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July 2016

Symbol of Air Supremacy

Follow this and additional works at: http://utdr.utoledo.edu/ur-87-68 Recommended Citation "Symbol of Air Supremacy" (2016). War Information Center Pamphlets. Book 121. http://utdr.utoledo.edu/ur-87-68/121

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-7-4- R.CA.F. "The Empire is on the march. We are all together, and as the months roll by, trained pilots and air crews in their thousands will proceed to the other side to do once

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

again what their forebears

Shown o n this page are the ten military a n d non-military

medal

awards most

people o f the British Empire.

familiar

to

did before — blaze the trail

Because o f space

of combat and of conquest

limitations, it is necessary to present them less than their actual size. T h e colour and pattern o f

with Britain, beside her —

the ribbons and the detail o f the medals, how-

AIR M A R S H A L W I L L I A M A V E R Y BISHOP V . C , D.S.O. AND BAR, M . C . , D.F.C., CHEVALIER OF TH LEGION OF HONOUR, CROIX DE GUERRE WITH PALM.

fighting together until the

ever, may be considered accurate.

last Messerschmitt fades away and the sound of Dorniers and

ROSETTE—Indicative of bar award —worn with ribbon only.

Heinkels is no longer heard in the land. "The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan is a great success. It was a gieat conception that will be a magnificent contribu-

BAR—Received when honour is awarded a second time— worn with ribbon and medal on full dress occasions.

tion to ultimate victory.

A steady flow of pilots, air observers,

wireless operator air gunners, has already begun its course from Canada to the other side.

That stream of reinforcements, all

splendidly trained, will increase from week to week." prom a speech by Air Marshal W. A . Bishop, V.C.

T H E L A T E LIEUT. A L A N A R N E T T M c L E O D , V.C.

Military Cross Distinguished Flying Medal

Medal

Order of the British Empire

T H E LATE LIEUT.-COL. WILLIAM G E O R G E B A R K E R V.C, D.S.O. AND BAR, M.C. AND TWO BARS, CROTX DE GUERRE, MEDAL FOR MILITARY VALOUR.

AIR C O M M O D O R E R A Y M O N D COLLISHAW C.B.E., D.S.O. AND BAR, D.S.C., D.F.C., CROIX DE GUERRE.

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING PLAN How Air Supremacy will he maintained by an everincreasing flow of highly trained Air Pilots, Air Observers and Air Gunners to the Mother Country. The Need—Great Britain is at war. England and Scotland and Wales have been rocked and battered by terrific attacks from the air. Every available plane, aerodrome and flying field has been put to hard use. Our mother country, undaunted, surges ahead with a great training plan for her airmen within her own shores, calling, meantime, to the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth for the help she so urgently needs and knows she will get—manyfold! So the vision takes form—a gigantic plan whereby Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom become partners in providing the Royal Air Force with an increasing tide of highly trained air pilots, observers and gunners. The Magnitude of the Plan—Canadians consider the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan "Canada's greatest single enterprise." The placing of her millions of acres, her financial and natural resources at the disposal of the mother country is a project of unparalleled magnitude. The total cost of the project will be well over $600,000,000, of which Canada's share will approximate $350,000,000 including the entire cost of the initial training and elementary flying schools. Canada is providing about 80 per cent of the pupils for the programme in addition to the greater part of the personnel of the R.C.A.F. which is serving as the administrator and instructor of the plan. Developing the Airman—When we see the scores of keen, alert, and smartly uniformed Air Force recruits stepping along our streets, we must realize that these lads are being formed and moulded into one of the war's most exacting services. The recruit entered the service at one of the seventeen recruiting centres spread across the country. From there, he was sent to one of three Manning Depots where his capabilities were examined and his

SCHOOL AGAIN Seated at desks and facing the blackboard; but this time at the School of Aeronautical Engineering.

future service planned. From the Manning Depot, the student is sent to one of three initial training schools for a four weeks' course in fundamentals, which includes Air Force law, mathematics, flight theory, mechanics, air armament and physical training. At the end of four weeks, the recruit finds his air destiny. From now on, his goal is to be a pilot, an air observer or an air gunner. The Pilot's training period embodies twenty-one weeks broken into three periods—four weeks at one of the initial training schools; seven weeks at one of the twenty-six elementary training schools; ten weeks at one of the service flying training schools. The Air Observer takes a twenty-six weeks' course—four weeks at one of the initial training schools; twelve weeks at an air observers' school; six weeks at one of the bombing and gunnery schools and four weeks at one of the air navigation schools. The Wireless Operator Air Gunner has a twenty-six weeks' course, too— four at an initial training school; eighteen at one of the four wireless schools and four weeks at a bombing and gunnery school. At the conclusion of the above periods of rraining,the pilots,air observers and air gunners are ready for overseas, where they receive final training in service types of aircraft. THE

SCHOOLING

SYSTEM

FOR

PILOTS

Elementary Flying Training School—After their four weeks initial training the prospective pilots go to one of the twenty-six elementary flying training schools, most of which are operated through facilities of the member clubs of the Canadian Flying Clubs Association. Students take seven weeks of instruction under civilian flying instructors both in the air and in ground school. Service Flying Training School—Second step for future pilots takes them to one of the sixteen intermediate training schools, where they spend ten weeks with a service flying training school. THE

SCHOOLING

SYSTEM

F O R AIR

OBSERVERS

The close teamwork demanded of an air crew means careful training for the air observer upon whose shoulders, just as much as on the pilot's, rests the responsibility of the plane's mission. The observer is also the

ENGINEERS Half a dozen pore over one engine at the School of Aeronautical Engineer-

COMPARATIVE

R.C.A.F.

NAVY

m [Im

1

m

1

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL

GENERAL

AIR MARSHAL

ILIEUTENANTI GENERAL

AIR VICE-MARSHAL

MAJORGENERAL

AIR iCOMMODORE

• BRIGADIER

GROUP CAPTAIN

COLONEL

ADMIRAL

i

REAR-ADMIRAL

Pi CAPTAIN

H

COMMANDER

WING

'

-^i

COMMISSIONED GUNNERS, BOATSV/AINS, AND THEIR EQUIVALENT RANKS (DISTINCTIVE BADGE AS SUB-LIEUTENANT)

DE HAVILLAND "TIGER M O T H " Span: 29 ft. 4 in. 1 30 H.P. "Gipsy Major" Engine Maximum Speed; 109M.P.H.

BOULTON & PAUL "DEFIANT" NEW TYPE TWO-SEATER FIGHTER Span: 39 ft. 6 in. 1030 H.P. Rolls-Royce "Merlin" Engine MILES "MASTER" ADVANCED TRAINER Span; 30 ft. 600 H.P. Rolls-Royce "Kestrel" Eng Maximum Speed; 270 M.P.H.

HI SQUADRON

H i

hH MAJOR

FLIGHTI LIEUTENANT

SUB-LIEUTENANT

Span: 56 ft. 6 in. Two-350 H.P. Siddeley "Cheetah" Engines Maximum Speed: 188M.P.H.

• H IIEUTENANTH | COLONEL

^•COMMANDER

^= LIEUTENANTCOMMANDER

11 a

FIELDMARSHAL AVRO " A N S O N " GENERAL RECONNAISSANCE LANDPLANE

COMMODORE 1st 2nd \ Class Class'

H

ARMY

MARSHAL OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET

VICE-ADMIRAL

0

RANKS

iJlJl 1^

W

OFFICER

CAPTAIN

FAIREY "BATTLE" TWO-SEATER HIGH-SPEED MEDIUM BOMBER Span: 54 ft. 1030 H.P. Rolls-Royce "Merlin" Engine Maximum Speed: 257 M.P.H.

OFFICER

o

I{

fH'

AIR

SPEED " O X F O R D " Span: 53 ft. Two-350 H.P. Siddeley "Cheetah" Engines Maximum Speed; 1 97 M.P.H.

8 Browning Type Guns

HAWKER "HURRICANE" SINGLE-SEATER FIGHTER Span: 40 ft. 1 030 H.P. Rolls-Royce "Merlin" Engine Maximum Speed: 335 M.P.H.

INSIGNIA AND BADGES OF THE R.CA.F. OFFICERS' PEAKS & BADGES

WARRANT OFFICERS & N.C.Os.

NORTH AMERICAN "HARVARD" ADVANCED TRAINER Span: 42 ft. 530 H.P. Pratt & Whitney Wasp Engine Maximum Speed: 210 M.P.H.

HAWKER "HARDY" Span: 37 ft. 3 in. 600 H.P. Rolls-Royce "Kestrel" Engine Maximum Speed: 160 M.P.H.

WESTLAND "tYSANDER" Spon: 50 ft. 890 H.P. Bristol "Mercury" Engine Maximum Speed: 230 M.P.H.

] I /

VICKERS "WEUESLEY" L O N G RANGE AIRCRAFT Span: 74 ft. 7 in. 925 H.P. Bristol "Pegasus" Engine Maximum Speed: 220 M.P.H.

Airman of Central Band Medical Officer's Collar Badge

m

SARO " L O N D O N " GENERAL RECONNAISSANCE FLYING-BOAT Span: 80 ft. Two-1000 H.P. Bristol "Pegasus" Engines Maximum Speed; 1 50 M.P.H.

Chaplain's C a p Badge VICKERS "VILDEBEEST" TORPEDO BOMBER Span; 49 ft. 550 H.P. Bristol "Pegosus" Engine Maximum Speed: 1 36 M.P.H.

(Also worn by Airmen of the Medical Services)

(This badge without the crown is worn by VohntaryBandsmen)

Air Observer

FIRING SQUAD One instructs, three shoot, andfivelook onatmachinegun practice. Air Armament School at Trenton.

Bombing and Gunnery School—la. his role of chief defender of the aircraft, the air gunner spends four weeks ar one of the ten bombing and gunnery schools learning to be a machine-gun marksman. In addition to handling machine-guns, he learns how to repair them swiftly in the air so that a jam would not render himself and his comrades defenceless. The entire air gunner's course runs to twenty-six weeks. T H E AIR CREW POOL

Every day now the graduates of the different training schools swell the numbers who enter the air crew pool. Specialists all, keenly trained in their particular field, they are now ready to put their knowledge to its supreme test in the defence of the Empire they love so strongly. Most of the men who entet the air crew pool will go overseas. Some Canadians, however, will be attached to home defence squadrons for active service along our long coast line. TRAINING SCHOOLS BUILT TO ORDER

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING PLAN bomb aimer and bomb dropper once he has navigated the plane to the objective. Then he must take up his protractors again and chart the way home. Air Observer School—Chosen for their sense of responsibility and mathematical precision, air observer students leave the initial training schools for a course of twelve weeks at any one of the ten air observers' schools, where they learn air navigation, aerial photography and reconnaissance duties such as sketching, observation and spotting enemy positions and concentrations. Bombing and Gunnery School—Next, the air observers attend the bombing and gunnery school, where they learn the use of the complex bomb sighting device and how to handle a machine-gun. Air Navigation School—The air observers continue their studies at one of two air navigation schools for the course of four weeks in advanced air navigation, a course that stresses the importance of this science and the responsibility of the navigator to bring his comrades safely home from a mission through darkness, fog and rain. The entire course for air observers is twenty-six weeks.

It doesn't require much effort to read off the list of schools used for pilot, air observer and air gunner training. There are three initial training schools, twenty-six elementary flying training schools, sixteen service flying training schools, ten air observers' schools, ten bombing and gunnery schools, four wireless schools and two air navigation schools. Aerodromes cover a lot of ground. Character of Aerodromes—To merely name these schools and the various units gives little idea of the extent of them. A service flying training school, for instance, consists of a main aerodrome and two relief landing grounds within five to twenty-five miles of the central site, all of the same size. The main aerodrome has landing strips 3,000 feet long and 750 feet wide with two hard-surface runways, 2,500 feet long by 100 feet wide. The building area required at such schools is forty-five acres. There are sixteen of these service flying training schools in the plan. One receives an idea of the extensive scale on which the plan is based when one compares them with our modern commercial airports. These commercial airports meet the demands of modern commercial flying. Facilities are provided for handling aircraft operating on regular schedules, but they are totally inadequate for service flying training schools at which more than sixty planes are in constant operation at the same time.

T H E SCHOOLING SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS OPERATOR AIR GUNNERS

The single wing badge with ""AG," standing for wireless operator air gunner, is a proud emblem in the modern air force. A n aircraft needs a :)ilot to fly it, an air observer to navigate it to the objective and home again, 3ut it takes an air gunner to provide the protection from hostile planes so that all can reach the home base safely with a smile and the thumbs up gesture of a successful mission. Wireless School—When not fending off attacking enemy planes the air gunner is wireless operator, the means of communication with the home base and among the planes of the formation, which receive wireless orders from the commander. After completing four weeks initial training the first stage of an air gunner's career of training is a course of eighteen weeks in one of the four wireless schools. He learns the mechanical side of radio and becomes an accurate and fast operator, familiar with both code and voice wireless.

Pilot signs refuelling hook.

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING PLAN

>

R C A

T H E R E IS A W I D E R A N G E OF BEAUTIFUL MODELS FOR E V E R Y P U R S E X AND H O M E

ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN

The Joint Air Training Plan is administered by the Government of Canada, while the otganization and executive command of the training schools has been entrusted to the Royal Canadian Air Force. A Supervisory Board has been established for the general supervision of the plan, and meets at regular intervals. The Minister of National Defence for Air is chairman of the board. The members include the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport, representatives of the Government of the United Kingdom in the persons of the High Commissioner in Canada and the Chief Air Liaison Officer of the United Kingdom Air Liaison Mission, the High Commissioner of Australia and a representative of New Zealand, the Deputy Minister of National Defence for Air, and the Chief of the Air Staff. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan is an assured success. That its success presages a glorious victory for Britain was well stated by Air Marshal W. A . Bishop, V . C , in these words: "It is my definite and sincere belief that the results of this Empire Air Training Plan may well prove to be the most vital factor in our victory. There is no question in my mind—Germany will not be able to produce the quality of air personnel capable of meeting, without defeat, such as we will send forth.''

VICTOR

Model A-34 Sensitive and selective superheterodyne with the high output of 4.5 watts. 1 2 " electro-dynamic speaker. Standard wave 540-1 720 kcs., shortwave 580020,000 kcs., giving complete European coverage. Handsome console of walnut veneers.

Model A-33 A masterpiece in RCA Victor engineeri n g — design — performance and tone fidelity. Highly selective and sensitive 7-band all-wove superheterodyne with the tremendous power output of 12 watts! Deluxe bandspread overseas dial.

Model

A-21

Complete standard wove broadcast 540-1720 kcs. and short wave 570020,000 kcs. Improved push-button tuning. Powerful superheterodyne. Automatic volume control. Tone control. Electro-dynamic speaker. A lovely table cabinet of walnut veneers.

RCA

VICTOR PLEDGES ITS RESOURCES IN DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE . . . FOR THE DURATION!

RCA Victor's first objective is to fulfill any and all demands of our armed forces for radio equipment of advanced design and unfailing dependability. Illustrated are ground radio transmitters for the R.C.A.F. under construction in the R C A Victor plant in Montreal.

Model VR-40 A low-price RCA Victrola ofFering the double entertainment of radio and records. Electrodynamic speaker. Constant speed electric motor. Standard wove reception on 5 4 0 - 1 6 0 0 kcs. Automatic volume control. Built-in antenna. Feather touch crystal pick-up. Tru-tracking tone arm.

RCA

Victrola VR-S2

Designed and conceived for the discriminating music lover who has on eye for beauty and on ear for faultless record and radio performance. Powerful 6-band all-wave superheterodyne. Gentle action automatic record changer. RCA Victor tone guard constructed into this beautiful cabinet of highly polished walnut veneers protects purity of tone.

No.

7 4 2 2 , 31/1/41—RCA Victor Co. Limited, Mot Printed in Canada