The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the BCATP, 1939-1945,|
223 pages, by Fred J. Hatch, published 1983 by the Department of
National Defence, ISBN 0660114437, states that 856 students were
killed during their training in Canada by the BCATP.
The expression "Aerodrome of Democracy" is from Lester B. Pearson. While he was posted
to the Canadian embassy in Washington, he slipped it into a message that he had written for
the President of the United States to sign.
The phrase was later used by F.J. Hatch in the title of his book on the history of the BCATP.
Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, begun in late 1939,|
crews for the air forces of Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand
were trained at airfields scattered across Canada. By its finish in 1945,
the plan had trained 131,553 airmen, 55 per cent of them Canadian.
Historians J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton in Canada
and the Two World Wars, published in 2003, describe the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan as "quite possibly Canada's major
contribution" to World War Two.
— The Globe & Mail, 17 March 2005
Links to Relevant WebsitesCanadian Warplane Heritage Museum History of the BCATP
The BCATP by Veterans Affairs Canada
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum
Aircraft of the BCATP
The BCATP (author not known)
Garden of Memories BCATP video
On June 6, 1999, the "Garden of Memories" memorial was unveiled in Winnipeg
as a permanent tribute to all those, both civilian and military alike, who trained, and
contributed to the success of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
Shearwater Aviation Museum