Canadian Military History

Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 9

2000

Per Ardua Ad Astra: A Concicise Guide to Canadian Personnel Records and RCAF Service Information of the Second World War

Timothy Dubé Library and Archives

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Recommended Citation Dubé, Timothy "Per Ardua Ad Astra: A Concicise Guide to Canadian Personnel Records and RCAF Service Information of the Second World War." Canadian Military History 9, 1 (2000)

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Per Ardua Ad Astra A Concise Guide to Canadian Personnel Records and RCAF Service Information of the Second World War

Timothy Dube

rr'be motto of the - The most obvious place to begin documenting 1. per ardua ad astra- through adversity to the the wartime service of these Canadians is to stars - might also serve as an apt expression locate their military service file. Military service when beginning research on individual Canadian files for the more than one million uniformed men airmen or airwomen of the Second World War. and women who were on active service with Without a guiding-hand, the first-time researcher Canada's armed forces during the Second World is likely to experience some considerable War are in the custody of the Personnel Records "adversity" before locating their "stars." Unit of the National Archives of Canada. Their files occupy more than 20 kilometres of shelf This note introduces the key records and space. Access to the documentation in these published sources for documenting those personnel files is governed by the provisions of individuals who served with the Royal Canadian two Federal statues; the Privacy Act and the Air Force during the Second World War, as well Access to Iriformation Act. Persons seeking access as directions for locating the records of those to their own military personnel files can apply Canadians who served in related air elements under the Privacy Act. If the veteran has been during the conflict. Many archival records and dead for 20 years or more, the file is no longer library sources give some information about these protected under the Privacy Act and anyone has individuals: this note is limited to official records, the right to obtain copies of the file under the or to those records compiled from official sources, Access to Information Act. In these latter cases, that are held by the major Canadian and individuals requesting access to the records must Commonwealth institutions which have the produce evidence that the person concerned has mandate to provide such essential wartime been dead for more than 20 years. documentation. Typical personnel files for the Second World * * * * * War can include such documents as: attestation papers, recording name, date and place of birth, he Royal Canadian Air Force at the permanent address, details of next-of-kin, T commencement of the Second World War in previous military service, education, etc.; a record 1939 was the smallest of Canada's three armed of service, showing postings and promotions; pay services. By 1945, it had expanded to the fourth records; a medal card, recording those medals largest air force of the Allied powers. In all, more and honours awarded; casualty notifications, than 232,500 men and 17,000 women served in including certificates of death; a will, with estate the wartime RCAF, both in home defence and files; and correspondence. overseas, and over 18,000 Canadian airmen and airwomen lost their lives on active service during Requests for copies of the personnel files the Second World War. should be sent to the Personnel Records Unit,

©Canadian Military History. Volume 9, Number 1, Winter 2000, pp. 75-79. 75

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Researcher Services Division, National Archives of History and Heritage. These record: the name. of Canada, 395 Wellington Avenue, Ottawa, date of birth, religion and marital status at time Ontario, K1A ON3. Fax: (613) 947-8456. Web site: of enlistment; the date and place of enlistment; . Researchers should service numbers; Canadian postings, with be aware that the queue is long and a wait of effective dates: and rank and trades with their three to four months is not unusual. Additionally, effective dates. However, overseas service is not each request is limited to three names. recorded and biographical details for (Statistics for the last year show that the members of the RCAF (Women's Division) unit answered almost 30,000 written are not readable on the microfilmed inquiries. This was accomplished with cards. only 14 staff members!) The published RCAF Daily Routine However, a significant number Orders for the Second World War of Canadians enlisted directly record the granting of with the Royal Air Force before commissions, the award of the Second World War or in honours, and the transfer of the early months of that conflict individual officers and other when RCAF recruiting standards ranks. Information about were set excessively high pending individual RCAF officers can also expansion of the air training plan. be found in the published officers Known as CAN IRAF personnel, lists. At the commencement of the their service records are retained Second World War, the published only by the British Ministry of Dt;fence Forces List recorded the Defence. Ex-serviceman and next­ names of all officers of the of-kin may obtain very brief details by writing to Canadian Army, RCN and RCAF, with the dates RAF Personnel Management, PMA(CS)2A2, RAF of their commission and other details. Innsworth, Gloucester GL3 1EZ, England. Arrangement was by service and then unit but a nominal index was included. As a result of the A number of Canadians also served with the rapid expansion of the armed forces this single RAF Ferry Command, delivering aircraft around List was quickly superseded by separate monthly the globe. At the Directorate of History and lists for each service. The Royal Canadian Air Heritage (DHH), Department of National Defence Force List is arranged by trade, and includes the are Employment Cards and Crew Assignment name and service number of each officer. with Cards for the estimated 6,000 aircrew, both his rank and date of seniority. An appendix military and civilian, who passed through RAF includes a list of officers who had retired or died Ferry Command Headquarters at Dorval, since the previous list. These published Orders Montreal. The Employment Cards (Ace. 84144- and Lists will be found in major reference libraries 2) provide biographical information and dates of across the country. service, flying status and rates of pay. The Crew Assignment Cards (Ace. 84144-3) include Early in the war, RCAF authorities obtained additional biographical and next-of-kin details, lists of the CAN IRAF personnel from RAF with a photograph of the individual and a list of authorities and Commander Fred Hitchins, all flights and aircraft delivered. Located at 2429 as an RCAF Historical Officer, kept track of many Holly Lane, Ottawa (near the convergence of of their careers until about mid-1941. The CAN I Walkley and Heron Roads), the Directorate of RAF Cards produced vary greatly in detail. Some History and Heritage currently provides public give only the sketchiest information, while others access to these and other records on Tuesdays are crowded with details gleaned from award and Wednesdays during regular business hours. citations. Operations Record Books and press releases. These cards are currently held by the A number of other documents - published Directorate of History and Heritage. and unpublished, original and compiled- serve to complement or supplement the respective For aircrew, the most interesting or service files of Canadian airmen and airwomen informative sources are the Operations Record of the Second World War. Books. RCAF Operations Record Books describe the daily activities of all BCATP schools in Indices to RCAF Personnel Records (Ace. 76 I Canada, and all RCAF operational squadrons, 10) are held as microfilm copies by the Directorate wings and groups, and their appendices furnish 76 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol9/iss1/9 2 Dubé: Per Ardua Ad Astra

a record of each operational sortie. One copy of and the date, place, time. nature and possible the original RCAF Operations Record Books (540 cause of the accident; and the Investigating Form) and their appendices (541 Form) are held Officer's Report or the Court's Proceedings, which by the Government Archives and Records record additional details of the accident and the Disposition Division (GARDD) of the National findings. The latter reports often include in their Archives of Canada (RG 24, E 7, Volumes 22.495 appendices, excerpts from the airframe and to 22.850). Microfilm copies of these can be engine log books, witness statements, maps, borrowed for personal use by any institution that plans, photographs and correspondence. possesses a microfilm reader and that participates in an inter-library loan arrangement. Combat Cards, covering members of the Requests for loans must be submitted by the RCAF, as well as Canadians enrolled in the RAF, borrowing institution, clearly specifying the unit are held by the Directorate of History and and time period required. Requests should be Heritage. These cards give service numbers and submitted to the Inter-Institutional Loans Unit, trade, and list by date, type and location, the National Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington victories. For multi-place aircraft, the cards also Street. Ottawa, Ontario, K1A ON3. Fax: (613) 995- indicate the navigator I radar operator. However, 6274. Web site: . they deal almost exclusively with claims submitted by units in the United Kingdom and Details about the daily activities and North West Europe. They do not cover aerial operations of those Canadian aircrew who served claims submitted by gunners in bomber aircraft, with Royal Air Force squadrons, rather than in nor do they deal with air-to-air combats of fighter RCAF ones, are not available in Canada. Rather, crews in No. 100 Group (which was a formation Operations Record Books for RAF squadrons are within Bomber Command). found in the class Air 27 at the Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue. Kew, Richmond, Surrey, The Combat Cards are digests, compiled from TW9 4DU, England. Web site: . Arranged by squadron and Reports occupy some fifteen folders at the then chronologically, the current PRO Guide Directorate of History and Heritage (Ace. 73 I 84 7). shows that these total some 3,260 volumes. The Arranged in chronological order, it is first services of a professional records agent are necessary to consult the Combat Cards to generally required. determine on what dates individual Combat Report claims were submitted. The Combat Information about individual aircraft can be Reports include the name of the pilot (and his found on the RCAF Aircraft History Cards and navigator if a two-seater aircraft was flown), the Accident Cards. currently maintained by the time, altitude, and estimated location of the National Aviation Museum, Rockcliffe Airport, 11 action, and the claim being submitted, whether Aviation Parkway, PO Box 9724, Station T, for enemy aircraft "Destroyed," "Probably Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 5A3. For the period of the Destroyed" or "Damaged." A narrative of the Second World War, these are limited to aircraft action, often varying in length and detail, is of the Home War Establishment and BCATP; also included. In some instances, claims were aircraft operated by the RCAF overseas were the upgraded or downgraded according to property of the RAF. The cards provide details of information later received and the Combat the assignment and movement of individual Reports are so annotated. aircraft, with a record of any accidents or crashes and the fates of the crew. Details about the wartime service of RCAF officers and other ranks, both at home and Aircrq{t Accident Files - RCAF for wartime abroad, are also found in the citations or aircraft accidents in Canada are held as microfilm recommendations to honours and awards. An copies by the Government Archives and Records alphabetical file of all the RCAF Honours and Disposition Division of the National Archives of Awards of the Second World War has been Canada (RG 24, E 14; Microfilm Reels C-5929 to compiled from official records by Hugh Halliday C-5939 and T -12338 toT -1235 7). These include and is available for research within the aircraft with Canadian serial numbers, as well Manuscript Division (MSS) of the National as those with RAF serials used in Canada. Typical Archives of Canada (MG 31, G 37). The file files include: a Flying Accident Signal Report, with consists of 9,200 entries for awards to RCAF the initial report of the accident, recording the personnel, as announced or gazetted from 1940 unit and aircraft number, the aircraft occupants, through 1949, and includes all names, service 77

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numbers and types of honour or award granted, Registers of the burial site or memorial of all with citations or recommendations for members of the RCAF killed during the Second approximately 80% of these. Also included is World War are maintained by the Commonwealth additional biographical material on most of the War Graves Commission. Details, including the individuals listed. The data is now also available name, rank, number and service, date of death, on the web site of the Air Force Association of the age and next-of-kin (if known), and Canada. . or memorial, can be obtained from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 66 The Directorate of History and Heritage holds Slater Street. Suite I 707, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA an index of all members of the RCAF who were OP4. Telephone: (613) 992-3224 This information held by the enemy during the Second World War is also available in a data base linked to the (Ace. 90/ 18). Each index card contains: the Commission's web pages. . his date of birth; name and address of next of Records for all 1. 7 million Commonwealth war kin; promotions; squadron number; and the date dead of the First and Second World Wars are of capture. In addition, the prisoner of war camp provided on the site. But with more than 600,000 and any camp movements are recorded, as is hits per week, response time can often be slow the date of safe arrival in the United Kingdom. and access can be difficult. Veterans Affairs Canada has mounted the Canadian and Following their return to the United Kingdom, Newfoundland portions of this data base on its Canadian Bomber Command evaders and web site. . Response time prisoners of war were routinely interrogated is much quicker, and maps of the cemeteries are about the circumstances of their being forced often found, but CAN /RAF personnel are not on down or captured. About 2,000 such the Veterans Affairs Canada site. questionnaires and narratives will be found at the Directorate of History and Heritage. Some Enshrined in the Memorial Chamber of the are very brief; others go into much detail. They Peace Tower are the Books of Remembrance, are in two sets; one arranged chronologically recording the names of all those Canadians who (181.001 D.23) and the other alphabetically lost their lives while serving in one of Canada's (181.001 D.24). armed forces or merchant marine during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and Another means of documenting the service with the South African and Nile Expeditions. of Canadian airmen during the Second World War Newfoundland has its own Book recording the is through the casualty records. Several series names of men and women killed during war of index cards at the Directorate of History and service between I9I4 and 1949. In the Book of Heritage record RCAF fatal casualties during the Remembrance for the Second World War, the Second World War (Ace. 90/ 18). These include: name, rank and service or unit of Canadians who RCAF Fatal Casualties Overseas with Graves; died in each year of the conflict appear. (CAN I Overseas Without Known Graves; In Canada; and RAF personnel do not appear in this Book.) A In the United States. Within each index, cards page is turned in each book every day in a are arranged in alphabetical order with the name, ceremony held at II :00 a.m. Each name in every rank, and service number, the date of the fatality, book appears once in twelve months. Visitors can and where known, the place of burial recorded. find out on which page a name appears and the For those casualties overseas, each card also date it can be viewed by asking the constable in identifies the squadron in which the individual the Chamber. Copies of the pages are available was serving and the type and serial number of by calling or writing the Public Information Office, the aircraft. A published record ofthe more than House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA OA6. 18,000 RCAF fatal casualties (and many of the Telephone: (6I3) 992-4793 The Books are also CAN /RAF also) was prepared by the found on the Veterans Affairs Canada and the Schoolnet web sites. biographical details with summaries of the particulars of each fatality and includes the final burial site or memorial location. * * * * *

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efore concluding, a few final general Unit, National Archives of Canada. Their B comments about the use of military records comments and advice were important and are appropriate. Archives are not libraries. appreciated. Any errors are mine alone. Information is not often stored according to specific names or subjects. Rather, it is maintained largely in the order in which the This paper was first presented at the 5th Air Force Historical records were created. Before commencing a Conference I 36th Annual Canadian Aviation Historical search, an understanding of the organization and Society Convention held at 16 Wing Borden. Ontario, 22-26 structures of the various military bodies is June 1999. It appears courtesy of the Office of Air Force Heritage and History. . , necessary because the types of records created, MB. the means to access them, and their relative survival rate follow directly from the record­ creating bodies. Herein lies the challenge of Timothy Dube is the Military Archivist within research. Hopefully, these notes will facilitate the the Manuscript Division of the National task. Archives of Canada. He is the author of a number of articles and papers on military And finally, I would like to acknowledge the records and research, including Canada at assistance of: Carl Christie. formerly of the War, 1939-1945: A Survey of the Archival Directorate of History and Heritage, Department Holdings of the Second World War at the of National Defence; Canadian Aviation Historical National Archives of Canada (LCMSDS, Society member and researcher, Hugh Halliday; 1996). and Gregg McCooyee of the Personnel Records

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