Second World War (1939-1945)

When the Second World War broke out, the RCAF had a total Permanent Force strength of only 298 officers and 2,750 men. But these numbers grew rapidly. By 1943, Canada had its own group (No. 6 Group) within Bomber Command of the RAF, which consisted of fifteen squadrons, flying Lancasters, Halifaxes and Wellingtons.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Program (BCATP) was developed after the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) made it too hazardous to train aircrew in Britain. Between 1940 and 1945, the BCATP trained more than 130,000 airmen from Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Enough material was used to construct runways for the program – the equivalent volume of material could have paved a highway from Vancouver to Ottawa. The BCATP had training facilities in over 200 locations across Canada and almost 100 of them were airfields.

The Battle of Britain was the first campaign that Canadian airmen served in as a solely Canadian unit. No. 6 Bomber Group and other RCAF squadrons of fighters and nightfighters were stationed in Britain throughout the Second World War, in addition to two transport squadrons located in the Far East.