Four wireless air gunners in front of a training aircraft at graduationRCAF Foundation
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was the training system for pilots and aircrew of the British Commonwealth during the Second World War. The agreement to create the plan was signed in 1939 between Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia
RCAF and the BCATP
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ran the BCATP at airfields across Canada. Pilots and aircrew such as navigators, gunners, bomb aimers, wireless operators, and flight engineers.
The training was not always safe. Some 856 BCATP participants were killed.
The BCATP
More than 130,000 crewmen and women were trained between 1939 and 1945. It was one of Canada's great contributions to Allied victory in the Second World War.
American United States President Franklin Roosevelt called Canada the "aerodrome of democracy" because of the BCATP.
Line-up of Fairey BattlesRCAF Foundation
No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School
The No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School (No. 1 BGS) opened on August 19th 1940 at Jarvis, Ontario near the north shore of Lake Erie. It was the first of eleven bombing and gunnery schools formed within the BCATP to train bomb aimers and air gunners.
No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School's Location
The site near Jarvis was chosen as it had much wide open space, particularly over Lake Erie and a small rural population around it.
American Airlines had previously used the site as an emergency landing strip and therefore became an optimal place for a bombing and gunnery school.
Aerial View of No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery SchoolRCAF Foundation
No.1 BGS
An aerial view of No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School
The Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle was the most prevalent aircraft at No.1 B&GS. The Battle was the first aircraft to land at the school.
The first gunnery course started on August 26 1940. The first bombing course started three days later.
Gunnery Training at Jarvis
The aircraft used at No.1 BGS included the Anson, Battle, Bolingbroke, Harvard, Lysander, and Moth.
Six Toronto boys who became RCAF wireless air gunners at graduation ceremonies at No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Jarvis, Ont.RCAF Foundation
Bombing and Gunnery School Expansion
All the existing bombing and gunnery schools were expanded in 1942. As an example, No.1 BGS had one hundred and thirty pupils in January 1942 and over four hundred a year later.
Instrument Checker 2RCAF Foundation
RCAF Women's Division
Many members of the RCAF Women's Division served at No.1 BGS. The first group arrived in May 1942. These women worked as instrument technicians, mechanics, and in administrative roles. These women played a vital role in the operations of the school.
LAC L.N. Pfander is pictured in the gun turret of a training aircraft at No. 1 Bombing And Gunnery School, Jarvis, Ont.RCAF Foundation
No.1 BGS as an International Training Centre
Students came from the RCAF but also the Royal Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force. Poles serving in the RAF were also trained at No.1 BGS. Staff also came from these different air forces.
Graduations from No.1 BGS
Graduations were common with several taking place each month from the various specialties taught at No.1 BGS. Nearly 6500 aircrew were trained and graduated from the school.
P/O. BabineauRCAF Foundation
Pilot Officer Babineau
Pilot Officer Babineau, from Saskatoon, was shot down by a Japanese aircraft on Christmas Day, 1941 near Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He and other crew members spent twenty hours in a dinghy before being picked up. He graduated from No. 1 BGS.
No.1 BGS and Casualties
Unfortunately, accidents and crashes were common at No.1 BGS. These incidents resulted in many crew and students being injured and killed. Thirty-nine aircrew died at No.1 BGS during the war.
New Brunswick was represented by LAC. D.W. Short of Brown's Flats at the 5 February 1943 Graduation GroupRCAF Foundation
No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School Closes
The BCATP was so successful that many surplus aircrew and pilots were trained by late 1944 than the program was gradually wound down. Many schools were closed before the end of the war. The No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School was one of them and closed on February 17th 1945.
No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School Today
The site became an oil refinery in 1978, which remains there to this day.
Commemoration of No.1 BGS
A plaque to commemorate the school and those who served there during the Second World War was unveiled in 1993.
Photo Credits (All Department of National Defence unless indicated)
Slide 1 PL-2649
Slide 2 PL-14915
Slide 3 PL-14929
Slide 4 PL-9288
Slide 5 PL-2639
Slide 7 Library and Archives Canada Item ID #3513048
Slide 8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF_Station_Jarvis#/media/File:RCAF_Jarvis_Aerial_View_1940s.jpg
Slide 9 BCA66-1559-3
Slide 11 PL-14914
Slide 12 PL-12721
Slide 13 PL-12762 PL-12767 PL-12765 PL-12759
Slide 14 PL-14918
Slide 15 PL-6449
Slide 16 PL-10009
Slide 17 PL-14926
Slide 18 PL-14923
Slide19 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF_Station_Jarvis#/media/File:RCAF_Jarvis_Hangar_Line_Site.JPG
Slide 20
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RCAF_No._1_B%26GS_Historical_Plaque.JPG
Sources
F.J. Hatch, Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan 1939-1945, 1983
https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c12331/818
https://militarybruce.com/abandoned-canadian-military-bases/abandoned-bases/ontario/#:~:text=No.%201%20Bombing%20and%20Gunnery%20School%3A
