Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered: A History Grad Student’s Guide to Conferences in Ottawa (and not cry).

Whitney M. Hodgins is a Master of Arts Student from Athabasca University focusing on Heritage and Social History.

In my previous blog post where I discussed “Trading the Hangar for History Panels: A students’ guide to the CHA”, you will find that I was once again missing from my usual spot in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum. As a Masters Student I took to the stage for the first time academically to present a small piece of my own research as well as a presentation at two different history conferences running back to back in the same day.

The first conference was the Interrogating Canadian Identities Conference where I presented an original research piece titled, “Erased Identity: Finding the Lost WWI Indigenous Soldiers of Southwestern Manitoba”. The second conference I attended and presented at was the Summer Institute for Oral History and Feminist Ethics with my presentation titled, “Autism, Gender and Memory: Best Practices from the Lived Experience Lens”. I truly enjoyed my time presenting in both conferences because in academia, the main point of presenting research is to seek feedback from peers as well as disseminate your research to them. It offers students as well as academics the ability to constructively critique work being done and to ask questions. Speakers also get the opportunity to take those pieces of feedback to reflect on them and see if they can use that on their research projects. If you want to think of it in another way, like a professor grading an essay and giving feedback, you get feedback in real time from folks in your field of study from all different academic levels and all different institutions in some cases. It’s the literal act of putting one’s feet in the fire from a student’s perspective.

Additionally, there is a difference between a classic academic conference versus a summer institute; while one might have multiple panels running concurrently at the same time that attendees choose which ones that genuinely interest them, a summer institute is actually providing really focused professional development on skills you might need for an upcoming project you might be working on as well as to connect with those team members working on that project with you. So for the ICI Conference, it was a traditional academic conference where panelists were given 15 minutes to present their research one at a time on a panel that’s themed where you might have similar research topics or outputs. At the Summer Institute, I was engaged in training as well as training others in the field of history on my presentation. The format will look the same with both having panels similar in themed focus and time constraints, but the outcomes are completely different. In academic terms, when we say 15 minutes of fame, we mean it quite literally. This is to ensure that someone also does not go on a verbal tangent and go overtime. There are panel moderators whose main job is to cut us off when we go over, as well as let us know when we are almost out of time. It also acts as a great exercise of getting your main points across and making sure that students and academics understand what you’re doing.

All historical conference jargon aside, one cannot successfully go to Ottawa without finding the most appropriate accommodations; for myself it was the historic Saintlo Jail Hostel on Nicholas Street in Ottawa. This hostel is famous for structurally preserving its unique Victorian-era jail cells. They had dome-cell ceilings that enable you to be able to hear everything! The jail itself ran from 1862-1972 before it became a youth hostel. Additionally this is the prison where some of Canada’s most infamous prisoners were held. For example, Patrick Whelan who allegedly assassinated one of the Fathers of Confederation, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, was imprisoned and later publicly executed at the prison I stayed at. The cell where I stayed was the cell of Zerephina St. Aumond, who was sentenced to six months in prison for vagrancy after refusing to serve her sentence in a convent. This hostel is also known for being prolifically haunted. I was not scared, nor did I see any ghosts; but I had Archie, my travelling teddy companion that I picked up inside the Tiger Moth Gift Shop to keep me grounded. If you want your very own Archie, visit the Tiger Moth Gift Shop at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum and get yours today!

*A hallway inside the Saintlo Jail Hostel, Ottawa.*

*The doorway to Zeraphina St. Aumond’s cell.*

*Archie, the traveling teddy companion in a jail cell.* (note: Bears like Archie can be purchased in the CATPM gift shop!)

I was kept incredibly busy that entire week. When I was not speaking on my respective conference panels, I was attending other conference panels and taking copious amounts of notes. But there were some major highlights that I would like to share. One of the coolest historical places I went to see was the Preservation Centre at the Library Archives of Canada in Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa, Ontario). This preservation centre is the place where a lot of the digitized records I rely on for my research as a student actually get digitized. Additionally they have a preservation block that is climate controlled with a 500-year lifespan on textual documents, audio, video and other materials in their collection. Inside the preservation block, it is almost entirely machine automated. Experts in the field of sound, video, and textual preservation work with sometimes really outdated technology to preserve the remnants of the past for our enjoyment and research. For example, when in the sound lab, we saw the workers using Reel-2-Reel machines that were hooked up to computer monitors to transfer the reels to digital sound files like .mp4 and .mp3.

*Reel-2-Reel Players inside the Sound Lab.*

*Whitney Hodgins pictured inside the*
*preservation centre.*

I also got to visit the Canadian Women’s Movement Archive housed inside the University of Ottawa Library where they house the CWMA’s textual documents ranging from 1977-1992 as well as their published newspaper titled “The Other Woman”. Their collections have a vast collection of artifacts that also represent the vast representations of women’s issues as well as gender diverse expressions as well. A highlight for me was seeing the many different photographs and buttons. These buttons represent the many different campaigns that were held over the years with the CWMA and other organizations. The archive also holds exhibitions within their reading room for folks to get to know the collection as well as learn more about the CWMA.

*The Billiard Ball from the Ottawa-Hull Fire of 1900.*

After the conference I got to spend an afternoon in downtown Ottawa. I visited the Bytown Museum, located along the Rideau Canal. It was an interesting museum where it discusses the building of the Rideau Canal and eventually the creation of the City of Ottawa. One of my favourite artifacts in the museum is actually a billiard ball that was burned in the famous Ottawa-Hull fire of 1900. This ball that sits in the museum now has a blue/grey colour. I got immediately excited about it because even though the museum had a small description, I knew based on my training at what temperature the ball needed to be at in the fire consistently burning in order to turn that color. The answer…between 500-550 degrees celsius (or around 932-1022 degrees fahrenheit)! I also got to see the Rideau Canal opening and closing for the boats trying to pass through to demonstrate the architectural feat that this canal is.

Overall, this trip was both an amazing opportunity for learning as well as teaching for the week. I also am a bit of a rare and non-traditional student in the sense that I have been a masters student for only one academic term, to already be presenting a small piece of my research, teaching others about methodology and networking with folks that are to me legends in the discipline of writing and disseminating history. But if anything, it reminded me of the reasons why I got into history and why I still love historical topics and places even after all my time. Regardless, at the end of the day it was great to return to my post after going to Ottawa to do this. So what is next for me? My hopes from these conferences is to continue building my research and dissemination presence, collaborate on future conference panels, as well as potentially conduct future research and publications. The ability to do these things would become a full circle moment for me as a masters student. But until then, I am happy to be back in my spot at the CAPTM.

Thank you to the Brandon Area Community Foundation

Have You Enjoyed Your Visit This Year? Thank BACF!

If you’ve visited the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum this year, attended an event, brought your family, or spent some time exploring our site, some of the improvements happening behind the scenes have been made possible through the support of the Brandon Area Community Foundation (BACF).

CATPM received a $6,600 BACF Community Grant in support of our Community Crew Quarters: Space Renewal project.

The funding allowed us to replace the furnace in the Community Crew Quarters, addressing an important infrastructure need and helping ensure this space can continue to support Museum and community activities.

At the same time, CATPM invested approximately $1,000 of our own resources toward the construction of a new accessible ramp, addressing an immediate accessibility need and making our site easier to access.

Projects like these aren’t necessarily the things you come to the Museum to see—but they are part of what makes everything else possible. Maintaining our buildings, improving accessibility and investing in the spaces that serve our visitors all help us preserve this remarkable site and continue sharing its stories.

We are incredibly grateful to the Brandon Area Community Foundation for investing in the Museum and helping us continue to build a stronger, more accessible and sustainable future.

So, if you’ve enjoyed your visit this year, thank you BACF – you helped make it possible!

In Memory of Harry Denham Hayward

Harry was far more than a volunteer at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, he was part of its very foundation. As a member of Phoenix Squadron, a Director, an archivist, researcher, and dedicated volunteer, he helped build not only the Museum itself, but also the values that continue to guide it today. His passion, generosity, and unwavering commitment became woven into the fabric of this place.

Those who knew Harry knew that he believed every story mattered. He understood that behind every aircraft was a crew, behind every name was a family, and behind every casualty was a life of service and sacrifice that deserved to be remembered. He worked tirelessly to ensure that no one who served, and no one who gave their life, would ever be forgotten.

Perhaps no contribution reflects that commitment more than They Shall Grow Not Old: A Book of Remembrance. Co-authored with Les Allison and published by the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in 1992, this extraordinary work contains the biographies of more than 18,000 Canadian airmen, airwomen, and Allied personnel who lost their lives during the Second World War. It remains one of the Museum’s most significant scholarly achievements and continues to serve families, researchers, historians, and future generations. It is a lasting testament to Harry’s belief that remembrance begins with knowing each person’s story.

Harry’s dedication was evident not only in the major projects, but also in the countless moments of service that defined his character. The pages of the early CATPM Contact newsletters tell stories of long days, difficult conditions, and unwavering determination. One memorable account from October 1985 recalls Harry joining fellow volunteers on a winter expedition to recover an aircraft from Flin Flon through a snowstorm, a vivid reminder that preserving history often required extraordinary commitment. Harry never hesitated when the Museum needed him.

He gave his time generously and his knowledge freely. Through decades of service, he helped create an organization where remembrance is not simply an annual ceremony, but a daily responsibility.

Today, visitors who walk through the Museum, families who discover the story of a loved one, and volunteers who continue this work all benefit from Harry’s dedication. His fingerprints remain on this institution, not only in the archives he helped build or the books he helped write, but in the culture of remembrance that continues to define the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum.

Harry reminded us that history is ultimately about people. He taught us that every name deserves to be spoken, every sacrifice deserves to be remembered, and every generation has a responsibility to carry those stories forward.

For all that he gave to this Museum, to Canadian aviation history, and to the memory of those who served, we offer our deepest gratitude.

You will always be remembered, your contributions will continue to inspire, and your legacy will live on within these walls. Harry, thank you.

The Ghost Fleet of Fu-Go: When Japan attacked Canada in WWII

Whitney Hodgins is a Master of Arts student at Athabasca University focusing on Heritage and Social History.

Picture this: You are tending to your field as a farmer when all of a sudden you see a shadow on the ground approach you in the distance. When you look up into the sky, you see this round dark orb blocking out the sun with a weird looking shaped item floating beneath it on strings. It is approaching the ground… then you realize it is approaching you! You back up and then turn to run as fast as you can away from it. When it lands, it glides quietly to the ground and nothing happens. You approach it apprehensively to get a better look at the unknown object that landed in your field and you come to find a missile tied to this balloon. You immediately run back to your truck, drive back to the farmhouse and call the authorities.

display of Fu-Go Balloon Material — *The Fu-Go Balloon material on exhibit on the 2nd story of the museum.*

What that farmer saw was something that is known as a Fu-go Balloon Bomb. The term Fu-go is translated roughly in Japanese to mean “Code Balloon” because Fu was short for Fusen*. These balloons were in response to the Doolittle Raiders against Tokyo in 1942 by the Allies to confuse and impede the production of weapons from the Japanese (Mikesh, 1973). The Japanese had been in the process of creating these balloons well before WWII in 1933 under their “Proposed Airborne Carrier Research and Development Program”, where the main mandate was to research and carry out the development of new war weapons (Mikesh, 1973). This program was effectively dropped in 1935, however, the Fu-Go never fully shut down because it showed promise at the time (Mikesh, 1973). Then again, anything sounds better than the Ray-do, their death ray the Japanese attempted to create (Mikesh, 1973). These balloons were completely unmanned. When considering the human cost of war, this would have been considered a win for the Axis Forces as a way to save man-power in WWII efforts as by now their man-power is starting to dwindle and morale is beginning to drop.

In November 1944, 9,000 of these balloons were released into the jet-stream to bring the battlefront to the homefront (US Department of Agriculture, 2026). The Japanese’ primary objective was to start mass forest fires across the continent as a way to pull resources back to the homefront (US Department of Agriculture, 2026). Only 1,000 of these balloons would make it to North America and only 342 would be spotted (US Department of Agriculture, 2026). The Allies responded with two things, mass censorship on the balloons themselves and Operation Firefly. Firefly involved the US Military, the Canadian Military, and US Forest Services. This operation had been tasked with spotting the Fu-go Balloon Bombs, shoot them down before they have a chance to land, and if they land, dispose of them immediately to save the natural resources and civilians in the area (US Department of Agriculture). Which brings me to the aircraft used for this operation. Although the US Military used their own aircraft, Canada primarily used Hawker Hurricanes and KittyHawks to intercept these balloons (Hangar Flight Museum, 2026).

Here at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, our collection includes a partially restored Hawker Hurricane. Hawker Hurricanes are renowned for who assisted in the building of over 14,000 of them. Elsie MacGill, also known as the Queen of the Hurricanes, was a Canadian woman who was the Chief Aeronautical Engineer that headed the production of these air-craft in WWII in Canada (Canadian Encyclopedia, 2007).

*The Hawker Hurricane in the Hangar in the CAPTM.*

Of course, sometimes these bombs snuck past air force operatives and bombs would touch the ground. Once they did, those involved with Operation Firefly would need to go deal with the bomb by interviewing those who spotted these incendiary balloons land (Halliday, 2009). But even then, not every bomb was dealt with in time. On May 5, 1945, 6 Oregon citizens died when a Fu-go bomb landed nearby and exploded where they were having a family picnic (Halliday, 2009; Uenuma, 2019). This ultimately would be when the censorship ban would be lifted as the US Government had to warn civilians of the dangers of these bombs (Halliday, 2009).

The Fu-Go program stands as a fascinating, albeit deadly, piece of World War II history—a testament to desperate innovation when the war reached a stalemate. While the tragic loss of life in Oregon forced the declassification of these weapons, the joint defense efforts of the U.S. and Canada successfully mitigated much of the intended destruction. Today, aircraft like the Hawker Hurricane and the incendiary balloon featured in our collection at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon serve as a physical reminder of this unique, trans-Pacific airborne threat.

* This may not be an accurate translation. I do not speak or know Japanese. If the translation is incorrect, feel free to contact us at the CAPTM and we will happily correct it to reflect the translation accurately.

The Arrow Phenomenon

This post is by summer student, Rory M. He is a music student at Brandon University, this is his second summer with us.

The Avro Arrow seems to be a near-mystical phenomenon in the world of aviation, and I have witnessed this lingering hold firsthand. During my time as a summer student, guests have shared countless memories, conspiracy theories, and stories about the Arrow, and much to my surprise, Arrow merchandise is the top seller of all aircraft in the gift shop. This fascination leads to the core question of this blog post: what is all the fuss about the Avro Arrow? Is it a resemblance to our current geopolitical tensions with the United States? A grand conspiracy that took place beneath Canadians’ eyes? Or was it simply a massive project that put the federal government too deep in the red? To find out, I dove into various news articles, and two books: Fall of an Arrow by Murray Peden, and Requiem for a Giant: A.V. Roe Canada and the Avro Arrow by Palmiro Campagna. In this post, I hope to have uncovered why the Avro Arrow remains so fiercely alive in Canadian aviation history.

Rory with Arrow Swag form the Tiger Moth Gift Shop

The story of the CF-105 Avro Arrow is not only one of innovative engineering, but also of national ambition and a sudden, controversial cancellation. The project began in the mid-1950s as the RCAF issued a set of requirements for an aircraft project that seemed nearly impossible, needing an interceptor capable of flying at more than 50,000 feet to patrol the vast, frozen Arctic. (Campagna) Avro Canada’s response was a technological leap that met these requirements, featuring a delta-wing design that seemed structurally impossible to the engineers of the time (Fall of an Arrow).

The Avro Arrow is rolled out of its Hangar at A.V Roe Canada’s plant in Malton, ON, on Oct. 4th, 1957. (Globe and Mail)

Prime Minister Diefenbaker addresses the Canadian people on CBC following the cancellation of the Arrow project. (CBC)

Because traditional parts wouldn’t fit the aircraft, Avro’s team had to invent many systems to help the aircraft function, including tandem pistons, high tensile steel alloys, as well as a technology known as “fly by wire.” (Peden) The true innovation of the project, however, was the Orenda Iroquois Engine. As written in Requiem for a Giant, much like the Merlin engine of WWII, this engine was a huge step in Canadian aviation. With titanium construction to save weight, it could produce more than 26,000 pounds of thrust, more than four times that of some of the American jets of the time.

One of the sources of conspiracy within the aviation community about the Arrow is a “cruel coincidence” of historical events. (Campagna) On October 4th, 1957 as Avro rolled out a prototype of the aircraft to an ecstatic crowd in Malton ON on the same day, the Soviet Union launched an operation which would change global defence priorities overnight, Sputnik I (CNN). Suddenly, Canada’s primary threat was no longer manned bombers which the Arrow was built to defend from, but rather ICBM’s (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles). From this day, the Arrow project had a shift in perception by the Canadian defence network, beginning to view the Arrow as a “beautifully engineered dinosaur.” (Skeptoid with Brian Dunning)

Soon after this change in defence priority, the end was near. The Arrow’s last blow was dealt on February 20th, 1959, a day colloquially known as “Black Friday.” (Fall of an Arrow) Prime Minister Diefenbaker addressed Parliament and announced the immediate termination of the project, effectively relegating Canada’s aviation industry to the “industrial minor leagues.” (Fall of an Arrow)

The impact led to immediate devastation in Canadian aviation. Roughly 14,000 skilled employees at Avro and Orenda were fired instantly, with some hearing the news over the factory’s PA system. Including subcontractors, this decision resulted in job losses for more than 50,000 people. (CNN) These skilled Canadian aviation elite fled to the United States, and a group of 32 top Avro engineers were recruited to NASA, becoming leads on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects. (CNN)

To add insult to injury, in a head-shaking move, the Arrow was completely erased in a move which Fall of An Arrow deems “vandalism.” Five completed, flyable aircraft were cut into pieces with blowtorches, blueprints shredded, and assembly jigs melted down. (Peden) This destruction was responsible for the “Ghost Plane” theory, which suggested that the prototype Arrow was secretly flown off the tarmac to a hidden hangar before demolition occurred. While there were aerial photos showing the plane missing from the tarmac, a more likely reality is that it was moved into a different hangar so that technicians could remove confidential electronics. (Skeptoid with Brian Dunning). In fact, authentic Arrow parts have resurfaced over the years, including an ejection seat on eBay a few years ago. These pieces were likely smuggled as “souvenirs” by heartbroken workers who didn’t “want their life’s work to be turned into scrap metal.” (Skeptoid with Brian Dunning)

The largest remaining part of an Arrow, the nose section. At the Canadian Air and Space Museum in Ottawa (photo by M. Nantais)

Another popular myth of the Arrow often blames American sabotage for its death, but the sources that I have read tell a more complicated story than simple American influence. While it is true that the U.S and U.K decided to protect their own markets by not buying into the Arrow project, its true killer was its price tag, which was believed to have cost more than $470 million (Peden). This project may not have been in the cards, as the Diefenbaker government inherited a massive deficit and had recently joined NORAD, which required a quarter-billion-dollar commitment to missile defence upgrades (CNN). Simply, Canada could not afford the pricy Arrow project as well as missile defence

Based on these factors, I believe that the prolonged interest of the aviation community in the Avro Arrow is a bit of national heartbreak about what could have been. Understanding that our outstanding technology was stolen by another nation, killed by a politician, or part of a larger conspiracy is quite entertaining. However, in my estimation, the truth is that geopolitical tensions of the Arrow’s time period were too great for such an extravagant red line on the national budget and a middle-sized country like Canada was unable to support it. Ultimately, I apologize if you were looking for a confirmation of a conspiracy theory, but I have not seen adequate evidence to see it myself.