, Que.

(400712) Vivian Joseph Hibbens graduated with Course 32 due to low-flying Court Martial.

Course 26

Photo (AWM): June 11, 1944 - Sqn Ldr, later Wing Commander Basil Howard of Roma Qld, at No. 456 (Mosquito) Squadron RAAF at RAF Station Ford. Wing Cdr Howard was accidentally killed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 1945 while serving with 456 Squadron, RAAF. DFC citation: "Wing Commander Howard has completed a very large number of sorties, setting a fine example of devotion to duty throughout. He has destroyed three enemy aircraft at night, successes which are a good tribute to his undoubted skill and resolution. In addition to his work in the air, Wing Commander Howard has rendered yeoman service in training other members of his formation."

Course 28: May 16 - July 30, 1941

Group Captain Roy Grandy, O.B.E., officer commanding the station presented wings to course graduates.

After presenting wings, Group Captain Grandy addressed the 57 graduates and their guests.

"You feel as we all do, very proud of these young men on their graduation. How they themselves fell I could not describe, especially if they feel as I did when I received my wings.

"I want to congratulate their parents for the fine home training they have given their sons. The fact that they have been graduated after long hours of hard study and service flying is itself indicative of the way in which they were brought up.

"You are now ready to carry on with more advanced training. You will soon be ready to take your place beside those who have preceded you. Since you have shown yourselves to be capable and have given a good account of yourselves here, we have no doubt you will do well.

"On the knowledge, skill and courage of our air crews depends to a large extent the future of the British empire.

"Carry on with your studies. Learn all you can about new types of aircraft. I congratulate you all."

Flight Lieutenant Ernest Harstone, one of the station chaplins, also spoke to the graduates.

"Some of you will remain in Canada as instructors, teaching others. That is a great task, as it gives a man a chance to multiply himself by passing along his teachings and aspirations to others. Others of you are going overseas. I only wish I were young enough to go with you. You are going into a difficult and tough world and I ask two things of you: heed the counsel of your instructors and give a thought frequently to the teachings of your padres."

+(J/6485 - R/74808) Arthur Howard Coulter, Vancouver; (J/6486) J.H. Devlin, Toronto; (J/6487) William John Cameron - 72 Sqn., PoW Great Escape; (J/6488) J.F. Allan; +(J/6489 - R/80833) Duncan Donald Johnston - 418 Sqn.; (J/6490) Henry Gordon Anderson - 419 Sqn., Kippen, Ontario; (J/6492) James LaVelle Hines, +(J/6493 - R/67259) Frank Nason Hilton - KIFA CFS Trenton; (J/6494) Oliver Kallio, +(J/6495 - R/80786) Erle Walter Ollen-Bittle - 33 Sqn., York Mills, Ont.; (J/6496) Alistair Angus Smith - 152 Sqn. DAF - DFC 441 Sqn., Vancouver; (J/6497) H.F. Norman; (J/6498) William Frank Hales - DFC 408 Sqn., Edmonton; +(J/6499 - R/78481) John Albert Guest - 215 Sqn. India, Toronto; (J/6500) James Clemence 'Jack' Hardy - PoW, Winnipeg

(R/67698) Harry Magnese Dahl, +(R/67641) Joseph Edgar Aucoin, (R/74814 - J/17636) Desmond McCabe - DFM 104 Sqn. DAF, DFC 105 Sqn., Victoria; (R/80016) James Alexander Sampson - PoW, St. Thomas, Ont.; +(R/75613 - J/22338) Harold Douglas Paddison - 429 Sqn., Guelph; +(J/15741 - B/75651) James Reginald Rebbetoy - 137 Sqn., Hagersville; +(J/15148 - R/75662) Charles Wilbert 'Pat' DeShane - 137 Sqn., Guelph; +(J/15147 - R/83069) Robert Elmer Douglas Wright - 137 Sqn., Windsor, Ont.; +(R/67937) Louis Raymond Brunette - 53 OTU; +(R/75664 - J/22349) John Stewart Hill - 418 Sqn., Guelph; J.E. Maurice, Toronto; (R/67887) Donald Burton McPhail - 263 Sqn., Windsor; (J/17300) Robert Carl Habbeshaw - 70 Sqn., Toronto; +(R/83904) Robert James Jackson - 20 OTU, Toronto; +(R/75611) Herbert James Palmer - 20 OTU, Hamilton; (J/15709) Stanley Cyril Cosburn - DFC 401 Sqn., Calgary; +(R/76101) Walter William Burns - 38 Sqn.; +(R/73231 - J/15280) John Richard Scott - 402/229 Sqn. Malta; I.J. Sankey, London; E.I. Swanbergeron, Hamilton; R.C. Cook, Windsor

(J/6497) H.F. Norman, Durban, South Africa

RAAF draft embarked at Sydney February 22, 1941. Disembarked Vancouver March 16, 1941.

RAAF: (402748) Donald Kewin McDonald (DSO, DFC), top in class

RAF: +(138308) Charles William Valentine Pepper - 214 Sqn.

RCAF airmen posted in from

No. 2 EFTS, Ft. William

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 22): Guest, Smith, McCabe, Burns, Hilton, Scott, Paddison, Johnston, Coulter, Palmer

No. 7 EFTS Windsor (Co. 23): Jackson, Kallio, Cosburn, Hales, Ollen-Bittle, Rebbetoy, De Shane, Wright, Hill, Hines

Course 30: May 28 - August 20, 1941

Squadron Leader A.V. Ashdown, Chief Accounting Officer, Camp Borden, presented the pilot "wings" assisted by Group Capt. R. S. Grandy, O.B.E., Commandant, and Flt-Lieut S. F. Douglass, Adjutant. 60 graduates.

Squadron Leader Ashdown addressed the young pilots following the presentation.

"The awarding of these badges here today marks the culmination of a carefully planned course which you all have completed in a creditable manner. Shortly, you will enter more intensively into the training for the object for which you entered the service - to defeat and destroy our common enemy, an enemy as cunning and resourceful as he is barbarous and ruthless. This task will require all the energy you possess. We feel that the glorious traditions of our service are safe in your hands, and that you as individuals will add to the splendid record of the British airmen in this conflict. We wish you all success and good luck."

+(J/14860) James Rogers Shanks - headed the class - KIFA Rockcliffe, Sarnia

+(J/7030) Thomas Best - 214 Sqn., Woodstock, Ont.; (J/7031) Edwin Thomas Marriott - 145 (BR) Sqn.; +(J/7032) Willard Eugene Madden - KIFA Kingston; (J/7033) Roger William Larson; +(J/7034) John Green Hoar, Edmonton - KIFA 34 SFTS; +(J/7035 - R70436) Wilbert Andrew Shoemaker DFC 15 Sqn., Kitchener; +(J/7036 - R75957) Harvey George Funkhouser - 428 Sqn. Pt. Colborne, Ont.; +(J/7037 - R75276) George Forrester Squire Mackie, Saskatoon; +(J/7038 - R83038) William Irwin Jones - KIFA 603 Sqn.

(J/29727) Lloyd Ernest Pears, +(R/84031) Stefano Domenico "Steve" Fassino - KIFA 59 OTU Hurricane V7236; (R/80574 - J/16145) Robert Dulmage 'Dagwood' Phillip - 416 Sqn. Dieppe 421 Sqn. DFC, Toronto; +(J/15347) Thomas Fair Watt, Toronto; Leonard Joseph Cornfoot, Brantford; +(R/83055) William Thomas Bent - DFM 142 Sqn.; (J/15493) John Arthur 'Jackie' Rae - DFC 416 Sqn. Dieppe; (R/78748) Emerson Mervyn Padfield - FI 14 SF; (R/74412) William Harry Roe Plewes - 125/441 Sqns., London; Rodin Eric Roy, Hamilton; (J/15469) Phillip (Roy) Brook - DFC 410/255/418 Sqns., Niagara-on-the-Lake; +(J/15685) Earl Hubert Brown - 101 Sqn.; +(R/78790 - J/18208) Roger Johnstone Burrill - 75 Sqn., Burgessville, Ont.; J. Kenneth Clark, +(R/75835) Stanley Jerome Connell - 56 OTU, Kitchener; +(R/74421) Irwin James Eady - 402 Sqn., +(R/75999) Thomas Dominic Forestell, Guelph; +(R/74401) Roger William Larson - KIA Feb. 13, 43 US/12th PRU, Minneapolis; +(J/17912) Garnet Henry Hamilton, +(J/16150) William Smith Johnston, +(J/18987) Fernand Daniel Jolicoeur; (J/18103) Hugh L.A. Leonard - 615 Sqn., Harriston, Ont.; Thomas Macfarlane, Ottawa; Jack Willard Marshall, Kitchener; Ernest Leonard Mouland - 111/402 Sqns., Niagara Falls; +(R/80747 - J/19717) Robert William McLaren - 80/417 Sqns., Long Branch; Norman Elwood McKee, Clifford William Ollet, Windsor; +(R/83868) Howard Victor Payne - 92 Sqn., Huntsville; Peter Durst Smith; +(R69239 - J/17058) Clarence (Lyall) Shaver - 41 Sqn. 112 Sqn. DAF, 439 Sqn., Toronto; (J/18272) Edward Howard Stansel - PoW 576 Sqn., Mille Roches; +(J/15356) James William Bromley Reynolds - DFC 174 Sqn. Dieppe, Pembroke; +(J/15477) Leclare Allerthorn Walker - 403 Sqn. Dieppe; John Allen Wilson - 403 Sqn., Hamilton; +(J/15301) William Jacob Louis Weicker (DFC & Bar), +(J15532) Jack Zavitz - 420 Sqn.; James Milton Sanders - 121 Sqn.; Jerome Arthur Zee (DFC), +(R/74415) Walter Charles Wicker Jr. - 133 Sqn.; +Earl Alfred Thompson - 57 FG, Louis Earl Humphreville, +(R/67937) Louis Raymond Brunette - 53 OTU; +(R/67277) Harley Joseph Helbock - 43 Sqn.; (R/83044) Redene Wayne Simenson - KIA 44 ATG; +(R/67970) Harry Alyn Neal - 214 Sqn.; +(R/75611) Herbert James Palmer - 20 OTU

Posted in from

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 25): Shoemaker; Palmer; Wicker; Plewes, Reynolds; Smith; Marriott, Smith, Larson, Fassino, Burrill, Payne, Shaver, Funkhauser

No. 7 EFTS (Co. 23): Helbock

No. 9 EFTS: Pears; Sanders, Mouland, Brook

No. 12 EFTS Goderich (Co. 24): Bent, Rae, Shanks, Jones, Neal, McLaren, Mackie

2 RAAF: +(402749) Edward Murray Oldham - 131 Sqn.

Course 32: July 3 - September 13, 1941

Wings Parade held on the tarmac at 1800 hours. Group Captain R.S. Grandy, O.B.E., officer commanding, addressed the guests and 59 graduates.

"It is again my priviledge to welcome to the air station the relatives and friends of our personnel, and particularly those of our graduating class. The presence of so many is not only a great pleasure to all of us, but it is an indication of the real interest you have in these young men who are being presented with wings, and the interest you take in the RCAF.

"I wish you good luck."

(J.7450) L.V. Flury - 260 Sqn., Midale, SK; (J/7451) John Alexander Morton DFC 400 Sqn.;

Top in class: (J/7458) Donald Carl Naismith - AFC FI 1 SF, Toronto

(J/7459) Jerrold Arthur Morris - DFC & Bar 419/434 Sqns., London, Ont.; (J/7460) Frederick Alan Aikman - Dieppe DFC & Bar 154 Sqn., Toronto; (J/7461) William Henry Jones; +(J/7462) Lawrence Theodore Izzard - 149 Sqn., Toronto; (J/7463) George James Lewis; +(J/7464) Eric Courtenay Patterson - 15 Sqn.; +(J/7465) Andrew Albert McNaughton - 185 Sqn., Malta; +(J/7466) Edwin Swayne Brenton - 31 Sqn., Deseronto; (J/7467) Donald Webster Lamont - DFC 428 Sqn., Pt. Elgin; +(J/7468) Lawrence Aloysius Doherty - 414 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/7469) Frederick Lennox Rogers - 428 Sqn., Pt. Colborne - brother Frank also pilot KIFA; (J/7470) Henry Hanan Turick, (J/7471) Joseph Ernest Loree (PoW/112 Squadron), +(J/7472) Eric Pierce Wynn - 149 Sqn., Windsor; (J/7473) George Henry Chaffey, +(J/7474) Hugh Douglas Steeves - 414 Sqn., (J/7475) James Ell Walsh

+(R/83897 - J/18754) John Newton Miller - 185 Sqn. MiD, Toronto; Arthur Lippa; +(J/87174) Walter John Chittenden, St. Catharines; John Alfred Levi - 414 Sqn., Beamsville; +(R/88664) Norman Marshall - 234/118/126 Sqn. Malta - KIA March 3, 44 401 Sqn.; William Frederick Edwin Cane - 130 Sqn. Dieppe wounded; +(R/85622) Lawrence Henry Jordan - 9 Sqn.; +(J/16429) Thomas Kelley - 615 Sqn., Toronto; George Johnston Hays, Henry Hanan Turick, +(R/83141) Victor Howard Miller - 402 Sqn.; Warren G. Straley, Murray Fothergill Pettit; Henry Lawrence Davis, +(R/80905) Alvin James 'Jimmy' Matches - 409 Sqn., Shallow Lake, Ont.; David Jerome Phelan, Alexander F. Soutar, William Edward George Taylor, Victor Alexander Trustrum, Frederick John Bateson, +(R/78841) Bernard Hugh Cassidy - KIFA 52 OTU, St. Thomas, Ont.; Robert Ernest Evans, +(R/85743) Harold Gordon Graham - 40 Sqn. DAF, Thornbury, Ont.; Brock Vernon Huff, Donald Mathieson, Russell George McIntaggart, John Edward McLellan, +(R/78682) Charles Edward 'Rip' Mutch - 504/249 Sqn. Malta, Clinton, Ontario; +(R/88706) James William Newman - 115 Sqn., Toronto; Donald Max Norman, +(R/69268) Joseph Louis Osias Primeau - 402 Sqn. Dieppe - KIFA Aug. 28, 42; Sturgeon Falls, Ont.; +R/84074 Arthur Walker - 416 Sqn., Ridgeway, Ont.; Keith Elwood Burgess, John Gordon Burnet

Posted in from

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 27): Mutch

No. 9 EFTS St. Catharines (Co. 28): Lamont, V. Miller, Izzard

No. 12 EFTS: Nasmith, Morris, Aikman, Marshall

Sailed aboard the S.S. Ruahine from Halifax: McNaughton, Aikman, V.H. Miller, J.N. Miller, Izzard, Patterson, Doherty, Wynn, Chaffey, Mutch, Norman, Primeau, Soutar, Taylor, Walker, Cane, Davis, Cassidy, Huff, Jordan

1 RAAF graduate

V.J. 'Bill' Hibbens graduated with Course 32. He originally commenced training at Camp Borden with Course 26, an all- Australian class. He was held back due to a Court Martial conviction for low flying.

1st Charge: Flying at a height under 1000 feet over the adjoining towns of Barrie and Allendale, Ontario, Canada in disobedience to No. 2 Squadron.

2nd Charge: Flying in a foolhardy and dangerous manner at a height under 500 feet over the adjoining towns of Barrie and Allendale contrary to the provisions of Station Standing Orders.

3rd Charge: Flying over the adjoining towns of Barrie and Allendale, Ontario, Canada at a height under 3000 feet contrary to the provisions of Station Standing Orders.

4th Charge: Flying over the adjoining towns of Barrie and Allendale, Ontario at such a height, and in such a manner, as to institute a nuisance contrary to the provisions of Station Standing Orders.

Findings: Found Guilty under Section 11 AFA of all 4 charges.

Sentence: 56 days detention effective July 9, 1941. Eight days from August 26 to September 2nd 1941 incl for Good Conduct. Entitled to receive pay from August 26th.

On July 18, 1942, 'Bill' Hibbens was scheduled to deliver a Hawker Hurricane to No. 33 Squadron at Landing Ground 154 during the first Battle of El Alamein. He became a prisoner of war, writing in a 1945 report after he was released:

" .. encountered sandstorm and turned to coast. Blown off course by wind, blown out of air by 13 ME 109 G a/c somewhere near Front Line. "

Course 34 - July 27 - October 7, 1941

Wings Parade held in Drill Hall at 1930 hours.

General W. Steffens, head of the Norwegian Mission in Canada addressed the 62 graduates prior to presenting their pilot's flying badges.

"I am proud of being asked to pin the wings on you young men, and want to express my gratitude to Group Captain Grandy for the opportunity. It is a great honor, not only for me personally, but for my country, Norway.

"When we were invaded over two years ago we had little chance to defend ourselves, but now we our doing our best to help defeat the Germans. We have an army in England, an air force in Canada, and our navy is doing great work in the battle of the Atlantic.

"We are doing our utmost, but it is to the British and the British Dominions that we look for the necessary help to get our country back. We all know of the wonderful work that the R.A.F. has been doing, and we know that Canadian airmen are playing their part in that big struggle.

"I know you boys are looking forward to fighting Hitler and all that Hitlerism represents, and I wish you the best of luck."

The ceremonies in the drill hall were concluded by a march apst, with General Steffens taking the salute. The parade was headed by the wings party, under the command of Flying Officer Reid.

(J/7808) Harold Ross Pinsent, was top student in the class. He received his wings first.

Like Pinsent, +(J/16783) George Austen Cadmus - 427 Sqn. and +(J/7821) Thomas Edward Udny Lister were also course graduates from Argentina. Cadmus was the son of an American father and British mother.

Other graduates included: (J/7809) Irving Gould; (J/7810) Robert Gordon Johnson, Winnipeg; (J/7811) Alfred William Barton (AFC), (J/7812) John Andrews Stock; (J/7813) William Darche Breckon - 409 Sqn., Ft. Erie; +(J/7814) William Kenneth Scharff (3 EFTS) - 439 Sqn.; (J/7815) Easson (Bruce) Stovel - 443 Sqn., South Porcupine; (J/7816) James Wesley Pace - 400 Sqn. Dieppe, Lanark; (J/7817) James Frank Advey, +(J/7818) Ernest Edward Tribble, Brantford; (J/7819) Arthur Stewart Collins - DFC 400 Sqn., Renfrew, Ont.; (J/7820) Borden Earle Middleton - DFC 442 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/7821) Thomas Edward Udny Lister; (J/7822) Ian Allen Young - PoW 164 Sqn., Sudbury; (J/7823) J. Harold Williamson - PoW 402 Sqn., Chesterville, Ont.; (J/7824) Charles Edmund Cussion; +(J/7825 - R/78870) Sydney Frank Smither - 401 Sqn., London, Ont. (brother KIA RAF); +(J/7826) Robertus McRee; (J/7827) Charles Albert Lambert - FI 2 SF 439 Sqn., Ingersoll

Arthur Lyndon Ashworth, Charles Edward Cussion, Toronto; +(J/16056) John Lavery Davidson - 131 Sqn. Dieppe? later KIA, Toronto; Irving Gould, Toronto; (J/19196) David Robert Charles Jamieson - DFC & Bar 412 Sqn., Toronto; +(R/84223) John David Luxton - 412 Sqn., Toronto; John Douglas Schultz, Toronto; Robert James Taggart - 167/1435/245/402 Sqns., Toronto; +(R/78852) Jack Randolph Pierce - 52 OTU, London; (R/78848 - J/16049) Walter John Robins - 175 Sqn. Dieppe, London; (J/18166) Ronald Morris Code - PoW 50 Sqn., Perth, Ont.; Douglas Day Connell, (DAF) Hamilton; +(R/69338) James Henry Kinch - 61 Sqn., Thessalon; (R/82313) John Arthur Kingdon - PoW 33 Sqn., Lakefield; +(R/82326) Michael Joseph Stewart Kerby - 108 Sqn. DAF, KIFA 22 OTU 1943, Ivanhoe; Malcolm Moncrieff MacDonald, Normandale; Elliott Allan McCready - 74/145/73 Sqns., Tillsonburg; +(R/85814) John Malcolm McKerroll, Owen Sound; Charles James 'Jim' Newton, Almonte; +(R/84086) John Henry Oliver - 112 Sqn., St. Catharines; (R/88798) Lawrence Joseph Oliver, Bobcaygeon; Murray Stewart O'Neil, Maidstone; (R/83102) Albert 'Al' Shaw - 112 Sqn., Riverside; John Andrew Stock - 411 Sqn. Dieppe, Ottawa; (J/16907) Victor Dempster Ardis - DFC 420 Sqn.; John Conner Nashel; +(J/17859) Bruce Gordon Henderson - 418 Sqn., Toronto; Calvin Percival James Taylor - 152/601/127 Sqns. Malta, Cobalt; +Waclaw Michal Sobanski, (J/20362) S.A. Kirley, Calgary; (R/84136) James Adam Dow, Brantford; Lawrence Alexander Hastings, Woodstock; +(R/83249) Claude Lorraine Love Jr. - 142 Sqn.

Posted in from

No. 3 EFTS Crumlin (Co. 29): Taggart, Jamieson, Johnson, Hastings, Dow, Ardis, Nashel, Robins, McRee, Smither

No. 7 EFTS Windsor: Collins

No. 9 EFTS (Co. 28): Stock, Kinch

No. 10 EFTS Mt. Hope (Co. 28): Kerby

No. 11 EFTS Cap-de-la-Madeleine (Co. 30): Taylor, Love

Course 36: August 16 - November 8, 1941

Wings Parade Saturday at 1800 hours in the Drill Hall.

Group Captain R.S. Grandy, O.B.E., officer commanding the station presented wings to the graduates.

"You have reached the stage in your air force career when you have qualified for your wings., and for the opportunity of receiving advanced training at an operational training unit.

'The personnel of both flying squadrons have had to operate under a handicap during recent weeks. The fact the class has been able to graduate on this date reflects great credit on the part of all concerned. The extra effort put forth by all ranks in commendable indeed.

"I'm glad to be able to say certain promotions have come through today. The names of those promoted will be announced by the adjutant. I wish you Godspeed and good luck to you all."

Top student in the class was (403776) Pilot Officer Richard William Winn RAAF (later POW)

The RAAF draft embarked at Sydney July 17, 1941 and disembarked at Halifax August 16, 1941

60 RAAF graduates: (403731) James Edwin Franks; (403760) John Bernard Nicholls - 461 Sqn. DFC 35 Sqn.; +(403565) Alexander Irvine Lewis Downs, +(405112) Roy Christian Thiele, (401336) Stuart James Archbold, +(405114) William Henry Moore (Dieppe - 174 Squadron - killed 1943), Roy Taylor, Sydney; (403676) Alan Roy Menzies - 222 Sqn. Dieppe - KIA Oct. 11, 42; +(403773) Warrick James Turner - 457 Sqn. - KIFA 1945 2 OTU; (401581) John Maxwell "Max" Freeland - DFC 6 Sqn. DAF; (405115) Robert Parkin; (405138) Alan John Radcliffe - DFC 146/601/241 Sqns.; +(403822) Horace Steward - 33 Sqn. DAF

6 RCAF graduates: +(J/8926) Paul Emile Rowland Vachon, (R/83131) Gordon Leo Girard, (J8925) Stephen A. Prentice, Collingwood; William L. Pigden - 111 Sqn., Belleville; +(J/26271) William Dempsay Peacock - 111/130/440 Sqns., Noranda, Que.; +(R/84163) Charles Benjamin Pierce - 111 Sqn., Pt. Rowan

Course 38: September 13 - December 19, 1941

Wings Parade held at 1900 hours. Mothers who were present to see their sons graduate were invited by Group Captain T.S. Grandy to perform the ceremony.

Other fliers received their wings from Squadron Leader 'Jock' McCulloch, chief instructor. He addressed the 63 graduates in his Scottish accent:

"You have just received the badge which indicates that you have been considered fit to fly in His Majesty's service. Whenever you leave here, these wings will take you to the place wherever you are required to go. Keep your heads high. Acquit yourselves like men, be strong.

"It was a pleasure to have you here, and we are glad to see you go, because we know that you will acquit yourselves with credit to this station and the service in general."

McCulloch also announced that the United States citizens who had started their training with the RCAF before their own country entered the war had expressed the desire to continue their service in the Canadian force.

The parade was commanded by Group Captain Grandy, and the ceremony itself was conducted by Squadron Leader 'Jock' McCulloch, commanding the ground school. When the mothers stepped forward as their sons names were called by the station adjutant, Squadron Leader McCulloch stepped aside and handed the emblems to the ladies who pinned them on the graduates.

Sixty-three graduates - twenty commissions. The class contained 16 Canadians, eight U.S. citizens and a large number of Australians and New Zealanders.

(J/9421) Jack Cameron Copeland - 441 Sqn., Brantford - top in class

(J/9422) Archibald Allan Harrington, (J/9423 - R79220) William Lambert Anderson, +(J/9424) Robert Burns Reed - 430 Sqn.; (J/9425) Roy Henry 'Kelly' Walker, Niagara Falls; (J/9426) Dominic Angus McIntosh, Parkhill, Ont.; (J/9427) Paul Foskett Hunter Jr.; (J/9428) John Mott 'Gibby' Gibson - 417 Sqn., Kingsville

Victor Cabas - 403 Sqn. Dieppe; Moss Kirby Fletcher - 403 Sqn. Dieppe; John Kelly, Albert Haynes - 403 Sqn. Dieppe; Kester Jack Thomson - 411 Sqn., Princeton, Ont.; +(R/83431) Joseph Gaspard Raymond Arsenault, Magdalen Islands, Que./Windsor; +(R/93427) Brian Vincent Crist - 93 Sqn., Wallaceburg; (J/16027) Harry James Dowding - DFC & Bar, 403 Sqn. Dieppe; +(R83408 - J/19135) James Duncan 'Dunc' Fairbairn - 1 Sqn., Windsor; +(R92047) Lawrence Andrew Frost - 450 Sqn., Kingsville, Ont.; (J/18737) J.N. Goldberg, Toronto; +(R/89579) Fred Starr Jamieson - 8 Sqn., Durham, Ont.; Reginald Morris - 403 Sqn., Windsor; J.W. Tindale, Toronto; W.G.R. Smith, Mt. Brydges; Gordon Edward 'Ed' Warriner

RAAF: (405514) Norman Newell 'Bill' Amos - PoW 140 Sqn.; +(405387) Bernard Wilson Kearney - 168 Sqn.; +(406799) Kenneth Henry Slatyer - 79 Sqn., Perth; +(406703) John Byrne Horgan - 578 Sqn., Perth; +(406712) Norman Baxter Clark - KIFA 32 RAAF Sqn.; (405473) Ernest Arthur Roy Esau - 129 Sqn. Dieppe

RAAF personnel embarked at Sydney August 8, 1941. Disembarked Vancouver August 28, 1941

November 22, 1941: Mr. J.D. Lundy, employed by the Law Construction Company at Edenvale Aerodrome was struck and killed at 0906 hours by Harvard aircraft 2817 piloted by LAC Dowding who was making a takeoff.

Posted in from

No. 12 EFTS Goderich (Co. 33): Fairbairn

Course 40: October 11, 1941 - January 22, 1942

Squadron Leader Joseph L. Gutray, newly-appointed Chief Flying Instructor officiated at the wings parade.

"The graduates have worked hard over a considerable period, and they have shown their presence here that they are qualified fully to be pilots.

"Previous to this date, practically all the responsibility has been on the shoulders of your instructors. Now you have shown your ability to shoulder this responsibility.

"The welfare and well-being of the men under you are important. Now you will be responsible for the men and aircraft of which you will be in charge. You must remember that in order that you may be able to fly, other people have to work hard - the men on the ground. Therefore, think of your ground crew. Be sure they are being looked after.

"Godspeed and happy landing."

Group Captain Grandy welcomed guests and congratulated the graduates. Twenty-two mothers and two fathers pinned pilot wings on their sons' tunics at the invitation of Group Captain Grandy.

(J/9928) John Edwin Hawkins, of Spokane, Washington was top student ion the course and received his wings first.

+(J/9929 - R102696) Douglas Julian Sale - DSO, DFC, 35 Sq., PoW died in captivity; (J/9930) Russell William Orr - 411 Sqn. DFC; (J/9931) Richard Jeffrey Charlton; (J/9932) Edward Landes Bishop; (J/9933) Martin Gerald Cleworth - SP 4 BGS, Toronto; (J/9934) Henry Kent Hamilton - PoW 401 Sqn.; +(J/9935) John Dempsey Douglas; (J/9936) Ross Frederick Reid - DFC 438 Sqn., Toronto; (J/9937) Jack H. Slimon - 113 Sqn., Toronto; (J/9938) G.J. Walker, Sarnia; (J/9939 - R/95656) Frank James 'Jim' Champlin - 414 Sqn. Dieppe; (J/9940) William Tupper Blakeney - 414 Sqn. Dieppe DFC, Toronto

(J/22964) R.S. Gage, Oshawa; (J/22982) John Peppiatt Lumsden - 442 Sqn. DFC, Hamilton; +(J/22994) Merwyn Ronald Thompson

L.M. Walker; G.R. Hare, Toronto; (R102792) John Lewis 'Jack' McManus, Toronto; (R/102687) Jack Lawrence Lush, Toronto; Paul K. Gray - 403 Sqn.; Toronto; Robert Charles Yeates; (R/99658) Leo David Manzer - 118 (F) Sqn.; C.J. Walker, Sarnia; (J/22319) Guy Elwood Mott - 125/441 Sqns. DFC; +(J/16396) John Charles Monteith - 15 Sqn.; Donald Francis Church - 126/130/401 Sqns., (J/85568) Donald James McKinney McConnell - DFC 406 Sqn., Sault Ste. Marie; +(J/16873) Herbert John Ross - 115 Sqn., St. Catharines; (J/18689) Henry Edmonstone Hare - PoW, St. Catharines; Robert Thomson, Hamilton; C.E.A. O'Brien, Thorold; Charles Ross Coome, Hamilton; J.D. Douglas, St. Pauls; +(R/102777) Albert Scott Neilly, (R/98308) Emmett Andrew Magee - 247 Sqn.; William Philip 'Bill' Paris - 152 Sqn., Weston; William G. Johnson, Niagara Falls, NY; (R/79417) Gordon Richard Price - DFM 106 Sqn., Montreal; William G. Johnson, Niagara Falls, NY; Louis M. Walker; Ancil Chalmer Baker

Two RAAF: +(AUS.401676) Frederick John Silk

The Aussies had embarked at Sydney August 8, 1941 and disembarked at Vancouver August 29, 1941

Following the ceremonies relatives and friends were entertained in the airmen's mess, and later in the air force theatre at "Lifebuoy Follies," a musical review, and at a huge graduating dance in the drill hall.

Posted in from

No. 9 EFTS, St. Catharines (Co. 36): Mott, Price, Sale

No. 10 EFTS, Mt. Hope: Orr, Reid, Champlin, Charlton, Church, McConnell, Monteith, Lumsden

Course 42: November 10, 1941 - February 27, 1942

41 RAAF graduates: +(411539) Henry Lacy Smith, Blakehurst, NSW headed the class

(411644) Arthur Ross Richardson - 167/452 Sqns.

Group Captain R.S. Grandy, officer commanding the station, welcomed the visitors and graduates.

"It has been my duty and great pleasure to award wings to this class. Wings presentations are ceremonies that one never tires of; in fact, the oftener we have them the better we like it.

"If you can put as much effort into your advanced flying and operations as you have in your courses to date, you should do well."

8 RCAF graduates: Myles King; (J/17204) James Elmer Abbotts - 403 Sq. PoW, Owen Sound; (J/10358) Thomas Douglas Bruce; (J/26027) Joseph Alphonse Camille Bouchard - DFC 425 Sqn. KIFA 1946, Ottawa; (R/102779 - J/19148) Wilfred E. Danby - 175/247/134 Sqns., Toronto; M.A. Fraser, Beamsville; +(R/102653) Herbert Dalton Lewis - 61 Sqn., Toronto; Edward J. Powers, Toronto

RAAF draft embarked at Sydney October 16, 1941. Disembarked San Francisco November 4, 1941

Myles King, the lone American in the class, was asked why he joined the RCAF.

"I was on the marine reserve, and I knew as soon as this thing got started I'd be back carrying a rifle. I thought I'd come up here and get to do something I really wanted to do."

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No. 9 EFTS St. Catharines (Co. 36): Lewis

No. 13 EFTS St. Eugene: Danby, Bouchard

Course 44: March 27, 1942

A class composed entirely of RAAF personnel received their wings at a presentation conducted in the drill hall at 1830 hours. Major-General A.C. Richardson, D.S.O. presented wings.

Thirteen of the class received commissions.

Leader of the class was (411909) Pilot Officer Brian Francis Hegarty of Pymble, N.S.W. - 452 Sqn. Hegarty received 70 hours instrument, navigation instruction and wings tests in the Harvard and 50 hours in the Yale.

Group Captain R.S. Grandy, O.B.E., officer commanding, congratulated the members of the class and their instructors, and presented Major General A.C. Richardson, D.S.O., director of armored fighting vehicles of the Imperial forces, who presented the wings. Major-General Richardson quoted Group Captain Grady as saying it was the best class of Australians turned out at Camp Borden.

"What we need at this particular time, is co-operation between the various branches of the armed forces - army, navy and air force. We are all working toward one end, and that is the elimination of the Nazi menace."

+(411916) James Gilbert Johnson - 91 Sqn.; (411907) Angus Arthur Moir Haynes - 611 Sqn.; (411898) John Fawcett Greenfield - 19/452 Sqns.

November 13, 1941: Embarked at Sydney for service overseas

December 1, 1941: Disembarked San Francisco

Course 46: February 4 - April 24, 1942

Presentation of Flying Badges was made on the Tarmac at 1830 hours by Group Captain R.S. Grandy, O.B.E., Commanding Officer. 36 graduates. Fourteen parents accepted the C.O.'s invitation to pin the wings on. Two mothers came from the U.S. for this privilege and Agnes Davis came 1,300 miles from South Dakota to pin the wings on her husband's breast, Pilot Officer Sebjorn Teigen Davis.

RAAF and RCAF graduates

+(J/11273) John Wilson 'Jack' Frizelle - KIFA 14 SFTS Kingston; (J/11274) John Harold 'Jack' Phillips - DFC 418 Sqn., (J/11275) K.E. Gordon, Islington; (J/11276) John Brown Friedlander - DFC 247 Sqn., Montreal; (J/11279) Sebjorn Teigen Davis; +(J/11280) Wilfred Joseph Mahagan - 440 Sqn., Pt. Colborne; (J/11281) W.E. Jarratt; (J/11282) D.W. Hill, Peterborough

G.H. Alley, A.F. Bowman, Stanley Hugh 'Stan' Philbrook, R.G. Sullivan, N.G.A. Walter, D.E. Welch, all of Toronto; +(J/22457) John James Blanchfield - 410 Sqn., Barrie; J.P. Lee, Port Credit; +(J/21517) Roger Eugene George McCurdy - 440 Sqn., Haileybury; D.A. Mitchell, Belleville; W.R.E. Paul, Chapleau; (R/110843) Francis Meyer; (R/111272) Lee Nagle; (R/106437) Kenneth Sullivan; (R/112526) Raymond Lester

Squadron Leader George Hector Reid Phillips pinned the wings on the tunic of his son Jack. Phillips was awarded the McKee Trophy in 1931 for outstanding contribution to Canadian aviation.

April 13, 1942: (R/110870) LAC Robert Richard Foster crashed low flying Georgian Bay in Harvard 2176 - drowned.

RAAF: +(416446) Norman Leslie Merrett - DFC & Bar

Embarked Sydney for service overseas November 13, 1941. Disembarked San Francisco December 1, 1941

Flt-Lt. Norman Leslie Merrett. DFC and Bar, died on December 23, 1944, in a German military hospital in Utrecht, Holland, where he had been taken as a result of injuries sustained when bit by flak over Utrecht on December 11. 1944. He enlisted in the RAAF in June. 1941.

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No. 10 EFTS: Phillips

No. 14 EFTS (Co. 42): Foster

Course 50: February 28 - June 19, 1942

Wings Parade held at 1800 hours on the tarmac. Group Captain Douglas Muir Edwards, officer commanding the station, presented flying badges and addressed the graduates.

"I have had a chance for a few words with each one of you personally and I wish you success. You have received a good background in your training. I would like to give you a word of advice. Now that you have your wings I want you to feel that you are just starting to learn to be a pilot."

Top student in the class was (J/12259) Frederick Arthur Johnson - DFC 418 Sqn., Belleville

39 RCAF Graduates: +(J/12262 - R/115378) Donald Wesley Speller – 432 Sqn., St. John, N.B.; (J/12263) Hugh M. Carlyle, Toronto; +(J/12264) John Lester Dominic White KIFA FI 17 EFTS, Amherst, N.S.; (J/12265) John A. Gagnon, Durham; (J/12266) Hugh Robert Ledingham – DFC 420 Sqn., Weston; (J/12267) Peter Kryskow – 164 Sqn.; (J/12269) Jack A. Fox, Toronto; (J/12270) T.E. Austin; (J/12271) Richard John Rose – DFC 150 Sqn.

Robert H. Cochran, Bruce Cowieson - 415 Sqn., Toronto; Kenneth A.B. McArthur, Grant Loftus Puttock - 110 Sqn., Leslie C. Saunders, Kenneth R. Smith, Raymond P. Taylor, Alexander Ustenov - 411 Sqn.; Daniel J. Wegg - 443 Sqn., all of Toronto; Louis George Aldworth, Waterloo; Joseph P. Frens, Owen Sound; +(J/28764) Andrew MacKenzie Howden - 139 Sqn., Guelph; James F. Lee, Belleville; +(R/105276) Richard Davies Maynard - KIFA 59 OTU, Unionville; (J/35281) Arthur Ralph Wilmot 'Bud' McKay - PoW 401 Sqn. and (J/29646) Donald G. Gellatley, Hamilton; Arthur G. Robertson, London, (R/117679) Pierce Legare Wiggin Jr., +(R/98168) Robert Hearne Cochran - 1 AOS; (J/27859) Lloyd Arnold Friedman - DFC 405 Sqn., Moose Jaw, Sask.

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No. 3 EFTS Crumlin: Cowieson, Rose, Kryskow

No. 5 EFTS High River: Friedman

No. 10 EFTS Mt. Hope: Speller

No. 14 EFTS: Johnson

10 RAF - 5 of whom were commissioned

2 RAAF

Course 52: March 28 - July 17, 1942

Air Vice-Marshal J.A. Sully, A.F.C., addressed the graduates before presenting wings.

"This is a big day in your lives. It is not the finish of your training, it is just the beginning. The priviledge of wearing the wings of the RCAF brings with it responsibility. I know that you will always conduct yourselves in such a way as to bring great credit to the service which you represent. This business of flying is a team not an individual show."

(J/12880) John Merritt Perkins - 443 Sqn., Ithaca, New York, was top student in the course.

(J/12881) John Watkins Dunfield - DFC 161 BR Sqn., Vancouver; (J/12882) Gordon Byron Ough - DFC 458 Sqn., Newmarket; +(J12883) Donald Ian Cruickshank - 211 Sqn., Calgary; (J/12884) George Robert Nixon, Toronto; +(J/12886) John William Downs, Welland; (J/12887) Barclay James Westlake, East Angus, Que.; (J/12888) Frederick William Hyder - FI 14 SFTS, Hamilton; (J/12889) Eric George Smith - FI 2 SF DFC 107 Sqn., Navan; (J/12890) A.H. Davidson; (J/12891) Allan Cameron MacAuley, Ripley; (J/12892) Edward Winiarz - 414 Sqn., Winnipeg; (J/12893) John Ashe Lowndes - 430 Sqn., Toronto; (J/12894) Charles Albert Krause, Williamsford

Alexander Beatty Davidson, Utterson; Frederick William Hyder - FI 14 SFTS, Hamilton; Gil Dupree McKay Jr.; T. Martin, Welland; +(R/104389) John Elliott Coombs - 14 (P) AFU, St. Catharines; +(J/18069) Zygmunt Jan 'John' Zabek - 412 Sqn., Hamilton; Harold V. West - 416 Sqn.; Pt. Arthur; Thomas R. Ballantyne, Weston; +(J/90643) Martin Leland Fairles - 11 Sqn., Stouffville; (R/126789) Robert Smith Graham, Frederick Edward Colwill, Kenneth Harold Coffey (TR), Lee Wood Barnett (TR), James H. Smith, Toronto; Raymond R. Wilson, Toronto; Lawrence Vincent Bourke, North Bay; Harold B. Rutledge, Newmarket; +(R/122787) James Martin - 405 Sqn., Crowland; +(J/17700) Frank Bernard Solomon - 207 Sqn.; Isaac Jefferson? Webb; (J/21618) William Alexander Switzer - 193 Sqn., Edson, Alberta; J.M. Priestman

RAF: Trevor Adrian Koegen

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No. 6 EFTS:

No. 12 EFTS: Ough, Hyder, Ballantyne, Priestman

No. 14 EFTS Portage la Prairie: E.G. Smith

No. 18 EFTS: Dunfield, Switzer

LAC A.R. Bonner, Kimberley, B.C. and LAC J. Moody, NYC killed in flying accidents

Course 54: April 25 - August 13, 1942

45 in course

(J/13399 - R/128645) Gordon Mitchell Smith - DFC 421 Sqn.; (J/13400) B.C. Hartman; (J/13401) John Bendixsen - DFC 541 Sqn., NYC; (J/13402) Jerome Joseph Stahlberger - FI 6 SF; (J/13404) George Edward Haylock, London; (J/13405) R.P. Irving; (J/13406) D.E. Donaldson, Lethbridge, AB; (J/13407) Stephen Hopkins Straub

(R/129192) Forrest Bee 'Frosty' Young - DFC 133/111/442 Sqns.; Burnett (TR), Burkhart (TR), L. Chapman, Toronto; (J/19958) G.G. Farnell, Fergus; +(J/37339) Ronald Alastair Gaskin - 184 Sqn., Windsor; A.F. Hamilton, Sarnia; +(J/20386) William Clothier Leaming - 407/179 Sqns., Leaside; +(J/20348 - R/125417) Peter John McGarvey - 248 Sqn., Kingston; (J/20392) Clifford Edward Joseph Murphy - DFC 428 Sqn., Belleville; +(R/127953) Verne Arthur Joseph Poulin, Toronto; +(R/122292) James Malcolm Murie - 133 Sqn., KIFA 433 Sqn., b. AK r. New Westminster, B.C.

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No. 6 EFTS: Bendixsen

No. 12 EFTS: G.M. Smith, Poulin, McGarvey

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa (Co. 49): Young, Murphy, Leaming, Murie

Course 56: May 23 - September 11, 1942

66 graduates

(J/14331) Errol Quarrier Semple (OBE), (J/14332) J.G. Lloyd; (J/14333) J.B. Clemens; (J/14334) D.W. Partridge - FI 2SF;(J/14336) D. Mann; +(J/14337) Donald Cameron McLeod, (J/14338) William Roger Thorpe, (J/14339) John Attison Wismak, (J/14340) Franklin Anderson Riffle, (J/14341) J.L. Maxwell; (J/14343) R.G. Knight; (J/14344) Franklin Van Wart; (J/14345) T.C. Taylor (FI 6 SF)

+William Gorman, George Andrew Whitman, (J/18177) William Wrigley Watts Turnbull, George Louis Cutsinger, Michael Joseph Cooney, Robert Henry Wehrman, +Frank Donavan Gallion, +(R/128771) Edward Mathis Mills - KIFA 57 OTU; James Anderson Buchanan IV, Sidney Hare Aughinbaugh, Robert Hanley Halpin, +Nelson Rezolli Collins, (R/136099) George Joseph Shenberger; Robert Alexander Dowdy Jr., Robert Reed Callender, (J/17953) Martin Oscar Levy, Charles Leslie Rispler, +(R/136199) Robert Van Kennedy Jr. - KIFA 55 OTU; Herbert Bryant Smith - 269 Sqn., Toronto; +(R/127776) Milton (Eldon) Soules - 403 Sqn., Orillia

(R/129229) Leading Aircraftman Donald Barnes Parkhill - killed in flying accident

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No. 9 EFTS, St. Catharines (Co. 51): Shenberger, Levy, Kennedy, Borrowes (transferred to Co. 58)

No. 21 EFTS (Co. 50): Mills

No. 22 EFTS (Co. 50): Soules

Course 58: June 20 - October 9, 1942

62 Graduates

E Flight

+(J/14827 - R122637) Lester Ferguson Blakeney - 420 Sqn., Montreal; +(J/14828) John Worth Wright - remustered KIFA 61 OTU; (J/14829) Robert Ludlam Armstrong; +(J/14830 - R124058) William Charles Lawrence - 402 Sqn.; (J/14831 - R/137317) Albert Alfonse Bajarunas; (J/14832) Trafford William Hanson Carvell, Montreal; (J/14833) Paul Ralph Reaumont; (J/14834) M.J. Cowie; (J/14835) Kenneth Tyley; (J/14836) George Munro Lawson - 239/414 Sqns., Toronto; (J/14837) Charles Edward Shofner; (J/14838) T.N. Smith; (J/14839) J.A.L. McArthur; (J/14840) Alexander Guy Rogers; +(J/14842) William Jackson; +(J/14844) John Norman Punshon; (J/14845) W.T. Dovey; (J/14846) Duncan Robert Loney; (J/14847) T.E. Fitzgerald; +(J/14848) Robert James Niven; (J14849) Theodore Willard Case, (J/14850) Albert Leroy Wolfe; +(J/14851) Harold Lundy Flynn - remustered WAG, Teulon, Manitoba; +(J/14852 - R/125592) Herman Carver Jr. - KIFA 9 (C) OTU

(R/143841) Paul Ralph Reumont; +(R/129634) Hugo Henry Dotzenroth, Kitchener; +(R/135047 - J.19536) Robert Dean Borrowes - 427/428/405 Sqns. DFC, Montreal

+(J/19586) James Llewellyn Allan - DFC 198 Sqn.

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No. 1 EFTS Malton: Reumont, Lawson, Blakeney

No. 2 EFTS Ft. William (Co. 52): Carver, Lawrence

No. 10 EFTS Pendleton

No. 12 EFTS (Co. 52): Dotzenroth

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa - (Co. 53): Flynn

Course 60: July 19 - November 5, 1942

Air Vice-Marshal Robert Leckie, D.S.O., D.S.C., D.F.C., air member for training Air Council, RCAF Headquarters Ottawa presented wings and addressed the graduates.

“You are entering the war at a critical stage which marks our transition from the defensive to the offensive.

"Our strength is growing, that of the enemy is waning. Never again can he hope for the easy victories he has had to date as a result of his secret preparations and unprovoked assaults on his smaller neighbors. From now on in the air, he will be matched, pilot for pilot, crew for crew, and aircraft for aircraft. There is no doubt that our main enemy, the German, is a skillful and resolute pilot, but he is no superman. You have been better trained, you will be better mounted and when you met him in equal combat I have no doubt as to the result.

"The Hun today can be beaten in the air, just as surely as his father was before him, and he will find in the end that the weapon upon which he placed so much faith and reliance has turned in his hand, and he will rue the day that he challenged the democracies to mortal combat in the skies. This then is your role: to seek out the enemy, fight him, defeat him, and never crusaders fought for such a just cause as that to which you are pledged."

Top student in the class was (GB.133665) Maurice Herbert Exton (DFC), a member of the large contingent of Royal Air Force pilot trainees in the course.

(J/20588) L.E. Blundell; (J/20589) T.H. Gleig; +(J/20590 - R/137294) Alvin Bernard Waton - KIFA 111 OTU; (J/20591) Lynn Arthur Roach - 440 Sqn., Bruce Mines;+(J/20592 - R144089) James Douglas Macklem - KIFA 47 Sqn., Toronto; (J/20593) Jack Albert Russell - DFC 203 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/20595 - R133876) Kenneth Brant Thomas KIFA 304 FTU, Toronto; (J/20596) William C. Al Winslow, Millbrook; (J/20597) John Hedley Copp - 436 Sqn., Toronto

John Albert 'Jack' Bell, Toronto; William Arnold C.S. Marshall, Toronto; John H. Copp, Toronto; George Lloyd Hill, Prescott; Eldon Jack Whitney, Seven Bridges; Daniel J. McKinnon, Victoria Mines, N.S.; (R124923 - J85896) Donald Vincent Campbell - 438 Sqn., N.S.

Airmen from England, Scotland Ireland, Trinidad, Wales, Australia and Northern Rhodesia 133665 Maurice Herbert Exton DFC 144 Sqn., Australia; 133667 Jack Elmes, London; 133668 William 'Paddy' Harbison - 118 Sqn., Kilrea, Derry, N. Ireland; 133669 - 1397462 Desmond Conrad de Verteuil - 353/32 Sqns., Trinidad; 133670 John Hodgson - 263 Sqn., Yorkshire; 133671 - 1337732 Edwin Arthur Bater - 245 Sqn., Bristol; +133673 Ronald Trevor Jackson - 74 Sqn., Bath, Somerset; 133675 Andrew Carabott; 133676 - 1318295 Ronald Arthur Walter Finch, Maidstone; 133677 Anthony Mainwaring 'Taff' Hughes, S. Wales; Sigurd Evans; Dennis L. Luth, Bristol; Alec 'Hank' Davies, Letchworth, Garden City; Stanley Galer; Roberts, N. Wales; 1503941 Richard Walton-Ainsley - 263 Sqn.; Baron von Wilbrhofter; Bill Whittaker, Edinburgh; +1335132 Stanley Victor Douglas Brown - 165 Sqn., London; George Edward Thomas Lawley; Gareth Simon, S. Wales; Jack Elmes, London

Posted in from

No. 1 EFTS Malton (Co. 54): Waton, Macklem, Russell

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa: Thomas

Course 66: October 10, 1942 - March 4, 1943

Group Captain Edwards presented Wings to graduates of Course 66 of the C.T.E.

55 RCAF Graduates

L.J. Gardon, Seattle, top in class

(J/24406) Donald Ralph Campbell - DFC 196 Sqn., Foxboro, Ont.; (J/24408) John Leroy Christenson - 548 Sqn.; (J/24410) Phillip G. Macklem - 438 Sqn., Toronto; (J/24411) Gordon Howard McLaren - 407 Sqn., Toronto; (J/24422) Eldon Grant Finch - 184 Sqn., Winnipeg; (J/24423) Emerson William Andrew; (J/24424) Garnet Wigle Bell - DFC 550 Sqn.; +(J/24425) Raymond Clifford Ridge - DFC 404 Sqn.; +(J/24427) Arthur Joseph Dilworth - 443 Sqn., Toronto

+(J/88446) Carl Joseph 'Pat' McConvey - 440 Sqn., Toronto; W.A. Blake, Toronto; (R144021) W.J. Boyd, Toronto; J.W. Campbell, Toronto; (J/85829) Steve Butte DFC - 403 Sqn., Michel, B.C.; K.R. Carter, Toronto; Herman Leo 'Bud' Consaul, Toronto; R.A. Curtis, Toronto; R.H. Dundas, Toronto; John? E. Faught, Toronto; J.P. Hipkiss, Toronto; (R/141457) Frank J. Hornberger - 439/402 Sqns., Toronto; H.A. Kirkby, Toronto; B.A. Whittaker, Toronto; Lloyd Frank 'Buck' Buckley, Fonthill; S.R. Castle, Hamilton; Lewis Dunkleman, Midland; W.J. Farr, Brampton; S.D. Harris, Brampton; K.A. MacDonald, Kirkland Lake; G.H. McLaren, Long Branch; +(R/141745) Frederick Charles Mison - 4 Radio School, Ottawa; J.B. Moore, Ottawa; John Redburn, Pt. Hope; D.T. Ridoire, Ottawa; Michael Anthony Sloski - 429 Sqn., Brampton; +(R/140577) Arthur Frankland Moore - KIFA 172 Sqn., Letellier, Manitoba

2 RAAF Graduates:

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No. 13 EFTS: Butte No. 20 EFTS Oshawa (Co. 61): Campbell, A. Moore

Virden: Finch

Course 68: November 8 - April 1, 1943

Air Commodore Frank McGill presented wings to the graduates. Wing Commander W.R. Kingsland presented wings to his son Robert Ross Kingsland

+(J/25130 - R156971) Lloyd Joseph Berry - 418 Sqn., Hamilton; (J/25132) Murray Edward Linkert - AFC 14 SF, Hamilton; (J/25133) Donald Stewart MacNeil - AFC; (J/25134 - R152245) Royden Woodrow 'Roy' Linkert, Hamilton; (J/25138) J.W. Fleming - PoW, Toronto; (J/25139) Robert Ross Kingsland - DFC 429 Sqn., Ottawa; (J/25140) Walter Kubicki - 439 Sqn., Hamilton; (J/25141) William Horace Rhodes - 403 Sqn.; +(J/25142) Jack Angus Hall McNally, Niagara Falls; (J/25144) M.C. Tucker; (J/25145) J.R. Smithies - 3 B&GS, Toronto; (J/25147) Joseph Francis Xavier Veronneau; (J/25148) D.R. Hambly; +(J/25149) George Dougald MacRae - 178 Sqn., (his brother died one day later), Toronto; (J/25151) Harry James Haus - DFC 601 Sqn., Kitchener

K.G. Gillmor - 430 Sqn., Hamilton; (J/44311) Bernard Ernest Bell - PoW 439 Sqn.; Orville Egan, Ottawa; George H. A. Manninen - 128 Sqn., Toronto; William James Walkom - PoW 412 Sqn., Toronto; C.W. Anderson, Goderich; W.G. Blake, Islington; William Cecil J. 'Bill' Clifford - 440 Sqn., St. Catharines; Cyril Mansford Corbet - 428 Sqn., Owen Sound; J.P. Dewar, Timmins; O.A. Egan, Ottawa; (R156747 - J45240) Robert Charles Gerald Gregory - 440 Sqn., Ottawa; G.M. Hall, Burlington; Robert W. Muirhead, Brantford; (J93564) John G. M. Patus - 416 Sqn., Welland; R.T. Sinclair, Guelph; Victor A. Tayles, Windsor; M.C. Tucker - 443 Sqn., Lakeview; Verner Menhola, Sudbury; C.W. Webb, Islington

Posted in from:

No. 9 EFTS St. Catharines: Bell, Gregory

No. 12 EFTS (Co. 63): Murray E. Linkert, Berry

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa: Kingsland

Course 70: November 20, 1942 - April 30, 1943

Group Captain D. Edwards, AFC, C.O., presented Wings to the graduates

50 RCAF Graduates

(J/26114) George Awrey Ecclestone - DFC 434 Sqn., Montreal; (J/26115) Lyle Franklin James - DFC 101 Sqn., Sarnia; (J/26116) William Maxwell Bateman - DFC 76 Sqn., Nashville; +(J/26120) Douglas Rendall Parker - 426 Sqn., Ottawa; (J/26121) Jacob Gill 'Jake' Gaudaur Jr., Orillia; +(J/26122) James Commodore Campbell - 626 Sqn., Thorold; (J/26128) Douglas Arthur Brown - DFC 408 Sqn., Sutton, Quebec; +(J/26130) Lorne Franklin Curry - 421 Sqn., Windsor; (J/26131) R.R. Jones - PoW; (J/26132) Edmond William Poscavage, Toronto; (J/26133) Joseph Lasek - DFC 429 Sqn., London, Ont.; (J/26134) Lawrence Joseph Hacking Jr.; (J/26236) J.N. McDowell - 36 OTU, Toronto; (J/26137) William Bryant Thomson Smiley - PoW 197 Sqn., Perth; (J/26138) S.M. McKibbin, Toronto; +(J/26139) Eric William McCann - 92 Sqn., Ottawa; +(J/26144) Raymond Edge - 417 Sqn., Swansea; (J/26145) Gordon Edward Plyley - DFC 427 Sqn., Niagara Falls

Chuck Darrow - 416 Sqn., B. J. Hyden, L. A. Plummer, Toronto; W. H. Scott, +(R/156015) Harold Duncan Tushingham - AFU, all of Toronto; S. E. Maynard,Markham; G. A. Browne, Ottawa; (J/86976) John Elson Sled - DFC 420 Sqn., Prescott; Robert Reginald Edmunds,Millbrook; A. W. McLean, W. B.Smiley, Perth; W. R. Mutton, Colborne; (J/85771) Alexander Lett Spence - DFC 434 Sqn., (Moby Grape) Flower Station, Ont.; (R/148960) John Patrick Joseph Hart - 417 Sqn., Point Anne, Ont.; O. A. Kelley, Timmins; (R/51504) Steve Brodack; Port Arthur; H. Ring, Collingwood; P. P. Ellis; J. R.Scott, Welland; D. W. Stewart, St.Catharines; G. H. Upper, Allenburg; J. J. Lynch, Guelph; J. C. Reid, Hagersville; E. P. Kennedy, Windsor; H. H. Jennar, Blenheim; (J/92360) John Aaron Gordon - DFC 253 Sqn., Wallaceburg

17 RAF Graduates:

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No. 7 EFTS Windsor Co. 65: James, Spence

No. 10 EFTS: Lasek, Bateman

No. 12 EFTS Goderich: Gordon

No. 13 EFTS: Plyley, Brown, Ecclestone, Johnston

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa: Poscavage
January 22, 1943: Harvard 3276, piloted by LAC J.G. Gaudaur, turned over on its nose at main aerodrome at 1520 hours. Pilot uninjured. Aircraft while taxiing with high boost turned over on nose - surface bad.

April 18, 1943: +(R145431) John Albert Johnston killed in flying accident

Course 72: January 11 - May 14, 1943

Group Captain Carling Kelly presented Wings to the graduates of the Combined Training Establishment at 2000 hours. After presenting the Wings Group Captain Carling Kelly called Sgt. J.B. Dicks to step out from amongst the graduates and for a few minutes spoke of Sgt. Dicks' service as an air gunner (No. 99 Sqn.).

48 RCAF Graduates

+(J/26406) Ronald William Doidge; (J/26408) William Ewen Burdett Mason - DFC 156 Sqn., b. Can. r. Toledo; +(J/26409 - R/145400) Cyril Oscare Barlow b. Can. r. Detroit - 211 Sqn. Beaufighter NV368 Burma; (J/26413) Ronald Lee Cox - DFC 419 Sqn., Shelburne, N.S.; +(J/26415 - R/160027) Theodore "Ted" Gorak - KIA 103 Sqn.

(R/65466) Sgt. John Bartlett 'Jack' Dicks, Harbour Buffett, Nfld.; D.H.J. Barlow, Windsor; G.W. Clarke, Windsor; R. Liddel, Windsor; W.N. Moore, Windsor; (J/87903) John Clayton 'Jack' Parry - DFC 166 Sqn., Windsor; C.F. Leeland, London; J.R. Stewart, London; R.M. Rice, Hamilton; J.A. Webber, Hamilton; Donald W. Epplett, Brantford; Walter Henry 'Wally' Weitendorf - 405 Sqn., Hanover; +(R/161130) Calvin Frederick Lee - 17 (P) AFU, London, Ont.

6 RAF Graduates:

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No. 11 EFTS (Co. 67): Gorak, Cox

No. 13 EFTS (Co. 65): Mason; Barlow, Lee (Co. 68)

Course 74: Feb. 8 - May 28, 1943

Wings Parade held in the Drill Hall at 1930 hours. Group Captain C. Carling Kelly presented Wings to the graduates of Course 74 of the Combined Training Establishment.

25 RCAF and 4 RAF graduates.

+(J/26633) John William Davidson - 115 Sqn., Toronto; (J/26634) James Edwin Malcolm Peacock - DFC, Orillia; (J/26635) William G. Jewitt - 417 Sqn., Toronto; +(J/26636) Royden Leslie Cotnam - 417 Sqn., Pembroke; +(J/26638) George Walter Bouck - 430 Sqn., Toronto

J.P. Austin, Toronto; J.J. Bailie, Toronto; E.F. Bailie, Toronto; R.B. Black, Toronto; R.M. Clark, Toronto; J.E. Hermanson, Toronto; V.A. Herron, Toronto; G.A. Moore, Toronto; J.R. Pedlar, Whitby; R.H. Reed, Oshawa; J.S. Smith, Hamilton; V.E. Cottrell - 403 Sqn., St. Catharines; N.M. Rothwell, Navan; William Briggs, Guelph; A.D. Gair, Simcoe; K.B. Inglis, Owen Sound; +(R/161470) Jack Chester Roulston KIFA 17 (P) AFU, London; J.J. Labine, Massey; D.S. Armitage, Deseronto; (J/87999) Donald Albert Rombough - DFC 431 Sqn., Gananoque

June 1943: George A. 'Buster' Browne, Ottawa remustered accountant receives wings

Course 76: Feb. 19 - June 24, 1943

Wings Parade was held on the tarmac at 1700 hours. Air Vice Marshal Frank McGill presented Wings to the 44 graduates.

28 RCAF: (J/27732) Robert Blake Houston - DFC, Toronto; +(J/27735) Robert Eric Pike, Leaside; (J/27738) Ronald Albert Russell, Campbellford; (J/27739) Kenneth Thomas Wallace - DFC 156 Sqn., Toronto; (J/27745) Thomas Ridgeway Wilson - DFC 417 Sqn., Toronto

R.B. Black, Toronto; +(J/88272) Howard Charles Braun - 115 Sqn., Toronto; H.W. Kiernan, Toronto; H. McColl, Toronto; W.C. Spence, Toronto; R.M. Swan, Toronto; W.D. Hayman, Brantford; Sesto Sinibaldi, Brantford; +L.A. Quellette, Windsor; +(J/86307) William Francis Pocock, Windsor; +A.J. Rutherford, Colborne; C. Stirtzinger, Bowmanville; D.D. Tatum, Guelph; Douglas C. Teskey, Sarnia; Michael Timco, St. Catharines; F.J. McInnes, Hamilton

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No. 9 EFTS: Wallace

16 RAAF: (426416) Cyril Borsht - PoW 463 Sqn.; (426199) Keith Alexander Watson - 106/97 Sqns.; (423134) Ewan Thomas David 'Hughie' Jones; +(426438) William Desmond 'Ned' Kelly - 189 Sqn.; (426375) Peter Hindle Nissen - DFC 194 Sqn.; (426204) Rod J. West; +(426043) William James Carpenter - CT bomb Aimer 460 Sqn.; (425489) Raymond Kenneth Conway; (426319) Bruce Raymond Coulter; (426435) Kevin D'Espie Glew; +(426346) Albert Keith Hornibrook - 61 Sqn.; +(426439) Terence James 'Terry' Kenyon - 466 Sqn.; (422688) Harold Phillip 'Harry' Peck - DFC 622 Sqn. his brother KIFA; (425212) Edward Alfred 'Ted' Rowlands - DFM 460 Sqn.; (425779) John Clarence Todd; +(426407) Dudley 'Dud' Wham - CT Nav. 149 Sqn.; +(425241) Brian Debernal White - CT BA 466 Sqn.; +(425353) Forbes 'Port' Porter - KIFA 353 Sqn.

Course 78: March 26 - July 23, 1943

At 1900 hours, Group Captain Kerr, AFC, Commanding Officer, No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School, Fingal, presented Wings to the graduates. 36 RCAF: +(J/28738) Harry Knobovitch - DFC 415 Sqn., Montreal; +(J/28744) George Allan Cashion - 421 Sqn., Montreal;

+(J/90900) George Frederick Peterson - 402 Sqn., Toronto; G.R. Gilbert, Hamilton

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No. 12 EFTS: Knobovitch, Peterson

+(J/36990) Jack Walter Hoad - KIFA 18 SFTS Gimli
13 RAAF: +(423077) Kenneth Victor Smith - 115 Sqn., Miranda, NSW and 2 RAF

Course 82: May 29 - September 17, 1943

At 1900 hours Group Captain C. Carling Kelly presented wings

26 RCAF and 18 RAF graduates

(J/7931) F/O Lorne Edward Kropf DFC - 405/432 Sqns., Kitchener and F/O George McMillan Kightley, Barrie were officer graduates of the course

William John Finseth, Renfrew; Douglas Worgan

Toronto graduates were H.L. Clark, Dennis Coghlin, D. B. Crowe,W. Jack Eastaugh, M. F. Farion, K. E.Fife, C. R. Groves, G. P. Haliburton,G. F. Massey, J. V. McCabe, J. K. McCullough, J. C. Pickering, R. J. Reilly, L. G. Ryder, Jack Stanborough, R. G. Wall, J. O. Watt, F. G. Wilkinson and R. E. Wood, Douglas Worgan, E. N. Armstrong, Peterborough; R, K. Arthurs, Prescott; J. W. Bullock, Ottawa; K.K. Glenn, Stayner; W. E. Greener Brantford; H. H. L. Hamilton, Newmarket; G. E. Henderson, Ottawa; G. F. Howarth, Scarboro Bluffs; G. C. Knupp, Barrie; G. G. Ledingham, Weston; J, L. A. Longo, Kitchener; W. E. McBride, Belleville, H. E. McGregor, Wallaceburg; D. R. Melvin, Winchester; Robert Merilees, Chatham; G. J. Saya, North Bay; G. H. Slack, Merivale; F. M. Sulpher, Renfrew; K. L. Weld, Komoka; J. G. Wheeler, St . Andrews; J.S. Walsh, Windsor; G.N. Sneyd, Guelph; Leslie W. Schunk, Scotland; K.R. Leonard, Angus; H.A. Kearney, Oshawa; J.E. Isaac, Brantford; F.K. Cooke, South Purcupine; J.W. Callaghan, Sudbury; A.K. Woodhill, Toronto; G.T. Weiss, Toronto; J.K. Twiss, Toronto; I.S. Smith, Toronto; A.N. Terry, Toronto

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No. 10 EFTS Pendleton: Payne

No. 20 EFTS Oshawa: Kropf

Mr. C.A.R. Warren was presented with the Wings of his son, Sgt. Warren, a member of Course 80 who was killed during the final days of his training.

Course 86: July 26 - November 12, 1943

Air Commodore Wait presented wings to graduates at 1930 hours. 61 RCAF: (J38365) G. Herb Slack - 417 Sqn.; (J/38373) W.T. Heron, Scarboro Junction; (J/38374) Ralph Henry, Westborough; (J/38375) Alfred G. Riddolls, Brantford; (J/38376) A.C. Richards - 438 Sqn.; (J/38377) Donald Melvin Payne - DFC 428 Sqn.; (J/38379) M. J. Quinlan, Kenilworth; (J/38383) Robert E. Purnell - 432 Sqn., Hamilton; (J/38384) J. M. Sobocan, Windsor; George Gordon Ledingham; (R109503) Robert Charles Merilees, Chatham Airmen included boys from Great Britain, the United States and Canada. Toronto graduates were I3. L. Clark, Dennis Coghlin, D. B. Crowe, W. J. Eastaugh, M. F. Farion, K. E. Fife, C. R. Groves, G. P. Haliburton, G. F. Massey, J. V. McCabe, J. K. McCullough, D. M. Payne, J. C. Pickering, R. J. Reilly, L. G. Ryder, Jack Stanborough, R. G. Wall, J. O. Watt, F. G. Wilkinson and R. E. Wood. D. Worgan, Thistletown; E. N. Armstrong, Peterborough ; R. K. Arthurs, Prescott ; J. W. Bullock, Ottawa; W. J. Finseth, Renfrew; K. K. Glenn, Stayner; W. E. Greener Brantford; H. H. L. Hamilton, Newmarket; G. E. Henderson, Ottawa; Ralph Henry, Westborough; W. T. Heron, Scarborough Junction ; G. F. Howarth, Scarboro Bluffs ; G. C. Knupp, Barrier G. G. Ledingham, Weston; J, L. A: Longo, Kitchener; W. E. McBride, Belleville, H. E. McGregor, Wallaceburg; 1). R. Melvin, Winchester ; Robert Merilees, Chatham; R. E. Purnell, Hamilton;, M. J. Quinlan, Kenilworth ; A. G. Riddolls, Brantford; G. J. Saya, North Bay; G. H. Slack,, Merivale; J. M. Sobocan, Windsor; F. M. Sulpher, Renfrew; K. L. Weld, Komoka; J.G. Wheeler, St. Andrews 6 RAF

'Bluey' Truscott - Course 14

Keith William 'Bluey' Truscott (DFC & Bar, M.I.D.) became one of Australia's best-known flying aces of the Second World War. Born on 17 May 1916 at Prahran, Melbourne, he proved to be both a good student and keen sportsman, playing Australian Rules for Melbourne's premiership team in 1939. Already famous as a footballer, Truscott enlisted in the RAAF on 21 July 1940 amidst considerable publicity. Despite his sporting reputation, Truscott was not a natural pilot and almost failed his course. His position as something of a public figure afforded Truscott a chance to continue flying and he eventually earned his wings despite becoming known for his poor landings. He was sent to Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme, was commissioned (400213) in February 1941 at Camp Borden (Course 14), and then ordered to England, where he joined No. 452 Squadron as a foundation member on 5 May. Flying a Spitfire, he scored his first victory in August. Thereafter, his score began a gradual rise. After three months of war flying, he had destroyed at least 11 German aircraft, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and made a flight commander. In January 1942 he was made acting squadron leader before being posted back to Australia in March. Late that month he was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross. At that point he was the most well-known pilot in the RAAF. In Australia, Truscott joined No. 76 Squadron in Bankstown. The squadron, flying Kittyhawks, had previously served in Papua. The squadron, including Truscott, redeployed there in July 1942. Before leaving Australia, Truscott played a last game for the Melbourne football club; lacking match fitness, he was unable to keep up with the play and found himself exhausted. He had received a rousing public welcome and kicked a goal, much to the fans' delight, but when he was asked whether he would play again, he replied that it was no longer for him. It was, he said, "too dangerous." Based at Milne Bay, No. 76 Squadron arrived shortly before the Japanese landings. By August Truscott was in command, the previous leader having been killed in action. Truscott evacuated his aircraft to Port Moresby amidst uncertainty about whether the airfields at Milne Bay could be held. Truscott and his squadron served throughout the Milne Bay battle in constant rain, heavy mist, and low clouds. The mountainous terrain, slippery runways, and heavy anti-aircraft fire added to the danger but Truscott survived and continued to command the squadron when it was transferred to Darwin. His tally rose to 16 enemy aircraft destroyed along with three probables and three damaged. In February 1943 the squadron moved to a quieter posting in Western Australia. Truscott was on a training flight over the Exmouth Gulf on 28 March when he made a mock attack on a low-flying Catalina. Misjudging his height over the glassy water, Truscott crashed into the sea and was killed. (AWM)

Honourable Frederick Charles Colborne DFC

1916 - 2006 Fred was born in St. John, NB and moved to Calgary with his family at the age of two. As a child, Fred was a stage actor and vaudeville entertainer who was well known in Calgary. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force just in time for WWII and was stationed in Halifax as a Wing Commander on anti-submarine operations in the North Atlantic. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was elected to the Alberta Legislature as an Air Force Servicemen's representative in 1944. That was the beginning of a distinguished 27-year career as an MLA, during which he served in Cabinet as a minister without portfolio, Minister of Public Works and Minister of Municipal Affairs.

(402745) Rawdon Hume Middleton V.C. - Course 24

Rawdon Middleton was born on 22 July 1916 at Waverly in Sydney, a great-nephew of the explorer, Hamilton Hume. His family moved to the western districts of New South Wales when he was young and he attended school in Dubbo, becoming a keen sportsman and later finding work as a jackeroo. He enlisted in the RAAF on 14 October 1940 under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Having learnt to fly at Narromine, New South Wales, Middleton was sent to Canada to continue his instruction. He reached Britain in September 1941 and was promoted to Flight Sergeant in December that year. In February 1942 Middleton was posted to 149 Squadron, Royal Air Force, and began his operational career. His first operational flights, to the Ruhr, were as second pilot in Stirling bombers but by July he had become first pilot. His first operation as captain of an aircraft was to Düsseldorf. On 28 November 1942 he took off on his 29th operation, to the Fiat works in Turin, Italy. Middleton's aircraft was struck by flak over the target, one shell exploded in the cockpit wounding Middleton in the face and destroying his right eye. The same shell also wounded the second pilot and wireless operator. Middleton lost consciousness and the aircraft dived to just 800 feet before the second pilot brought it under control. They were hit by more flak as they tried to escape the target. When Middleton regained consciousness he began the long and gruelling flight back over the Alps towards England, knowing that his damaged aircraft had insufficient fuel to complete the journey. The crew discussed the possibility of abandoning the aircraft or trying to land in northern France but Middleton decided to head for England where his crew would have the chance to bail out. As they approached the French coast the Stirling was again hit by flak but flew on. Now over the English coast with only five minutes of fuel left Middleton ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. Five men left the stricken plane, and two remained on board to help Middleton before attempting to parachute to safety, although unfortunately both were drowned. The Stirling then crashed into the sea, killing Middleton. He was only one operation away from completing his first tour on bombers. Middleton's bravery was recorded in the English press and earned him the admiration of the British public and a posthumous Victoria Cross. His body washed ashore at Dover on 1 February 1943 and he was buried in the churchyard of St. John's, Beck's Row, Suffolk, with full military honours. (AWM)

Harry Compton - Course 18

Shot down in Libya in November 18, 1942, Compton spent five and one-half days in the desert walking 125 miles to regain contact with Allied forces; he thus became a member of the "Late Arrivals Club" (otherwise known as the "Order of the Boot"). On rejoining his unit he found his friends preparing to ship his effects back to his parents. "I came down in the desert after my plane had been shot up by a Nazi air gunner. I had a rough idea of where I was. I knew I was within 20 miles of an enemy airfield so i charted out a course as best I could and started walking. I was five and a half days before I made contact with the British and i must have walked 125 miles. It was hard on the legs and it was a month before I fully recovered. The days in the desert were very hot but the nights surprisingly cold. It rained nearly every night. For food I had the emergency rations. It was really not too bad. All I saw during the six days was a few enemy aircraft. But they fortunately, were not interested in me."

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Course 32

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