Training+and+Special+Forces

One of the key roles Canadians played was to provide a base for Allied training in the air force and intelligence.


 * Air Force Training **

In December 1939, an agreement called the **British Commonwealth Air Training Plan** (BCATP) was signed by Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Volunteers came from all over the Commonwealth for air crew training at sites across Canada.

Canada was a natural location for this program. It was far from the military action, so there was no danger of trainee air crews being caught in air raids. Fog was relatively rare, especially on the prairies where many of the schools were, so flights were able to operate most of the time. The open terrain allowed crews to train for long-distance missions in safety. And once the crews completed their training they could get to Britain within two weeks.


 * Literacy Hint **

Often a long name of an organization or program is followed by its initials (the first letter of each word) in parentheses. These letters are used as a short form, such as BCATP for British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in this chapter.

Les Alexander from Flin Flon, Manitoba, trained as a pilot at a BCATP flight school. Here's how he described his experience.

Our task was to fly at night to bomb a specific target, or if that one turned out to be impossible, some alternate target... I made 500 of these training flights and never had one iota of trouble with any of those machines - not even an uncalled-for flutter of an engine. I have always attributed this to those women who did much of the servicing... Sure, the pilots and air crew did a great job but its, time now to give credit to those on the ground without whom we couldn't have kept those planes aloft. Bill McNeil, //Voices of a War Remembered: An Oral History of Canadians in World War II// (Toronto: Doubleday Canada Limited, 1991), pp. 53-54


 * iota **: the smallest amount


 * attributed **: recognized the cause of an effect

It wasn't just pilots who trained under the BCATP. There were training programs for navigators, bomb aimers, air gunners, paratroopers, and radio operators-all of whom were needed on long-range bombers. Many of the Plan's graduates went on to serve in the major air battles in the war.

Figure 8-3 The Size of the BCATP. What percentage of the trainees were Canadian?

BEGIN TABLE:

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Number of trainees <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: 131 533

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Number of Canadian trainees <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: 72 835

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Number of trainers <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: 10 906

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Maintenance and support staff <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: 104 113

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Number of training schools and other sites (at peak) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: 231

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Total cost <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: $2 100 000 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Major BCATP Statistics: Canadian share of total cost <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Figure: $1 600 000 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Sources: Adapted from //The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition// (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited, 1999), p. 306; Gerald Hallowell, ed., //The Oxford Companion to Canadian History// (Don Mills: Oxford University Press Canada, 2004), pp. 89-90. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END TABLE.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Intelligence Training: Camp X **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Another special facility set up in Canada was for intelligence training. This facility was established near Whitby, Ontario, in December 1941. Its official name was STS (Special Training School) 103, but it was generally known as Camp X. Intelligence services are in charge of secretly gathering information about the enemy. Their personnel require skills such as radio communication and survival training. The operations at Camp X were so secret that its existence wasn't officially acknowledged until the 1970s, over 30 years after the war ended?

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Most of the graduates were Canadians and Americans who went on to operate missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. Although it was a British-run school, Camp X was headed by a Canadian. Sir William Stephenson, from Winnipeg, had worked for the British intelligence services since the war began.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">It's difficult to separate fact from fiction when reading about Camp X. Stephenson claimed that it trained the agents who assassinated the German General Reinhard Heydrich in 1942. Later books on the subject, however, claim this wasn't true.

__ Questions __ __ 1. Explain why Canada was a natural location for the BCATP. __ __ 2. Identify the group of people Les Alexander thinks were responsible for the BCATP's success. __ As a class, discuss reasons why you think they weren't given proper credit for their actions. __ 3. a)What was Camp X? __ __ b) Why do you think we're still not sure what went on there? __


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Producing War Materials: Increased Employment **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">During the Depression years, unemployed Canadians felt that the federal government was slow to boost the economy. Once the war broke out in 1939, however, it rapidly expanded the economy, placing special emphasis on the production of war goods. By any account, Canada's war effort was massive. The value of Canada's economic production increased from $5.6 billion in 1939 to $11.8 billion in 1945.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION:

Figure 8-4 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">British pilots in the cockpit of a plane during training at Pearce, Alberta. How did training together help air personnel from different countries work as a team on war missions? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PRODUCER'S NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Photo: omitted. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PRODUCER'S NOTE. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PHOTO CAPTION.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Ian Fleming, the creator of the famous fictional spy hero, James Bond, taught at Camp X for a short time. Fleming was employed by British intelligence. Many of the James Bond adventures he wrote about were based on ideas that came to Fleming while teaching at Camp X.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The federal government gave money to established civilian businesses to turn their production over to munitions. Car factories became tank and military truck factories. Civilian aircraft plants turned out the Lancaster and Halifax bombers and ship-building yards produced naval boats. All of this created badly needed jobs.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION:

Figure 8-5 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Thousands of people from other regions, especially the Maritimes and Newfoundland, flocked to the war factories of Quebec and Ontario. What do you think it would be like to work in a factory like this? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PRODUCER'S NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Photo: omitted. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PRODUCER'S NOTE. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PHOTO CAPTION.

Figure 8-6 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Employment Figures in Key Sectors in Canada. "People Working in Agriculture" includes all those jobs involved in producing food items. "Non-agricultural Jobs" includes all other jobs, whether they were involved in the war effort or not. Non-agricultural jobs could be anything from hairdressing to working in a munitions production plant. What trends do you see in the numbers of people working in each of the three types of work?

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN TABLE:

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1933 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 5000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 257 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 2 192 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 826 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1935 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 5000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 298 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 2 479 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 625 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1939 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 9000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 379 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 2 741 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 529 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1941 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 296 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 224 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 3 047 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 195 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1943 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 717 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 118 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 3 373 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 76 000

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Year: 1945 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working in the Armed Services: 736 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Agriculture: 1 144 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Working In Non-agricultural Jobs: 3 303 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Number of People Seeking Work: 73 000 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Source: M.C. Urquhart and K.A.H. Buckley, //Historical Statistics of Canada// (Toronto: Macmillan and Company, 1965), p. 61. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END TABLE.

__ Questions __ __ 4. Write down three facts or pieces of evidence that show that Canada's war production expanded significantly between 1939 and 1945. __ __ 5. In the table in Figure 8-6, look at the information for the number of people in non-agricultural jobs. Did the number of workers increase or decrease? __

History Skill: Making Generalizations Based on Statistics

When historians study the past, they uncover a lot of facts and figures. Whether they're writing a book or paper or contributing to a website, they may have a limited amount of space.

To present their findings in a manageable form, historians often make generalizations. A generalization is a statement that summarizes evidence. The statement may not be true in absolutely every case, but it is accurate most of the time.

To make a generalization based on statistics...

- record the facts and figures you find

- look for a pattern in the information

- describe the pattern

Step 1

In making generalizations based on statistics, the first step is to record the information you've uncovered. Let's say that you've discovered the information about wages during World War 11 in Figure 8-6. As a historian, you would present the evidence as clearly as possible.

Step 2

The next step is to look for a pattern in the information you've found. For example, Figure 8-6 contains four separate sets of figures for six different years. Can you see a pattern there? Carefully look at Figure 8-6, then consider the answers to the following questions.

1. For what jobs did figures rise from 1933 to 1945? (Number of People Working in Non-agricultural Jobs; Number of People Working in Armed Services)

2. Which figures fell over this period? (Number of People Working in Agricultural Jobs; Number of People Seeking Work)

Step 3

Now that you see the pattern, you should be able to describe it. For Figure 8-6 the generalization is that "the number of people looking for work and the number of people in agricultural jobs decreased as the number of workers in the armed services and non-agricultural jobs went up."

Practise It!

1. Look for a pattern in the following table.

Figure 8-7 Persons with jobs and Persons Seeking Work, by Gender, Canada, 1938-1946.

BEGIN TABLE:

Year: 1938 Males With Jobs: 3 209 000 Males Seeking Work: 443 000 Females With Jobs: 936 000 Females Seeking Work: 79 000

Year: 1940 Males With Jobs: 3 273 000 Males Seeking Work: 355 000 Females With Jobs: 979 000 Females Seeking Work: 68 000

Year: 1942 Males With Jobs: 3 364 000 Males Seeking Work: 101 000 Females With Jobs: 1 104 000 Females Seeking Work: 34 000

Year: 1944 Males With Jobs: 3 098 000 Males Seeking Work: 39 000 Females With Jobs: 1 411 000 Females Seeking Work: 24 000

Year: 1946 Males With Jobs: 3 649 000 Males Seeking Work: 107 000 Females With Jobs: 1 106 000 Females Seeking Work: 17 000 Source: Historical Statistics of Canada, p. 62. END TABLE.

2. Make your generalization.

BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION:

Figure 8-8 Elsie MacGill was the first woman in Canada to graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto. She later earned a degree in aeronautical engineering and became the first female aircraft designer in the world. During the war she was in charge of producing the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane. END PHOTO CAPTION.

"Keep 'em firing": Give the troops enough war materials to fight the war

debutante: a young woman used to attending lavish social dinners and parties

time and a half: one and a half hours' pay for every hour of overtime work


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Female Employment **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">During the war years another major trend developed. Many women replaced men who had joined the forces, answering advertisements such as the one below. The ad contains language that, though common for its time, would be considered sexist today. For example, women were often referred to as "girls."

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Women between the ages of 18 and 35, and in good health, are wanted to work in eastern war plants. 'Keep 'em firing' is the motto used. The kind of girl we want is the girl with a good head on her shoulders. We take girls absolutely unskilled in war industries and train them right at the plant. A Saskatchewan girl - whether she's a farmer's daughter, domestic servant, waitress, clerk, stenographer, college graduate or debutante - if she is willing to learn - has the qualities of a good war worker. Wages are $0.35 an hour for a 48-hour week. Time and a half for all overtime. At the end of 4 to 6 weeks, the rate of pay will be increased according to the individual's ability. //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Leader-Post //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">, Regina, 5 December 1942

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION:

Figure 8-9 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">From coast to coast women took on a variety of non-traditional jobs to help the war effort. These jobs allowed them to show patriotism and gave them the money they needed to live. What kinds of challenges do you think they might have faced? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">a) Workers in a lumberyard in Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">b) Sixteen-year-old Rosina Vanier working in a Pictou, Nova Scotia, shipyard. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PRODUCER'S NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Photos: omitted. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PRODUCER'S NOTE. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PHOTO CAPTION.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Wages for Male and Female Production Workers **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The following graph shows some interesting trends in the wages of male and female production workers during the war years.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">What patterns can you see? How can you explain them? It would take over 40 years before "equal pay for equal work" would become Canadian law in the 1970s. This meant that women and men doing the same work had to be paid the same. "Equal pay for work of equal value" was first introduced in the 1980s. This meant that job categories with the same responsibilities and requirements must be paid the same. (Previously it had been legal for an employer to pay male-dominated job classes, such as caretakers, more than female-dominated job classes, such as food preparation workers.)

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN GRAPH CAPTION:

Figure 8-10 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Weekly Wages for Male and Female Production Workers in Canada, 1935-1945. What generalizations can you make based on this graph? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Source: //Historical Statistics of Can//ada, pp. 99-100. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PRODUCER'S NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Graph: omitted. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PRODUCER'S NOTE. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END GRAPH CAPTION.

__ Questions __ __ 6. Create a radio ad that would encourage women to become factory workers to help the war effort. __ 7. As a class we will discuss Figure 8-10: did men's or women's wages rise more quickly during the war years?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Here are some average costs from 1939: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">sirloin steak: $0.59/kg <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1 polo shirt: $0.45 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">men's suit with two pairs of trousers: $20.00. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">1 table radio: $9.00 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">dinner and dance to live music (2 people): $7.00 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Source: Robert Bothwell, //Years of Victory, 1939-1948// (Toronto: Grolier, 1987), pp. 16-19. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Compare these costs with prices for the same products today.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Literacy Hint **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The most important point in a paragraph is usually found in the first sentence. The sentences that follow give information to support that point. As you read, consider the main point in each paragraph.