Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial

Grand ReOpening: April 1

We have been working hard to prepare for our re-opening on April 1, 2024!

In honour of the RCAF’s 100^th anniversary, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is hosting a free open house on Monday, April 1st from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Come join us for an afternoon as we re-open for the season. Visitors will be invited to travel back to the 1940s while touring a WWII vintage hangar, aircraft, vehicles and hundreds of artifacts from that era, as well as the RCAF WWII Memorial wall that honours all of the RCAF that lost their lives during WWII.

Coffee and dainties from Chez Angela will be served.

For the past few weeks and up until the big day, we will be repositioning aircraft and vehicles, sprucing up displays, adding and updating others, and renewing some signage, as well as general clean up to get ready for this re-opening. Mark your calendar and be sure to drop in for a visit, we are looking forward to welcoming you and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, which officially came into being on April 1, 1924. The BCATP played a significant role in the history of the RCAF. We have some great RCAF 100 merchandise available in the gift shop too.

2023 at the CATPM

The video below reviews some of the main events at the museum in 2023.

“The Den” donates vintage windows to the Museum

In summer, a historic hangar that was part of #10 Service Flying Training School (10 SFTS) in Dauphin, Manitoba collapsed. Rather than simply knocking the structure down and disposing of the materials, Troy Angus from “The Den” based in Pierson was contracted to dismantle the building. The Den is a business that supplies “barnwood that is sourced from rural resources. This process has begun and the materials will be repurposed rather than dumped in a landfill. The Den is rescuing some original windows form the hangar and is donating them to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum – housed in a similar structure. The windows will be put to good use by the museum and we are grateful for this donation! You can read more about this project in the following article from the Dauphin Herald.

A New Year Message

The following is a message to all of our supporters and volunteers as we enter 2024, from Museum President, John McNarry.

A New Calendar year is ahead of us. The past year was interesting and challenging.

We have a lot more challenges to meet as we move forward with the Museum.

It will be a busy and interesting year.

I want to personally thank you all for your support and dedication to the CATPM.

I hope you find the year to be rewarding as we continue in our efforts to preserve the story of the BCATP as well as the memory of those who sacrificed so much that we can enjoy living as we do. Happy New Year to all.

Thank you for supporting the CATPM.

John McNarry.

The Brandon Sun Archives

Back in the first week of October 2023, I had been talking with the Brandon General Museum and Archives, and Matt Goerzen of the Brandon Sun about saving the Brandon Sun’s Archives. The Brandon Sun’s new location does not have space for the original newspapers, and while the Legislative Library has expressed interest the archives was soon to go to the landfill. Our Archivist, Judith, and myself had taken a look and felt we could at least save 1900 to 1950, this would cover WWI and WWII. The Brandon Sun also provided the shelving to store the newspapers. At the time, depending on the number of volunteers we felt we may be able to save more, perhaps volumes which include our museum’s history. Opportunities like this do not happen often and it would be been a shame to see Brandon’s history go to the landfill. In the end we had a great crew of volunteers. It was decided that temporarily we would use a space in the east lean-to of the hangar. Certainly not a permanent home but at least the opportunity to keep it safe, and the resulting time will hopefully mean a permanent home. In the end we saved it all, something we can all be happy about!

This is an article from the Brandon Sun about this acquisition

submitted by Stephen Hayter, Museum Executive Director