Selected Photographs: Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force
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An unidentified airman checking his uniform in a mirror before passing through the exit gate at RCAF Station. Rockcliffe, Ontario, July 28, 1943. Photographer unknown.
During the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) became the fourth-largest allied air force, growing from 4,061 officers and men on September 1, 1939 to more than 263,000 men and women by the end of the war. The RCAF managed the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which trained 131,553 pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, air gunners and flight engineers at schools throughout Canada.
Seventy-eight RCAF squadrons saw action in major theatres of war -- North America, Great Britain, North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe and Southeast Asia. They engaged in a variety of operations: air-to-air combat, strategic bombing, photo-reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrols, anti-shipping strikes, close air support and tactical air supply. The cost was high: the RCAF's fatal battle casualties numbered 13,498, of which 9,919 were Canadians flying with the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command.
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Groundcrew servicing Consolidated Liberator VI T aircraft 570 of No. 168 (HT) Squadron, RCAF. Rockcliffe, Ontario, November 21, 1944. Photographer unknown.
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Unidentified aircrew with Consolidated Canso A aircraft 9752, “Shady Lady,” of No. 4 (BR) Squadron, RCAF. Ucluelet, British Columbia, May 21, 1944. Photographer unknown.
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Supermarine Spitfire IXE aircraft of No. 412 (Falcon) Squadron, RCAF, preparing for take off, Heesch, Netherlands, March 22, 1945. Photographer unknown.
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Unidentified flying instructor and student pilot with North American Harvard II aircraft of No. 2 Service Flying Training School, RCAF. Uplands, Ontario, July 1941. Photograph by Nicholas Morant, National Film Board of Canada.
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Groundcrew servicing a Fairchild Cornell I aircraft of No. 19 Elementary Flying Training School, RCAF. Virden, Manitoba, October 1944. Photograph by Nicholas Morant, National Film Board of Canada.
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Pilots with a Curtiss Kittyhawk I aircraft of No. 111 (F) Squadron, RCAF. Anchorage, Alaska, September 1942. Photographer unknown.
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Aircrew and groundcrew of No. 428 (Ghost) Squadron, RCAF, with Avro Lancaster B.X aircraft KB760 NA:P “P-Peter,” which flew the squadron’s 2,000th sortie, a raid on Bremen, Germany. Middleton St. George, England, August 18, 1944. (L-R at centre): Flying Officers W.C. Chester and A.J. Carter. Photographer unknown.
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Debriefing of aircrew of No. 433 (Porcupine) Squadron, RCAF, after a raid on German flying-bomb sites in France. Skipton-on-Swale, England, 1944. (L-R around table): Flight Lieutenant M. Singer, Wing Commander A.J. Lewington, Group Captain F.R. Miller, Flight Sergeant N.D. Dixon, Flying Officer T.J. Kelly. Photographer unknown.
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Aircrew of No. 433 (Porcupine) Squadron, RCAF, en route to their Handley Page Halifax B.III aircraft before taking off to raid Hagen, Germany. Skipton-on-Swale, England, December 2, 1944. Photographer unknown.
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An unidentified airman refuelling a Hawker Hurricane I aircraft of No. 1 (F) Squadron, RCAF. Northolt, England, October 6, 1940. Photographer unknown.
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Unidentified timekeeping personnel of the RCAF Women’s Division, No. 2 Service Flying Training School. Uplands, Ontario, 1942. Photographer unknown.
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Unidentified aircrew with Avro Lancaster B.II aircraft DS848 QO:R of No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron, RCAF. East Moor, England, 1944. Photographer unknown.
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Aircrew and groundcrew of No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron, RCAF, posing with one of the squadron’s Handley Page B.III aircraft. East Moor, England, May 26, 1944. Photograph by Sergeant Harry E. Price.
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Counting the hits: two unidentified aircrew examining a target drogue at No. 10 Bombing and Gunnery School, RCAF. Mount Pleasant, Prince Edward Island, 1944. The school’s Bristol Bolingbroke aircraft are visible in the background. Photographer unknown.