The Ottawa RCAF Flyers were a Canadian

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

team from the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) base in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. The team was made up of active and former RCAF members and

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

personnel. The team won the gold medal in the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

and the 1942 Allan Cup championship. The team was inducted into the Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. In 2001, the 1948 team was honoured by the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

when it was selected as Canada's greatest military athletes of the 20th century.

1948 Winter Olympics

In October 1947, the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

(CAHA) announced that the

team from the

(RCAF) base in Ottawa would represent the Canadian national team in

ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, was the sixth Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic Championship, also served as the 15th World Ice Hockey Championships, World Championships and the 26th ...

. At the time, the CAHA had ongoing disagreements with the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace and the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

on the definition of an amateur, and the RCAF team was a compromise to meet the amateur eligibility requirements of the Olympics. CAHA vice-president

Norman Dawe Robert Norman Dawe (October 18, 1898January 4, 1948) was a Canadian sports executive. He originated as an Official (ice hockey), ice hockey referee for minor ice hockey games in Verdun, Quebec, before becoming involved in the administrative asp ...

and secretary

George Dudley George Samuel Dudley (April 19, 1894 – May 8, 1960) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He joined the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) executive in 1928, served as its president from 1934 to 1936, and as its treasurer from 1936 to 1960 ...

, liaised with the

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; ), also known as Team Canada, is a private nonprofit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee. It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization. History Cana ...

and gain approval for the choice. After the Ottawa RCAF Flyers lost by a 7–0 score to the McGill University men's team, the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' reported that multiple Canadian sports journalists called for a university team to represent Canada at the Olympics. When the RCAF team lost its next game by a 6–2 score to the Ottawa

hockey team, Norman Dawe held an emergency meeting and committed to retaining the team's management and coach,

Frank Boucher François Xavier Boucher (October 7, 1901 – December 12, 1977) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. Boucher played the forward (ice hockey), forward position for the Ottawa Senators (original), Ottawa Senators and New ...

. Dawe also announced that the RCAF team would be bolstered from the best available players, and retain the RCAF identity after six civilian players were added from the Ottawa Senior Hockey League. Dawe recruited defenceman

Henri-André Laperrière Henri-André Laperrière (June 12, 1925March 8, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He was a member of the Ottawa RCAF Flyers team that won the gold medal in ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics. As a member of the RCAF Flyers, Laper ...

from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, in addition to two more players from Toronto recruited by George Dudley. The efforts to bolster the Ottawa RCAF Flyers resulted in the team winning every game at the Olympics and the gold medal.

Team members

;Players The IOC lists that all players, including reserves, were given an Olympic Gold Medal. * Hubert Brooks,

Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway, Trans-Can ...

(reserve) *

Murray Dowey Murray Albert Dowey (January 3, 1926 – May 26, 2021), was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Fast Hands", he was a member of the Ottawa RCAF Flyers, which won the gold medal in ice hockey representing Canada at the 1948 Winter Olymp ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

) * Frank Dunster,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

) *

Roy Forbes Roy Charles Forbes (born February 13, 1953) is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, whose music bears heavy influences from classic American genres of acoustic blues and traditional Country music, country. Forbes is known for his high soulf ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

(defenceman) (reserve) * Andy Gilpin, Montreal ( forward) (reserve) * Jean Gravelle,

Aylmer, Quebec Aylmer is a List of former municipalities in Quebec, former city in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River and along Quebec Route 148, Route 148. In January 2002, it amalgamated into the city of Gatineau, which is ...

* Patsy Guzzo, Ottawa * Wally Halder, Toronto * Ted Hibberd, Ottawa * Ross King, Portage la Prairie (goaltender) (reserve) *

, Ottawa (defenceman) * John Lecompte, Ottawa, (defenceman) * Pete Leichnitz (reserve), Brechin, Ontario * George Mara, Toronto * Albert Renaud, Ottawa * Reginald Schroeter, Ottawa * Irving Taylor, Ottawa ;Staff *Coach, Sgt. Frank Boucher, Ottawa, (nephew of

) *Manager, S/L Sandy Watson, Ottawa *Trainer, Cpl George McFaul, Ottawa

Legacy

The book ''Gold Medal Misfits'' ( Pat MacAdam, Manor House Publishing, 2008) chronicles the team's history with original articles from the area and interviews with surviving team members.

was the last surviving member of the Flyers' 1948 Olympic team, dying in 2021. The

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

' alternate uniform, commemorating the centennial of the RCAF, was based on those worn by the RCAF Flyers at the 1948 Olympics.

References

Bibliography

List of 1948 Canadian Olympic Medal Winners
*McLauchlin, Les
"Good God, Olympic Gold!"
''The Airforce'', Spring, 1998. Retrieved April 21, 2008 *Iorfida, Chris

''CBC.ca'', February 7, 2008. * The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D. A Canadian Hero
Royal Canadian Air Force: RCAF Flyers Wrote Olympic History
Retrieved February 8, 2015 {{Footer Olympic Champions Men's ice hockey 1948 in Canada RC Military ice hockey teams Military sport in Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Royal Canadian Air Force Ice hockey teams representing Canada internationally

1948 Winter Olympics

Team members

Legacy

See also

References

Bibliography