The Aerodrome of Democracy: The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Southwestern Ontario

A graduate of University of Western Ontario with degrees in history and education, Michael Baker is the Manager of Museums and Archives for the County of Elgin. Michael is well known to the regional historians as the Collections Curator at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, and the Curator of Regional History at Museum London, but also as the editor of Downtown London: Layers of Time (1999) and the co-editor with Hilary Bates Neary, of 100 Fascinating Londoners and Street Names of London – An Illustrated Guide, both published by James Lorimer of Canada. He is a former president of the London Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and of the Heritage London Foundation and a past President of the Elgin Historical Society.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Prime Minister William Mackenzie-King believed that Canada should play a supporting role in the conflict, one which would not require sending large numbers overseas. From the beginning, Mackenzie-King participated in negotiations with Britain and other Commonwealth countries for creating a large training capability in Canada. An agreement was reached in December 1939 for what will be more commonly known as the BCATP or the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Air and ground crews formed of personnel recruited in all of the Allied countries received training in Canada between 1940 and 1945.

Of the 14 RCAF Stations established in Southwestern Ontario during this time, the airports of Tillsonburg and of St. Thomas, both in ON, were the direct result of bases built for the plan. The physical reminders of the war-time sites can be found at these locations, and elsewhere, in the form of hangers and surviving outbuildings. Michael Baker’s talk focuses on each of the types of training facilities including elementary and advanced flying, air observer, bombing and gunnery, each of which could be found within a few miles of London, ON.

By the end of the war, BCATP graduated over 130,000 ground crew and air crew many of them from New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain. Mike Baker's presentation is enlightening mostly to understand why and how the RCAF came to make one of the biggest contributions Canada brought to the Second World War.