Canadian Aviation Corps (CAC) was an early attempt to create an air force for Canada at the beginning of the First World War. The unit was created in 1914 and was attached to the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The CAC had a maximum strength of three personnel and one aircraft which was delivered but never used. By May 1915, the unit had ceased to exist.
The Burgess-Dunne was Canada's first military aircraft, although it never saw military service.
History[]
The idea of a Canadian Aviation Corps was conceived by Colonel Sam Hughes, Canada's Minister of Militia and Defence.[1] Hughs had asked British authorities how Canada could help the war effort in the field of military aviation. Britain suggested that Canada could help by supplying military aviators.[2] Hughs appointed Ernest Lloyd Janney as provisional commander and authorized him to spend up to $5000 on an aircraft. A Burgess-Dunne floatplane was purchased in the United States, shipped to Vermont and then flown to Valcartier, Quebec where it was taken apart, crated, and shipped to England. Janney and two other CAC members, Lieutenant W. F. Sharpe, a pilot, and Staff Sergeant H. A. Farr, a mechanic, accompanied the aircraft. The aircraft was left abandoned and damaged on the Salisbury Plain, having never flown any combat operations. By May 1915, the CAC had dissolved.[3]
A second attempt in creating an air force began with the creation of the Canadian Air Force in 1918.
Aircraft[]
- 1 Burgess-Dunne two-seater tailless swept-wing pusher floatplane built by Blair-Atholl Syndicate Limited of England
Personnel[]
Personnel were mainly army officers transferred to an air unit with minimal flight training.
- Captain Ernest Lloyd Janney (June 16, 1893 - Galt, Ontario - April 22, 1941 - Winnipeg, MB) - provisional commander and later Sub-Lieutenant[4]
- Lieutenant W. F. N. Sharpe (1892? - Prescott, Ontario - 1915 - Brighton, England) - observer/pilot
- Staff Sergeant Harry A. Farr DSC, DFC- mechanic left the CAC in 1915 and later joined the Royal Naval Air Service.[5][6]
Related units[]
This unit was allied with the following:
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Roberts 1959, p. 7.
- ↑ Milberry 1984, p. 13.
- ↑ The History of Canada's Air Force - The Beginning - Canadian Aviation Corps. 1914 - 1915 Retrieved 2011-04-27
- ↑ Legion Magazine - A High Flyer, Indeed: Air Force, Part 4 Retrieved: 2012-10-09
- ↑ http://legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/2004/07/a-high-flyer-indeed/
- ↑ http://airforce.ca/magazine/canadas-military-air-power-heritage/2-the-canadian-aviation-corps-1914/
- Greenhous, Brereton; Halliday, Hugh A. Canada's Air Forces, 1914 - 1999. Montreal: Editions Art Global and the Department of National Defence, 1999. ISBN 2-920718-72-X.
- Milberry, Larry, ed. Sixty Years - The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924 - 1984. Toronto: Canav Books, 1984. ISBN 0-9690703-4-9.
- Roberts, Leslie. There Shall Be Wings. Toronto: Clark, Irwin and Co. Ltd., 1959. No ISBN.
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The original article can be found at Canadian Aviation Corps and the edit history here.