MY MILITARY “CAREER”
I served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War.
This presentation is intended to list the locations where I was stationed and some of my recollections of each of them.
MANNING DEPOT – Edmonton – October 1943 to November 1943
This was entry point for new recruits, the purpose was to provide basic military drill training and other indoctrination. Since this was the only Manning Depot in operation at the time the recruits came from all over Canada, we even had one American.
There were a significant number from Toronto, they generally believed that Toronto was the centre of the universe and was surrounded by a hinterland populated by lesser beings. We were treated to endless stories about Malvern Collegiate, where many of them had gone to High School.
(I am in the upper right corner)
THE GOPHER IN THE GRASS
Most of our days were spent on the parade square marching in the snow. Since I couldn’t see how this was going to shorten the war I was a very unwilling and incompetent participant. My attitude was apparent to the drill corporal and the rest of the squad. I always made sure that I was in the center rank of the three so that I didn’t have to take the lead when we reversed direction.
One of the basic drill maneuvers was intended to result in a more uniform appearing squad by having the tallest at the ends of the three ranks and the shortest in the middle. This was accomplished by arranging the squad with the tallest on the right with progressively shorter people next to the left. Then the even numbers in each rank stepped forward and moved to the left, tallest first.
There was considerable jockeying for position with people claiming to be at least a millimeter taller that someone else. I couldn’t be bothered with this arguing so I simply went to the end of the line. The result was that I ended up in the center of the squad, and stood out like a gopher in the short prairie grass. The drill corporal invariably spotted this anomaly and yelled, “It’s you again. Can’t you understand simple instructions? Move over five or six positions.”
THE UNRELIABLE TEST
Towards the end of our training period we took a test, sort of an aptitude and intelligence test that was used to help decide what position we would be suitable for.
After we had completed our indoctrination and drill exercises we were assigned to various jobs at the Manning Depot until there were openings in subsequent training schools. I was chosen to work on the truck that picked up the food at various locations in Edmonton and hauled it to the kitchen. I could never understand how such good food was transformed into the substandard meals that we had.
One of the other members of the squad was put to work in the office where the tests we had taken were evaluated. He came back to the barracks one night and with the news that I had the highest marks of the members of the squad on the test. He couldn’t believe it and after discussing this with other members of the squad their unanimous conclusion was that the test must be completely unreliable.
Those of us who were selected to go to an Initial Training School (ITS) were sent to a base in Rivers, Manitoba, until there was an opening at an ITS.
SERVICE FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL (SFTS)-Rivers, MB, December, 1943 to Jan. 1944
THE BRIDGE CLUB
Four of us were assigned to shovel the coal away from the door in the coal bins in the hangars. Since the weather was cold the man delivering the coal had difficulty keeping up to the daily coal usage. Consequently there was no real need to move the coal back from the door.
We coped with this situation by playing bridge to pass the time. One day the Sergeant who was responsible for us came in and said, “I understand that there is really nothing for you to do here, but don’t let the Flight Sergeant catch you playing cards”.
A few days later a parka clad man came in and watched us for a few minutes. Since his parka covered his rank badges we had no idea who he was. The next day the Sergeant came in and said, “I warned you guys. You have been reassigned.”
I was sent to the central heating plant. My work there consisted of hauling coal into the plant with a wheelbarrow and shoveling it into the stokers. Then I hauled the ashes away from the rear of the boilers, using the same wheelbarrow. The biggest drawback to this job was that it involved shift work.
INITIAL TRAINING SCHOOL (ITS) Saskatoon, SK February 1944 to May 1944
This was the beginning of the training program for Aircrew, such as PILOTS, NAVIGATORS and BOMB AIMERS. Other Aircrew, AIR GUNNERS and WIRELESS AIR GUNNERS (Radio Operators) went directly to their respective schools from Manning Depot.
We were given introductory courses in a wide variety of fields related to aircraft and the other equipment that was used.
HOW DOES DIHEDRAL WORK?
Dihedral is amount that the ends of the wings are higher than where they attach to the body (fuselage) of the airplane. The wings basically have a flattened V shape, as seen from the front. The purpose is to reduce the tendency for the airplane to roll from side to side.
The explanation for how this worked, given in our textbooks, didn’t make any sense to me. So I asked the instructor if he could explain it to me. He replied, “I only know what is in the book. Memorize that. Any way this question may not be on the exam”. I didn’t want to use an explanation that I didn’t understand, so I made up a theory of my own.
It wasn’t until I studied engineering mathematics that I got the right answer. It is really very simple once you understand the principle involved.
When we were given the exam papers in this subject one of the questions was, “Explain how dihedral works”. The question was worth twenty marks. I decided to use my explanation instead of the one in the text. Naturally it was considered wrong. The correct explanation would also not have been accepted.
When our marks were tabulated I had ten marks, out of a thousand, less than the man with the highest mark. He was given a cigarette lighter as a prize.
HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE THE SELECTION OF YOUR CAREER?
We were advised that the regulations had been changed. Anyone who had an exam result of less than 65% would be discharged and sent to the Army. I certainly didn’t want that to happen to me.
I had learned enough about navigation to decide that NAVIGATOR was not my preference as a position. I therefore decided that I would try to get just over the 65% floor in navigation. However, a problem arose; there were two major questions on the exam, each worth 35%. That meant that if you got one of them wrong it would be unlikely that you could meet the 65% threshold. I wasn’t sure about one so I decided that I couldn’t take a chance on not making the grade if I deliberately botched one of them. Consequently I did all of the questions.
When I went for my selection interview the officer asked me what my choice was. Like everyone else I said “PILOT”. His response was that all of the potential positions were full. He added that also I had a vision problem that would be a detriment. My second choice was FLIGHT ENGINEER. He advised that this position was now being filled by giving engine mechanics a short course and promoting them.
He said, “We are taking the people with top marks and sending them for training as NAVIGATOR BOMB AIMER (NAV B). This would be a good choice for you”. I protested, “I’m not good at navigation and I don’t like it”. He replied, “I find it hard to believe that you are not good at navigation when you got 97% on the exam”.
Thus I became a trainee for the position of NAV B.
A LIFE CHANGING DECISION
If I had decided to stop drinking alcohol sooner my parents would have been spared considerable grief and apprehension.
When I was about to graduate from the R.C.A.F .INITIAL TRAING SCHOOL(ITS) in Saskatoon my parents sent me a wrist watch with my name and service number engraved on the back. This may same like a fairly routine thing to do, but it involved a significant financial sacrifice for them as well as the time spent going to a town 50 miles away to buy the watch and then going back again to pick it up and mail it to me.
I appreciated the significance of the gift and was proud to wear it. Also I explained the significance of the gift to others in my class.
As part of the graduation ceremonies a local community group, in Saskatoon, normally organized a celebratory evening for each class. Some of the local girls acted as hostesses.
There was considerable alcohol available and like the rest of the class I took advantage of this. The fact that most of us were younger than the legal drinking age was ignored and most of the class, including me, became inebriated.
I was showing the watch to the girl who was my companion and she displayed considerable interest in it. By this time the party started to break up and we were transported back to our barracks.
The next morning my watch was no longer on my wrist, although I had very little recollection of the party I vaguely remembered the interest the girl had shown in the watch and became convinced that she had stolen it.
When I went home on leave after graduation I had to tell my parents what had happened to the watch. They were very upset but couldn’t do much about it. Neither could I.
While I was still home on leave two of my friends and I went to a town about forty miles away and spent the evening in the beer parlor. I was driving my father’s car snd vaguely remember leaving town to drive home.
The next thing I remember was hearing my mother’s voice saying, “Look! He is starting to move”. I was lying in a bed, which turned out be in the Hanna hospital, and it was four days later.
I had a serious head injury that made the local doctor doubt that I would survive. As I later learned, fortunately neither of my friends was seriously injured. The car was a write-off.
I spent a month in the hospital and another month at home recovering before returning to the R.C.A.F. at a station in Mountain View, Ontario. As a Bombing and Gunnery school this was the first step in the NavB training program.
As I realized how much anguish these two incidents had caused my parents, not to mention the fact that I almost died, I concluded that the best action for me to take was to stop drinking alcohol.
A few years later, when I was employed as an engineer, I offered to buy a car to replace the one destroyed in the accident. My father replied, “The car isn’t important. What is important is that you are alive and well”.
Seventy years later I am still convinced that this was undoubtedly one of the best decisions that I have made in my life. My only regret is that I did not make the decision sooner.
BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL – Mountain View, ON. July 1944 to September 1944
I was told to report to this school for the BOMB AIMER training part of the NAV B program. As a result of completing ITS we were promoted from AC2 (Acey Deucy) to LAC (Leading Aircraftman). This meant a pay increase from $1.30 per day to $1.50 per day and, since we were now flying as part of our training, we were paid $0.75 per day as flying pay.
This worked out to an increase of 73%. I could hardly believe that I had become so wealthy.
Naturally, those of my former classmates at ITS who were in the same program had already completed their training here and had gone on.
Most of the men had been students in some university program before enlisting. A few had graduated in various fields and had some work experience. Our training consisted mainly of learning how to use a bombsight by dropping small bombs at targets in an unpopulated area and using machine guns on a firing range. There was minimal theory involved.
ALL DRESSED UP AND LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GO
SIDELINE WORK
The pea harvest was underway on the neighboring farms and the farmers would hire us to help with the harvest in the evenings. They would come to the station at 5:30 in the afternoon and we would work until 10:00 or so. Many of the servicemen considered this to be unduly hard work, but for a farm kid like me the pea harvest work was easier than what I had been accustomed to on the farm and I went every day. I think we were paid $0.50 a night for this.
THE INCOMPETENT OFFICER
The officer in charge of our flight was to, put it mildly, an incompetent jerk. Most of the group played along and more or less tolerated him. I was not so diplomatic and he realized what I thought of him. This was to have serious consequences for me later.
AIR OBSERVER TRAINING SCHOOL (AOTS) Chatham, NB October 1944 to April 1945
The AOTS bases were run by civilians, military personnel were responsible for instructing the trainees.
The navigation training was the longest and most intensives and demanding part of the program in which we were involved.
One thing that I soon noticed was the extreme poverty in the area surrounding the base, it was even more apparent than in the rural areas of Alberta during the depression.
THE LATE ARRIVALS
We were scheduled to arrive in Chatham on Sunday. There didn’t seem to be any reason for this because we assumed that the course would start on Monday. Accordingly we decided to spend an extra day in Montreal so that we would arrive Monday. When we arrived we were informed that the courses were, in fact, scheduled to start on Sundays. This miscalculation led to a four week “confined to barracks” sentence being imposed on everyone, except the one person who had broken ranks and arrived on Sunday, as scheduled.
THE TRAINING PROGRAM
We were paired up and flew as partners, one responsible for the navigation and the other for various other activities in the plane. We alternated in the roles on successive flights. My partner, Brian Little, was almost the complete antithesis of me. He was well over six feet in height and had already completed the Premed Program at McGill University. His father had been a noted surgeon in Montreal. However, we got along well together.
Initially we flew mainly in the daytime, as we became more experienced, we were assigned to night flights also. These flights at night were scary at first because you couldn’t look out of the plane to see where you were, but as we became more proficient at navigation the night flights didn’t make a much difference.
One of the more demanding features was “controlled plots”. This was conducted in the classroom and we were required to prepare flight plans based on information provided via headsets. There was new information coming all the time that required changes in the flight plan. The time constraints were very strict and there was little opportunity to correct errors.
THE COMMANDING OFFICER’S PARADE
Periodically we had a “CO’s Parade” at which the Station Commanding Officer inspected the trainees. On one occasion I was late and got to the parade just in time after leaving the barracks by sliding down the fire escape and rushing to the parade ground. In my haste, I hadn’t noticed that I hadn’t put on my tie. When the CO and our flight officer went by inspecting me the CO apparently didn’t notice the missing tie but our officer did and could hardly contain himself from laughing because the CO had not noticed the problem. I would have been subjected to considerable discipline if the CO had been more alert.
THE CLASS CREST AND BOOK
This crest was used on the cover of a class booklet.
A committee was organized to write a short biographical comment on each member for inclusion in the book. Their description of me is included here.
KNOWLES, G.W. (GEORGE)
Ordinarily George Knowles bounces about quite happily, chuckling at everything in sight, including hatchet murders, Nazi blood purges and controlled plots. But of late he has been mooning about like an empty shell. He pranged the port engine of F7 on his last low level and Alack! He can’t get the loan of Steven’s razor blade to fix it up. He has been operating with this precision instrument since the memorable night that he sprained his ankle straightening up the balance wheel of an Oral watch.
THE OPEN BOOK
It had been customary for most of the NAV B’s to graduate as officers. However, the rules had been changed and it was more difficult to become a commissioned officer. There were minimum requirements for all components of the evaluation system, including “Leadership”, which was graded by the flight.
One night a story began circulating that our flight officer had left his office open and that the record book for our class was open. We all went over to see this information. In my case, all my marks were good except for the leadership mark given me by the flight officer at Mountain View. He had given me such a low leadership rating that all the other more favorable marks could not possibly offset it. I was not going to get a commission. I would graduate as a sergeant. This was devastating news. But, as it turned out, it wasn’t really all that important, except for my ego, because the war would soon be over.
THE GRADUATION CEREMONY
At the Graduation Ceremony the CO (Commanding Officer) pinned the symbol of our profession on our tunics.
After graduation we given a two week leave of absence and told to report to an army induction center, in my case in Calgary. This, again, was not welcome news. The thought of more parade ground drill and the more primitive living conditions of the army were terrible to anticipate. We would also have been demoted back to $1.30 per day.
However, the gods smiled on us, and just before the end of our leave we received orders to report to Charlottetown, P.E.I.
AIR NAVIGATION SCHOOL (ANS) Charlottetown, P.E.I – April 1945 to May 1945
This school was basically very similar to the A.O.S. at Chatham except the flight and other staff were military personnel rather than civilians.
We spent some time in class reviewing navigation and made occasional flights. We were essentially marking time until there was an opening at the next stage of training.
OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNTI (OTU) – Summerside, P.E.I. May 1945 to July 1945
This was the last stage of training before being assigned to active service in a war zone.
We were training for anti-submarine patrol duty. The emphasis was on over water flying, which meant that we had to navigate without any ground reference points. This was done using the sun and stars, using a sextant, and radio signals to determine the location of the airplane.
A TRAGIC DAY
One day, when Brian and I were preparing to take off on a flight, word came from the office that he was not to go. Accordingly I made the flight by myself. When I came back he was sitting in the briefing room with his head in his hands. I went over to ask what the problem was. He replied, “You had better look for a new flying partner.” I asked, “Why”. The reply was, “The Little family is jinxed and I don’t want you to become involved”.
The situation was that his only living brother had been shot down on a bombing mission in Europe. The other two had died earlier in similar circumstances. I had met his mother briefly in Montreal and had sensed that she was having a very difficult time coping with the loss of her husband and two of her sons in a relatively short period of time. She seemed on the brink of a mental breakdown. I felt that this could easily push her over the edge.
AN ATTEMPT TO RECTIFY A PREVIOUS INJUSTICE
Our Flight Officer had recently finished a couple of tours with Bomber Command and was a very practical minded person. One day he asked Brian, “How come your partner doesn’t have a commission. He seems to be a very capable person.” Brian explained the situation at Mountain View to him. The Officer’s response was, “I think I can do something about that”. However, since the war in Europe had just ended, no promotions were being considered and I remained a sergeant.
POST-WAR CHANGES
We finished our course shortly after the war in Europe ended. We were given the option of demobilization or volunteering for service in the Far East. Considering my level of satisfaction with military life up till then, I don’t know why I volunteered. But I did.
Since we really had nothing to do pending further developments I found a boarding house in a village on the east end of the island and usually went there for long weekends, from Friday to Tuesday. The boarding house was run by a woman whose husband was a lobster fisherman. We enjoyed lobster at least twice a day.
THE UNUSUAL TRACTOR
On one of the occasions when Brian went with me, we were walking around the countryside when I spotted an unusual three wheeled tractor plowing in a field. I said, “I’ve seen pictures of this tractor but never a real one. Let’s go and talk to the farmer.”
Like most farmers he was quite willing to stop and talk to us. I explained that I had never seen one of these tractors before and asked how he liked it. He replied, “It’s a good tractor, but lately it hasn’t been running too well”. I said, “Yes, I could hear that when we were coming across the field. If you have a screwdriver I may be able to fix that.” He dug a screwdriver out of the tool box and I adjusted the carburetor. When he started to plow again, he stopped and said, “That’s just like when it was new”.
Brian’s comment was, “You never cease to amaze me. I can’t understand how he would let some stranger, who wandered across the field, tinker with his most expensive piece of property”.
THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME
We had the opportunity to take a few days of authorized leave, so I decided to make a trip to New York City.
For a kid from rural Alberta this was an unbelievable sight. The population of the city at that time was in the order of six million people. It seemed as though all of them were on the streets at the same time. You could put a nickel in the fare box of a bus and ride for hours if you wanted to. I had never seen anything like these buildings before. I got the impression of overwhelming wealth and affluence.
The Canadian Club in New York sponsored a few Canadian servicemen to a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which at the time was one of the world’s most prominent hotels. I don’t remember much about the actual lunch but the surroundings were impressive beyond belief.
I went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes, who were world famous dance performers at the time. It was a fabulous show.
The ultimate event occurred when V-J day, the end of the war with Japan, was declared while I was there. The entire city erupted in a celebration in the streets. I have never seen anything like it before, and probably never will again.
I have visited New York a few times since and have been saddened by its decline from being one of the world’s foremost cities to merely a large number of people in one place, not an impressive city like Shanghai or Tokyo.
After all this P.E.I. seemed like another planet. I resumed my waiting game, and eating lobster, until September when we were posted to Moncton, NB, for demobilization.
R.CA.F. STATION, MONCTON, NB – September 1945
We began the process of demobilization, mostly waiting in line to see this person or that person in order to get the proper paper filled out.
Finally it was all over. Then I discovered that my ticket put me on a train meandering from Winnipeg through southern Saskatchewan and finally arriving in Byemoor a couple of days later. I wanted to go to Edmonton to investigate enrolling in the University of Alberta. Since it was close to the final date for enrolment I had to get there as expeditiously as possible. Fortunately, I was able to get the ticket changed to the main line from Winnipeg to Edmonton.
At last, I was a happy civilian again.
2014 PRESENTATION
| In 2014 the local Member of Parliament, Laurie Hawn, presented former member of the R.C.A.F. Certificates of Service and Lapel Pins to Veterans. |