Aylmer Airman, June 11, 1943. ECVF 99/41
At the height of the war, the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) operated 19 Service Schools. One of these schools was located in Aylmer, Ontario on 500 acres of land bought by the Government of Canada in late 1940. It became known as the No. 14 Service Flying Training School, where students from as far away as Australia were trained and graduated as pilots.
The school compound included about 50 buildings with green cedar shingle siding and red asphalt roofs, five double hangers and three double runways. The training school began operating on July 3, 1941 with 40 officers, 376 airman and 27 civilian employees. An official opening ceremony was held on August 2, 1941.
The students mainly flew on single-engine aircraft, including Harvards and a few Mk II Ansons and North American Yale aircraft. The R.C.A.F. Women’s Division at No. 14 Service Flying Training School was formed in March, 1942, with close to 200 members employed in all sections of the station. That same year, Aylmer became the first Service School to use radio in its training programs.
Tragically, students and staff at No. 14 Service Flying Training School too often paid the ultimate price, like so many others in a time of war. In its four years of operation, the school saw 26 training accidents which resulted in the loss of 12 instructors and 26 students.
By the time the war ended in 1945 the station had been in operation for 4 years and officially graduated 4144 pilots, thanks to the significant contribution of all those that worked at the station: instructors, mechanics, trades people and countless others. On September 7th 1945, No. 14 Service Flying Training School was disbanded and the station became No. 1 Aircraft Holdings Unit, Kingston, Ont. By 1962, after it was vacated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, the station was modified for use as the Ontario Police College.
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Aylmer Airman June 11th, 1943. ECVF 99/41 |
Aylmer Airman March 13th, 1942. ECVF 99/41 |
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Aylmer Airman July 3, 1942. ECVF 99/41 |
Aylmer Airman May 8, 1942. ECVF 99/41 |