Wings Over the World: Canada Contributes to WWII

This exhibit tells the story of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the role Billy Bishop had through World War Two.

"The Plan", as it was often called, was a major Canadian contribution to the War effort. Canada was the perfect place to train pilots, aircrew, aircraft mechanics and many others involved in the operation and maintenance of aircraft for the war. The aircrew of Canada, Britain, Austrailia, and New Zealand were trained in Canada over the course of the War. Some American pilots and air crew also trained here before the United States entered the war. The Plan was so successful by the end of the Second World War the Royal Canadian Air Force had become the world's third most powerful air force.

Billy Bishop was the Director of Recruiting for the RCAF through WWII. He traveled around the country giving speeches, attracting people to the RCAF and presiding over training graduation ceremonies. He was quite influential and even appeared in a movie called "Captain of the Clouds". In this exhibit you can see a clip of the movie where Billy gives a speech at a graduation at the Uplands Air Force Training Base.

The Exhibit is sponsored in part by Best Western-Inn on the Bay.