American RCAF Warriors

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On December 17, 1939, representatives from Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand signed into being a joint air training agreement called the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). This plan was run by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and it quickly started a massive building and recruitment program.

At this stage in the war, the United States was firmly neutral. This, coupled with the US services’ higher requirements for entry, meant that many men who wanted to sign up to fight were unable to join up. Canada, however, was more than happy to accept them. By the end of the war, 8,864 US citizens had served in the RCAF in some part.

Looking at 75 of those men, this book provides the stories of those who wanted to fight, and who served in a foreign uniform to do so. Some remained with the RCAF throughout their careers, some served for several years before transferring over to the US Army Air Forces once America had entered the war, and some only trained with the Canadians before serving in the US military.

Regardless of their length of service, each man owed Canada a great debt of accepting and training them for what they truly wanted – to fly and to fight.