The B.C.A.T.P. and Defence Policy
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204700200104 |
| Published date | 01 March 1947 |
| Date | 01 March 1947 |
| Author | Terence Sheard |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
B.C.A.T.P.
and
Defence
Policy
Terence
Sheard
n
unobtrusive
clause
in
the
Canada-United Kingdom
loan
agreement, releasing
a
British
indebtedness
of
$425,000,000,
marked
the
formal
conclusion
of
one
of
the
most
astonishing
examples
of
inter-Commonwealth
co-operation
-
the
Britishý
Commonwealth
Air Training
Plan.
That
the
Air
Training
programme should
have
been
undertaken
at
all,
or
that
when
attempted
it
should
have
been
carried
through
successfully
and
on
an
expanded
scale,
by
a
country
with
no
more
than
a
handful
of
trained
personnel
with
any
knowledge
of
the
technical
prob-
lems
involved,
is sufficiently
surprising,
but
these
facts
are
well
known and
generally
appreciated.
What
is
not
so
well understood
is
the
significance
of
the
plan
in
illustrating
the
extent
to
which
theoretical or
philosophical
ideas
of
national sovereignty
can
give
way
to
the
necessities
of
war.
In
some
ways
the
original
Air
Training
agreement
of
1939
was
a
colonial
document. In
order
to
comprehend
this
aspect
of
the
plan
it
is
necessary
to
go
back
some
years and
consider
the
situation
that
existed
during
the
first
world
war.
In
World
War
I
Canada
had
no
air
force. The
training
establishments
in
this
country
were
Royal
Flying
Corps
and later
Royal Air
Force
establishments and
all
the
Canadian
flying
personnel
were
enlisted,
during
the
early
years
of
the
war,
in
the
R.N.A.S.
and
R.F.C.,
and
later
in
the
R.A.F.
They
were not identified
in
any
way;
they
served
exclusively
under
Air
Ministry supervision,
and,
except
for
those
seconded
from
the
Canadian
Army,
were
paid
by
the
United
Kingdom.
How
large a
proportion
of
the
flying
personnel
in
the
R.A.F.
during
World
War
I
were Canadians
is
not
known,
but
notwithstanding
that
some
of
the
most
dis-
tinguished
pilots
were
Canadians,
none
of
them
is
believed
to
.have
risen
beyond
the
rank
of
Lieutenant-Colonel.
Towards
the
end
of
the
war
some
proposals
were
made
for
the
formation
of
37
To continue reading
Request your trial