History of the Air Force
Canada
as a country is singularly indebted to aviation, which opened up our
North and remains an essential lifeline to many areas of this vast dominion.
Canada's Air Force contributes to our proud and distinguished record
as International Peacekeepers and providers of humanitarian aid to all
corners of the globe.
From the moment Canadian airmen first flew with the Royal Flying Corps
and Royal Naval Air Service to the more recent creation and implementation
of Canada Command. Canada’s Air Force has continuously evolved
to meet current and future challenges.
Once referred to as the “Aerodrome of Democracy”, Canada’s
Air Force continues to contribute knowledge, technology and intrepid
heroes to the world and will celebrate its 85th Anniversary in 2009.
RCAF
Honours & Awards
Here,
you'll find historian, Hugh Halliday's, extensive compilation of over
8000 award winners. This alphabetical index will be of interest to veterans'
families & history scholars.
Battle of Britain
Canadian
airmen played their part in the Battle of Britain. Over 100 Canadian
pilots flew on fighter operations during the Battle of Britain. Another
200 fought with the RAF's Bomber and Coastal Commands. An untold number
served as groundcrew, keeping the fighters, bombers and patrol Aircraft
flying.
In a brief span of raids during the Autumn of 1940, our Commonwealth Air
Forces defeated the German Luftwaffe.
Tomb of Canada's Unknown Soldier
An unknown Canadian soldier, buried in a grave near Vimy, France for
more than 80 years, was repatriated to Canada in May of 2000 as a symbol
of thousands of
Canadians lost in wars of the 20th century.
On
June 6, 1999, the "Garden of Memories" memorial was unveiled
in Winnipeg as a permanent tribute to all those, both civilian and
military
alike, who trained, and contributed to the success of the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan (BCATP).
Click on thumbnail for a full view of "Garden
of Memories" Poster.
The Gateway
provides Canada’s military history dating back to
1000 A.D. and offers access to over 4000 online links to military
history, with resources such as digitized books, music, art, photos
and video, narratives, interactive games and scholarly research.
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