No. 3 Training Command RCAF was a training command of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

established to administer the schools of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

History

No. 3 Training Command was formed as No. 2 Training Group at

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

on 18 March 1940, but was soon redesignated as No. 3 Training Command on 29 April 1940, responsible for schools in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

and

The Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

. Air Commodore

Clifford McEwen Air Vice Marshal Clifford Mackay McEwen CB, MC, DFC & Bar (2 July 1896 – 6 August 1967) was a fighter ace in the British Royal Flying Corps during World War I and a senior commander in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. His Se ...

was appointed group commander on 19 March and continued in that position for the command until 26 March 1941. Later commanders were Air Commodore George Victor Walsh from 27 March 1941,

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

Joseph Lionel Elphege Albert de Niverville from 2 November of that year, and Air Vice-Marshal

Adelard Raymond Adelard (also spelled Adelhard, Adalhard or Adalard) may refer to: People in the Middle Ages *Adelard, father of the Frankish saint Herlindis of Maaseik (died 745) * Adalard of Corbie (751–827), Frankish abbot *Adelard of Spoleto (died 824), Ita ...

from 20 November 1943 to the end of its existence. As the BCATP was wound down it was merged with No. 1 Training Command RCAF to form No. 1 Air Command RCAF on 15 January 1945.

Schools

The command controlled the following schools in January 1944: Location and aircraft operated, if applicable, are in parentheses. * Initial Training School: No. 1 (

Victoriaville Victoriaville is a town in central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of Arthabaska, ...

) * Elementary Flying Training Schools: No. 4 ( Windsor Mills;

Fleet Finch The Fleet Finch (Fleet Model 16) is a two-seat, tandem training biplane produced by Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario. There were a number of variants mainly based on engine variations. Over several years beginning in 1939, a total of 447 ...

and

de Havilland DH.60 Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane ...

), No. 11 (

Cap-de-la-Madeleine Cap-de-la-Madeleine is a former city in Quebec, Canada at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and the St. Lawrence River. It was amalgamated into the City of Trois-Rivières in 2002. Population (2006 census) 33,022. History Cap-de-la-M ...

; Finch and

Fairchild Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

), No. 13 ( Saint-Eugène; Finch), No. 17 (

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

; Finch and Moth), No. 21 ( Chatham; Finch), and No. 22 (

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

; Finch) * Service Flying Training Schools: **No. 2 Service Flying Training School (

Uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

;

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

and

North American Yale The North American NA-64 (NA-64 P-2 or NAA-64 P-2 in French service, Yale in Canadian service) is a low-wing single piston engine monoplane advanced trainer aircraft that was built for the French Air Force and French Navy, served with the Royal C ...

), **

No. 8 Service Flying Training School RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

(

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because o ...

;

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

); ** No. 13 Service Flying Training School RCAF ( Saint-Hubert; Harvard and Anson) * Air Observer Schools: No. 8 (Quebec City; Anson), No. 9 ( St-Jean; Anson), and No. 10 (Chatham; Anson) * Bombing and Gunnery Schools: No. 9 (

Mont-Joli Mont-Joli () is a city in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is the county seat. The city is located east of Rimouski near the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. History ...

; Anson,

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and ...

Bristol Bolingbroke The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. De ...

, and

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

), and No. 10 ( Mount Pleasant; Anson, Battle, Bolingbroke, and Lysander) * Wireless School: No. 3 (Montreal;

Noorduyn Norseman The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable. Introd ...

and Moth) * Flying Instructor School: No. 3 (

Arnprior Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced si ...

; various) * Naval Air Gunners School: No. 1 ( Yarmouth;

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also use ...

) * General Reconnaissance Schools: ** No. 1 General Reconnaissance School RCAF ( Summerside; Anson) ** No. 31 General Reconnaissance School RCAF (

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city i ...

; Anson)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Cite book, title=RCAF: Squadron Histories and Aircraft, 1924–1968, last=Kostenuk, first=Samuel, last2=Griffin, first2=John, publisher=Samuel Stevens/Hakkert & Company, year=1977, isbn=0-88866-577-6, series=Canadian War Museum Historical Publication No. 14, location=Sarasota/Toronto 3 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945