First Post

Well, here goes...

I had a 'blog a few years ago. I really enjoyed the occasional entry about this and that, the chance to have some of my thoughts out there for others to read and mull over. For some reason, one day I went to the 'blog and the site had disappeared...I never did find out what happened to that 'blog...I guess it is time to start another one!

I chose the title of this 'blog as BCATP which stands for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It is a subject that I have obsessed about for quite a number of years now, having grown up in Southern Alberta where the BCATP was front and center during World War Two. The plan, as it is known for short, was created in 1939 in Canada as a means to train aircrew for the British and her Commonwealth of nations (the former British Empire states) in the battle against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. Canada was an excellent choice as a training ground for pilots and other aircrew positions with its vast, open skies, reasonably good flying weather and its distance from the menace of Nazi war planes.

There were installations and branches of the plan across the country, literally from sea to sea. Communities across Canada were more than happy for one of the BCATP facillities to be located in their backyard after having suffered through the economic doldrums of the Great Depression. Within short order runways, hangars, hospitals, barracks, classrooms and a multitude of other buildings sprouted like new growth from the soil across the nation and with that growth came renewed optimism and financial well being.

There are a great many stories, maps, photos and other documents I have collected from this moment in Canadian history and I look forward to being able to share them with you in the coming installments of this 'blog.