Flight Training

Heroes Remember

Flight Training

Transcript

This was the elementary school at Windsor Mills, they called it in those days. It's Windsor now. It's near Sherbrooke, Quebec. So that's where we met our instructors who were all civilians. There were no air force on the station, except the CO. And the meals were provided by a catering outfit from Montreal. And we took dual instruction. We were flying, not Tiger Moths, we were flying de Havilland Fleet, no, Fleet Finch II rather, on skis because it was still winter time. So we took instruction up until the time we went solo and then we went and did some solo flying and some further instruction. And then I remember the weather turned mild and the snow started to disappear so we were sent home on leave for a week or two. Then we came back, the planes had been re-equipped with wheels. So then we flew on, off the ground with wheels. Interviewer: How long, Mr. Spear, would it be normal or how long would it be normal to solo? I think the average is somewhere around 8-10 hours. I believe, I think if you went over 12, that probably you were washed out and they figured if you couldn't make it by then, you weren't going to. I think I was around 9 hours or something myself and I was just, I guess, probably an average pilot. Interviewer: But during this period of time, they were assessing, the instructors were assessing each of the students? As far as I know. Yeah, well, I don't know assessing as to what their future would be but certainly... I guess they were, you were being assessed, yes, because at the end of all your flying, they had a pretty good idea of what you were capable of and what, what you were best at. Anyways, and then along with that and while we were doing all the flying, a half a day we'd be flying and the other half, we'd be at ground school. So they divided the crowd up in two classes or flights. So we studied navigation and theory of flight and two or three other subjects. And then we had to write exams at the end. And one of our, my close friends, a friend I had made in Manning Pool, he was washed out because he didn't pass those ground exams and he was just out of high school. I never could figure out why he couldn't pass them because the rest of us all did. So then anyway, we eventually left there and we were sent to what they call a Service Flying School at Dunnville down on Lake Erie, I guess it is, yeah. And that was a complete change because that was all air force. The meals, the catering, the cooking was done by air force and the instruction, the instructors were all air force officers. And we started flying a single wing monoplane, The Harvard. So I thought, "Well, that's a good sign," because some... we could have been sent to a twin engine school, which would indicate you were going to be a bomber pilot. So, we just did more advanced flying there. We learned to fly at night and made landings and fly instruments and do a few aerobatics. Then, I had probably done 50 hours at elementary and maybe another 100 at service school at Dunnville so by the time we finished, I had about 150 hours and I got my wings and got my sergeant stripes. Now, a certain number of our class, I don't know, maybe 20% or 30%, got commissioned right away. They were a higher standard or they had made the best marks or impressed the instructors the most, anyway. So, we always felt that was a bit unfair because we were all going to do the same thing. I got my commission eventually, but in the mean time, I lived sort of a second class life. So then, we were told what we were going to do. Some were going to be instructors in Canada, others were going to be going overseas, and I guess that about covers it. We didn't know exactly what we were going to do overseas, but we were sent home on leave and told to report to Halifax in two weeks time or something like that.

Description

Mr. Spear recalls his flight training in Windsor Mills, Quebec, (near Sherbrooke) and Dunnville, Ontario, (near Lake Erie) ending with him earning his wings.

Allen Maxwell Spear

Mr. Spear lived in Sussex, New Brunswick, before attending Business College in Saint John - he worked in Bathurst, New Brunswick, for a number of years before joining up. Mr. Spear had not enjoyed his Army camp experience in high school and was attracted to joining the Air Force, particularly as a fighter pilot, because of the recognition the Air Force was receiving in the Battle of Britain. He joined as soon as the Air Force lowered the education requirements to high school which allowed him to qualify. After much basic and initial flight training, Mr. Spear was excited to begin Spitfire training in England in fall 1941. In early 1942, he was stationed to North Africa. The camp locations changed often as the RAF and German Air Forces leapfrogged back and forth across the desert. A few months later (July 1, 1942), his engine gave out during a mission. He landed his plane behind German lines, was captured as a POW, and was shipped to Sulmona, Italy for internment. In September 1943, when the Italians capitulated, the POWs at the Sulmona camp escaped. Mr. Spear, along with two other Canadian POWs managed to escape by travelling along the mountains, avoiding the valleys where they were more likely to run into Germans, until they met up with other Canadian troops in November 1943. After being shipped back to England, Mr. Spear was returned to Canada to serve as a Staff Pilot at a Bombing and Gunnery School in Mountainview, Ontario. A post he held until the end of the War, at which time he was discharged.

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