This memorial is dedicated to members of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan #36 S.F.T.S. R.A.F. Penhold that were killed during training at CFB Penhold during the Second World War. It was dedicated by 703 (Central Alberta) Wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association, ex-Royal Air Force members and friends to mark the 50th anniversary of a war agreement that made Canada the main training area for Commonwealth airmen.
The Red Deer cemetery was once farmland belonging to John Jost Gaetz. In 1893, Gaetz donated the land to the Methodist Church, for the development of a park-like cemetery on the outskirts of town. The City of Red Deer took over the cemetery in 1907 and continue to operate it. Five fields of honour are located throughout the cemetery: each of these contains the graves of veterans who served in the First or Second World War, Korean War or on a peacekeeping mission.
Lieutenant Cecil B. Whyte was killed in action 21 days after retraining as a pilot with the Royal Scots Royal Air Force in 1918. Cecil B. Whyte’s family were advised that he was being posthumously awarded King George V’s 1914-1915 Star. Cecil’s two brothers Wilfred and Reginald also fought in the war and Wilfred was also killed in action.
