The Politics of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Base Selection

Between 1940 and 1945, Canada trained 131,533
Commonwealth pilots and air crew under the BCATP for
the Allied war effort. To do so, the RCAF had to
expand its aerodrome infrastructure to accommodate
over one hundred training schools and their auxiliary
fields. Few historians have considered the site
selection process, assuming that community lobbying
and political patronage determined where air bases
were built. To verify these hypotheses, the author
has consulted the primary records (politicians
personal papers, communities lobbying letters,
official investigation reports, and final selection
decisions), reconstructed the BCATP selection
process, and discovered that partisan politics played
no part. Experts from the Department of Transport
and the RCAF evaluated and selected sites according
to pre-determined, objective, and technical criteria
that ensured the timely and economical development of
aerodromes suitable for military air training. The
book will be of value to anyone interested in
Canada s air force, government policy, civil-military
relations, political activism, and the Western
provinces during the Second World War.

Autorentext

BA (Hons), MA. Studied history at CarletonUniversity. Researched Canadian air force professionalization,training, leadership, morale, accident investigation, andgovernment policy between the First World War and the early ColdWar period. Defence Scientist/Strategic Analyst with DefenceResearch and Development Canada.

Klappentext

Between 1940 and 1945, Canada trained 131,533Commonwealth pilots and air crew under the BCATP forthe Allied war effort. To do so, the RCAF had toexpand its aerodrome infrastructure to accommodateover one hundred training schools and their auxiliaryfields. Few historians have considered the siteselection process, assuming that community lobbyingand political patronage determined where air baseswere built. To verify these hypotheses, the authorhas consulted the primary records (politicians'personal papers, communities' lobbying letters,official investigation reports, and final selectiondecisions), reconstructed the BCATP selectionprocess, and discovered that partisan politics playedno part. Experts from the Department of Transportand the RCAF evaluated and selected sites accordingto pre-determined, objective, and technical criteriathat ensured the timely and economical development ofaerodromes suitable for military air training. Thebook will be of value to anyone interested inCanada's air force, government policy, civil-militaryrelations, political activism, and the Westernprovinces during the Second World War.