The+War+in+the+Air+and+War's+End

= The War in the Air =

The Allies realized at the outbreak of the war that air power was going to be a key factor. They needed both bombers (planes used to drop bombs on the enemy's targets) and fighters (planes used to protect their own targets).

When war broke out in 1939, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) had only 29 military aircraft. It was  far from war-ready. The government rapidly converted existing factories to warplane production. New pilots and mechanics had to be trained quickly too.

By the summer of 1940, when the German //Luftwaffe// bombers attacked southern England in order to set up a Blitzkreig, 80 Canadian pilots were already flying fighters against them. They helped the Allies successfully defend England in the Battle of Britain (see the timeline in Intro). But that was only the beginning. Each month, more and more Canadians were shipped to Britain to fly in fighters and bombers. More ground crew also went to service the aircraft.


 * Air Battles **

Air crews from all over the Commonwealth trained and fought together in Britain's Royal Air Force. As a result, no famous raids are exclusively assigned to Canadian air crews (or any other nationality). But Canadians participated in almost all of the major air battles of World War II.

Both the Axis and Allied sides bombed targets that resulted in the deaths of civilians. John McQuisten spent his war years in the air force. After the war, he thought about the fact that human beings had died as a result of his actions.

"When we dropped those bombs we never had the feeling we were killing human beings. In fact, we hoped we weren't. We were just dropping bombs on military targets trying to destroy the enemy's capability to wage a war against us. Also, the very fact that we were being shot at ourselves while doing this was foremost in our minds. The truth is, it wasn't hard to push a button and not have to look the enemy in the eye. It makes it much easier to kill. That applies to any military [person]. You don't have to be a bad person to do it." //Voices of o War Remembered //, p. 59

Blitzkrieg means "lightning war." It was the term used to describe the all-out attacks on land and air used in Poland and France. Because Germany never landed troops in Britain, they were never able to establish a Blitzkrieg there.
 * Living Language **


 * Did You Know? **

Almost 250 000 people served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Because of the nature of their service, 17 000 of the 18 000 people who were hurt eventually died from their wounds.

__ Questions __ __ 1. How did Canada's "air readiness" change between 1939 and 1940? __ __ 2. Look back at the quotation from John McQuisten. __ __ a) How did he feel about his actions in the air force during World War II? __ __ b) How would you have felt in his place? __ __ c) Do you think it's ever justifiable to bomb targets where the risk of killing civilians is high? Explain. __


 * The Air Transport Auxiliary Ferry Service **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Many women would have liked to enroll as pilots in the RCAF when war broke out in 1939, but they were not allowed to. It was not until the 1990s that all restrictions based on gender were abolished in the Canadian military. But women did have the opportunity to fly.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Air Transport Auxiliary Ferry Service was set up at the start of the war. Its role was to fly new warplanes built in Canada and the United States to Britain for service. Without the Air Ferry Service, delivery would have had to be made by ships, which were slow. Many of the pilots who delivered these planes were women.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Flights made their way to Gander in Newfoundland or Goose Bay in Labrador, where they were checked before flying over the Atlantic. The pilots then sailed back to Canada to make another delivery.


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

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">During the war the RCAF not only increased its personnel and aircraft, it also improved its technology. In 1941, a secret method of detecting airplanes with radio waves was perfected. It was called radio detection and ranging - **radar** for short.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Radar was important to the Allies because it allowed them to know how many Axis planes were coming before an attack. It also allowed the navy to "see" enemy ships at night and then send ships or planes to attack them. Battle planners could now give precise instructions about an enemy's position and what action to take.