Operational Training and Antisubmarine Air Warfare on Canada’s East Coast - The Second Word War Collected Papers Gerry Madigan Personal Archives – RAF Museum London located on the former Hendon Aerodrome,14 June 2014 – Lockheed Hudson Bomber 23 March 2018 Disclaimer The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression and of an academic environment. 1 Biographical Gerry (GD) Madigan, CD, MSc, MA is a retired logistician, Canadian Armed Forces. Major (Retired) Madigan’s career spanned 28 Years as a finance officer. His notable postings included time served at National Defence Headquarters, CFB Europe, Maritime Canada and The First Gulf War as comptroller in Qatar. He is a graduate of Saint Francis Xavier University (BSc), McGill University (MSc) and the Royal Military College of Canada (Master of Arts War Studies). “Collected Papers - Operational Training and Antisubmarine Air Warfare on Canada’s East Coast” origins arise from a series of papers for refereed journals and for local aviation museums. These accounts were written first and were the foundations for my book “At the crossroads of time: the story of Operational Training Unit 31, RCAF No. 7 Squadron, and RCAF Tiger Force Debert Airfield during the Second World War”. The papers are individual - stand alone records of air training of what was at the time, the nascent beginnings of anti-submarine warfare on Canada’s East Coast. This book is dedicated to the men and women who lived and died at what was essentially on the home front, here in Canada, on Canada’s East Coast during the Second World War. This is ultimately a record of their lives and times. Their sacrifices paved the way towards a better world in which we live today. 2 Place holder LAC Details - 1 Published: 23 March 23, 2018 ISBN 978-0-9959203-1-6 3 Place holder LAC Details – 2 4 Contents DISCLAIMER ..................................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. 10 PROLOGUE ..................................................................................................................................... 12 The Genesis of the story- An Early Interest is all things “Air and History” ............................................................ 13 THE STORY OF OPERATIONAL UNIT 31, RCAF STATION DEBERT, .................................................... 17 Under the British Commonwealth Training Plan .................................................................................................... 17 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 18 Building the BCATP .............................................................................................................................................. 18 ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 Debert Selected for Operational Training Unit 31 (O.T.U. 31) .............................................................................. 20 RCAF Station Debert – The Purpose for being ...................................................................................................... 23 Why an O.T.U. at Debert? .................................................................................................................................... 24 Debert – Operational Training ............................................................................................................................. 24 Debert Training – the Reality ............................................................................................................................... 25 What of the casualties? ....................................................................................................................................... 27 A repeat? ............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Assumptions ........................................................................................................................................................ 30 Debert Operations – The Unknown Triumph ....................................................................................................... 30 Debert Operational Sorties .................................................................................................................................. 34 The End of O.T.U. 31 and the beginning of RCAF Station No. 7 ............................................................................ 35 The BCATP’s True Cost ......................................................................................................................................... 36 Closing Remarks – “Lest we forget” ..................................................................................................................... 37 TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT 31, DEBERT NOVA SCOTIA .......... 38 In Sepia tones – Looking back .............................................................................................................................. 39 5 Dire Straits ........................................................................................................................................................... 40 Moving a Backlog ................................................................................................................................................. 41 To the rescue ....................................................................................................................................................... 43 A System In Crisis And Distress ............................................................................................................................ 45 Pressure flows downhill ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Beech O'Hanley and AM896 -the Great Village Crash 23 October 1941................................................................ 47 Training Assessment – A Balanced Point of View ................................................................................................. 52 Other Probable Factors – Mechanical Failure and Maintenance .......................................................................... 54 Other Probable Factors – Navigation and Communication. ................................................................................. 55 Other Probable Factors – Weather and all Weather Training ............................................................................. 56 The Instructors Dilemma ..................................................................................................................................... 57 Back to the Future ............................................................................................................................................... 59 THE CRUCIBLE FOR CHANGE .......................................................................................................... 60 Defence Spending in Debert Nova Scotia Second World War ................................................................................ 60 Introduction – The Worst of times ....................................................................................................................... 61 Time for Change................................................................................................................................................... 62 The British Commonwealth Training Plan ............................................................................................................ 63 On the Fast Track to Building an Airfield and an Army Camp ............................................................................... 63 Debert and the Impacts of the Air Force - Army Presence .................................................................................... 65 Difficulties ........................................................................................................................................................... 66 Economic Spin offs ............................................................................................................................................... 68 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................... 68 Results for Debert Airfield ................................................................................................................................... 69 Results for the Army ............................................................................................................................................ 72 Turn over of facilities to RCAF .............................................................................................................................. 74 Winding down – Deconstruction .......................................................................................................................... 75 Concluding Remarks ...........................................................................................................................................